Left In Lowell

Iran? Please Tell Me I’m Dreaming…

10 Responses to “Iran? Please Tell Me I’m Dreaming…”

1. waittilnextyr Says:
   August 30th, 2007 at 1:45 pm

   A little background reading:

   http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Iran

2. Tim Little Says:
   August 30th, 2007 at 2:03 pm

   I’d say the chances are 50/50.

   To harken back to my earlier post about “Buying the War,” one of the things that struck me were the frighteningly close parallels about the drum beating leading up to the invasion of Iraq and what’s now going on in the media vis-a-vis Iran.

   Actually, never mind “parallels” — it’s the same bloody script: the White House chooses its talking points (Iraq’s WMDs/Iran’s nuclear weapons program), establishes the sense of inevitablity through repetition and circular confirmation (e.g., Ahmed Chalabi and the INC), and use the MSM to stifle any dissenting POVs (with Faux News leading the way). Whatever governmental checks and balances there once might have been… well, the White House has clearly demonstrated what little regard it has for the Constitution.

   The problem is that those calling the shots are quite literally the most dangerous sociopaths (http://www.hss.caltech.edu/~mcafee/Bin/sb.html) in human history — and I don’t see this as being hyperbolic in the least.

   FWIW, here’s a checklist of common features and behaviors of sociopaths from the above-referenced link:

   - Glibness and Superficial Charm

   - Manipulative and Conning
   They never recognize the rights of others and see their self-serving behaviors as permissible. They appear to be charming, yet are covertly hostile and domineering, seeing their victim as merely an instrument to be used. They may dominate and humiliate their victims.

   - Grandiose Sense of Self
   Feels entitled to certain things as “their right.”

   - Pathological Lying
   Has no problem lying coolly and easily and it is almost impossible for them to be truthful on a consistent basis. Can create, and get caught up in, a complex belief about their own powers and abilities. Extremely convincing and even able to pass lie detector tests.

   - Lack of Remorse, Shame or Guilt
   A deep seated rage, which is split off and repressed, is at their core. Does not see others around them as people, but only as targets and opportunities. Instead of friends, they have victims and accomplices who end up as victims. The end always justifies the means and they let nothing stand in their way.

   - Shallow Emotions
   When they show what seems to be warmth, joy, love and compassion it is more feigned than experienced and serves an ulterior motive. Outraged by insignificant matters, yet remaining unmoved and cold by what would upset a normal person. Since they are not genuine, neither are their promises.

   - Incapacity for Love

   - Need for Stimulation
   Living on the edge. Verbal outbursts and physical punishments are normal. Promiscuity and gambling are common.

   - Callousness/Lack of Empathy
   Unable to empathize with the pain of their victims, having only contempt for others’ feelings of distress and readily taking advantage of them.

   - Poor Behavioral Controls/Impulsive Nature
   Rage and abuse, alternating with small expressions of love and approval produce an addictive cycle for abuser and abused, as well as creating hopelessness in the victim. Believe they are all-powerful, all-knowing, entitled to every wish, no sense of personal boundaries, no concern for their impact on others.

   - Early Behavior Problems/Juvenile Delinquency
   Usually has a history of behavioral and academic difficulties, yet “gets by” by conning others. Problems in making and keeping friends; aberrant behaviors such as cruelty to people or animals, stealing, etc.

   - Irresponsibility/Unreliability
   Not concerned about wrecking others’ lives and dreams. Oblivious or indifferent to the devastation they cause. Does not accept blame themselves, but blames others, even for acts they obviously committed.

   - Promiscuous Sexual Behavior/Infidelity
   Promiscuity, child sexual abuse, rape and sexual acting out of all sorts.

   - Lack of Realistic Life Plan/Parasitic Lifestyle
   Tends to move around a lot or makes all encompassing promises for the future, poor work ethic but exploits others effectively.

   - Criminal or Entrepreneurial Versatility
   Changes their image as needed to avoid prosecution. Changes life story readily.

