FDRdog had asked for some information on this and I was fortunate to remember.... :) Thanks to fflambeau

Gibbs Helped in Smear Campaign Against Dr. Howard Dean; Lauded Bush

by fflambeau
Wed Aug 11th, 2010 at 08:11:32 AM EST

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs is in the headlines again for all the wrong reasons:  calling out liberals and progressives in petulant fashion. He singled out the "professional left" and said "such people should be drug tested" He further claimed "they will be satisfied when we have Canadian healthcare and we've eliminated the Pentagon." Sounds pretty much like Sarah Palin lunacy or a Nixon rant.  

Robert Gibbs has a history of not only dissing progressives but of using inflammatory/Karl Rove-type tactics against progressives, liberals and the left.
In 2003, according to the New York Times, Gibbs was spokesperson for a group that smeared candidate Howard Dean using Osama Bin Laden pictures and languages like Dean is too weak and "dangerous" while saying that "Dean cannot compete with Bush on foreign policy". In fact, the title of the article in the New York Times pretty much tells everything: "THE 2004 CAMPAIGN: ADVERTISING; New Democratic Group Finances a Republican-like Attack on Dean".

Have a look at this post (with accompanying link to the original New York Times article on this) from poster Jezreel over at the Huffingtonpost.  Great find Jezreel and here it is:

Until now, I believed the insults, contempt and disdain directed toward the "Left" by the Obama admin was a response to the Left's lack luster response to Romney care and the pressure on the President to fight for his own progressive policy solutions to the economic, energy and health care crisis.

But tonight I was directed to a 2003 NYT article about a smear campaign against Dr. Howard Dean by what appeared to be a Republican effort intended to stop his 2004 presidential campaign.

The group behind the smear campaign used images of Osama Bin Laden in t.v. ads to invoke fear while portraying Dr. Dean as "dangerous" and too "inexperienced" and too weak on foreign policy to keep America safe. .

The ad left the impression it was paid for by Republicans. But it was in fact paid for by a new Democratic front group called; Americans for Jobs, Health Care and Progressive Values and Robert Gibbs served as spokesperson.

Per the ad:

"'Americans want a president who can face the dangers ahead''...''But Howard Dean has no military or foreign policy experience. And Howard Dean just cannot compete with George Bush on foreign policy. It's time for Democrats to think about that -- and think about it now.''

Link: http://www.nytimes.com/2003/12/16/us/2004-campaign-advertising-new-democratic-group-finances-republi can-like-attack.html

I suppose Mr. Gibbs was being paid to do his job and he was a professional about it... I suppose Mr. Gibbs is doing the same thing, now... I suppose he's able to keep his own personal feelings out of all of this... The Nuremburg defense, perhaps? (I vaz just paying ze mortgage) ...and I suppose it's fair enough for some to question the motives of those who employ him just the same.

Today there was an interesting juxtaposition of events.

First I get a Survey from the DNC.  They spent a large part of the cover letter blowing smoke up my ass saying:

"President Barack Obama requests your immediate response to the enclosed 2010 Presidential Survey.  He is looking to leaders such as you to provide input about his agenda and the course ahead."

and...

"You are part of a select group of leaders who have been chosen to participate in this survey."

The survey is rather limited in scope and really forces me to choose between certain items I don't consider "top of the list".  They are trying to prioritize their agenda... and in doing so, they are neglecting several things that those (we) on the Liberal Left feel important.

I'll paraphrase a couple of sections:

List in order of importance (1 = Most important through 14= least important)

America's Economic Situation
Regulation of Financial Institutions and Markets
Lowering Unemployment
Dealing with Iran
Fighting Terrorism
War in Afghanistan
Handing over responsibility to the Iraqi People
Immigration
Improving Race Relations
Nuclear Proliferation
Improving Education
Energy Independence
America's Image in the World Community
Dealing with North Korea

and...

Democratic Party Priorities (Number them 1 - 5 greatest to least)

Organizing Grassroots Support
Raising Funds for 2010 Congressional Elections
Electing Democrats on the State and Local Level
Reelecting President Obama in 2012
Combating Republicans' Obstructionist Tactics

......................

That's it.  That's what the Democratic Party is paying attention to.

.....................

Then they give me a whole 4 lines to tell them my "thoughts about President Obama, the Democratic Party, and the issues our nation is facing".

4 Lines.

Maybe a Haiku is in order?

......................