3. Tim Little Says:
   August 30th, 2007 at 2:11 pm

   One further point:

   Lynne writes “where heroes are heroes and villains are, well, villains.”

   I think this describes *exactly* the sort of comic book mindset that W has — envisioning himself as the superhero who will save our American way of life from the evil hordes.

4. Lynne Says:
   August 30th, 2007 at 2:14 pm

   Bush is like Magneto…a twisted mind who believes he must lead the a fight between mutants and humans, because he think that war is inevitable anyway, so he might as well preempt it such that his people comes out on top…

5. Ryan Says:
   August 30th, 2007 at 2:22 pm

   The difference being, of course, Magneto wasn’t as dumb as a bag of rocks (misguided, yes, but not dumb) and wasn’t controlled by others (hey, there had to be some reason he wore that helmit!).

6. Ryan Says:
   August 30th, 2007 at 2:26 pm

   By the way, did you read the WaPo’s call for war against Iran? Oh, yes, you read me correctly. It’s so sad to see such an important paper in this country has joined the ranks of the Bat Shit Crazy people, but they’ve proven that’s their crowd time and time again.

7. Tim Little Says:
   August 30th, 2007 at 2:37 pm

   … And for anybody who hasn’t yet seen Bill Moyers’s “Buying the War,” please do so: http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/btw/watch.html

8. Tim Little Says:
   August 30th, 2007 at 2:47 pm

   Interestingly Jonathan Landay, one of the Knight Ridder reporters interviewed for “Buying the War” has this to say about Iran:

   ——————————–
   On April 25, 2007 11:30 PM Edgar wrote:

   Could this happen again with Iran? Are reports that Iran wants nuclear weapons and is close to developing them true?

   Great job with your reporting I wish I’d heard of you before.

   Edgar

   Jonathan Landay:
   The irony here is that Iran better fits the administration’s criteria for invading Iraq than Iraq did. Iran does support Islamic extremist groups that have attacked American targets, like Khobar Towers, and other targets, like the Jewish Community Center in Buenos Aires. And there is evidence gathered by the International Atomic Energy Agency that indicates that Iran is seeking to develop nuclear weapons. Even without that evidence, Iran is developing the ability to enrich uranium on an industrial scale. It says it only wants fuel for power plants. But the same process that enriches uranium for power plants also produces highly enriched uranium for weapons. By most accounts, it won’t achieve this ability for another five years or so. But given the crisis in Iraq, the stresses on U.S. forces, massive opposition from allies and the huge worldwide opprobrium that a U.S. attack would ignite (not to mention terrorist attacks), I do not believe that the administration planning to strike Iran at this time.
   ——————————–
   Source: http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/blog/2007/04/landay_and_strobel_chat_select.html
   ——————————–

   Sadly, Landay seems to have been overly optimistic in his assessment of the audacity of the Bush administration.

9. Jacob Says:
   August 30th, 2007 at 2:53 pm

   “To do this, I needed a future historic “past” that was dark, cruel, and gritty. In my future history, there’s a second great depression, global warming beings to wreak havoc, and we withdraw from Iraq…after getting our hats handed to us in Iran.”

   Sigh.

10. Lynne Says:
    August 30th, 2007 at 3:45 pm

    Jacob: ?? It’s called fiction. I took liberties with current events and made up a future history, one that’s possible, certainly, but it’s not like I’m a doomsday person. I wrote it as fiction so I could create a setting for my players.

    I wrote this post because of this weird sense that despite how fictional my world for the superhero game is/was, it’s strikingly eerie that it still might partly come true. I picked the worst case scenario for my future history, and here we are, starting to live it. It gives me the willies.

    A conflict with Iran would be a disaster. They aren’t Iraq. They have a good army and arms. And with our troops engaged elsewhere (I assume we wouldn’t leave Iraq? maybe I’m wrong, we’ll abandon that cause like we did Afghanistan) we will not have enough troops to engage. In fact, we don’t have enough even if we pulled out of Iraq/Afghanistan completely. We don’t even have enough in Iraq right now.

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