So...  I wrote a letter I intend to include with the survey:

8-10-10 I'm grateful that you consider my opinions to be important. Thank you for your consideration. If you are sincere in your estimations of me then I feel you should give me some latitude when responding to your survey. In one breath you ask me to express "my opinion" (from a very limited list) AND provide you with information that will allow you to "demonstrate widespread support for President Obama's agenda." Given the constraints of your survey, I'm not sure it's possible for me to do both at the same time. Rather than diving into the minutia of every little thing, let me try to summarize to the extent that I'm able. I firmly "believe" (there's that word again) that President Obama's OVERWHELMING victory in the General Election was a direct result of the Liberal Democrats showing up en masse. I "believe" that those Liberal Democrats are indeed the base of the Democratic Party and proved it. They (WE) knocked on doors, made phone calls, hit the streets, and donated money in a truly magnificent way in an effort to elect a candidate we "HOPED" (there's that word again) would actually "CHANGE" (there's that word again) the way things are done. When the general public hears words like "believe", "Hope", and "Change"... when the general public votes for and EXPECTS these things, I have to tell you it's more than a letdown when these things don't come about. President Obama ran to the CENTER as quickly as possible. President Obama preached "bipartisanship" when it was OBVIOUS to anybody with half the sense God gave a goose that this was a DOOMED endeavor. From the very beginning the Obama Administration has snubbed the Liberal Democratic Base repeatedly. If you are finding it difficult to garner that groundswell of support you had during the General Election, I think you need look no further than the nearest mirror for the reason why. If you continue to ignore and snub the Liberal Left I predict you will have very little support indeed going into the next General Election. I simply cannot imagine the Democratic Base getting excited to help again after being treated so badly. Surely you know the old saying: You dance with who brung ya. Well, the Liberal Democrats got all gussied up and took Obama to the Ball... then President Obama ditched them. It's like he doesn't even want his picture taken with them. You were gracious enough to consider me a leader and ask for my opinion; I only hope you are gracious enough to receive it with sincere consideration. I offer my thoughts in an effort to HELP the Democratic Party. I think you simply MUST represent the backbone of the party - the Liberal Democrats - going forward... or else suffer mighty defeat. If that happens, I fear the polarity of class in this country would quickly become irreversible and extreme, with the vast majority finding ourselves among the impoverished "have nots". Kudos to the Obama Administration for what they have accomplished, but shame on you for making your base feel rejected. I think this was (is) a critical mistake. Sincerely,

................

Then came Gibbs from the White House with his slam of the "Professional Left".

Well, excuse me... but I just received a letter from the DNC precisely because I am a member of the "Professional Left" and they say they REALLY want my opinion.

What struck me most about Gibb's comments (aside from his dig at Kucinich):
"These people ought to be drug tested,'' Gibbs said. "They will be satisfied when we have Canadian healthcare and we've eliminated the Pentagon. That's not reality.  They wouldn't be satisfied if Dennis Kucinich was president."

...what bugged me was he basically said, "NO WE CAN'T"

...........

WTF?

Three years ago, when our financial world looked as if it may be in total collapse, my wife and I quickly bought a very modest house (while our credit was still good) on a nice street (although there were too many cars driving too fast) with some really fantastic neighbors.

At the time our children (1 boy and 1 girl) were 3 and 6 years old respectively...  our immediate neighbor had two children (1 boy and one girl) aged 3 and 6 respectively just the same.   Beside them was a family that had 2 boys aged 4 and 7 and across the street was a family that had a little girl named Jillian who was 5 years old.

We lived in this house for a year before moving to a place with a bigger yard and a swimming pool... somehow we'd started to weather the financial shit storm we were in and we were able to make this move... 

But that year, on that busy little street, was wonderful.   All us neighbors really got along very well...  I'd come home from work and find everybody gathered at one house or another having a beer, or shooting ball, while the kids all played together.  Every day was a Good Day that year despite the financial worry and uncertainty.   We made some good friends and had some fun...

That little girl, Jillian, was a real sweetie.  She wasn't the most athletic kid... she wasn't the loudest kid... she wasn't the craziest kid... she wasn't the laziest kid...   She was simply the best kid.

I can't remember a single time  -  NOT ONE  - when she wasn't smiling and happy to be here!  It didn't matter what was going on, she was always glowing and happy. 

Both our immediate neighbors and we moved off of that street 2 summers ago.  Both our houses were bought by families with no children...   The neighborhood sorta dissolved and was never the same, from what we're told.

Last year Jillian was diagnosed with a certain kind of cancer.  A salivary cancer... in a 7 year old!!!  Apparently this is unheard of.  Almost all salivary cancers occur in people 70+ years old... there are literally only a handful of pediatric cases.  Very little is known about this or how to best treat it.

To make a long story short, Jillian died July 30, 2010.  She was 8 years old.  Today we attended her funeral.  It was a sad and emotional day...  All sorts of emotions from sadness to anger to frustration to relief and so on and so on....

...

One month after my wife and I got married her father died of cancer.  He'd been diagnosed with stomach cancer a year earlier and it was a rather advanced case....  They removed his stomach and did the best they could...  ultimately he ended up with little bumps showing up on his skin... they were biopsied and identified as cancer cells (from his STOMACH!!!).  The skin is the largest organ and when it's infested with cancer there's not much you can do...

Today she was remembering him, of course.  She was remembering a time when they were all supposed to go to Disney together but for some reason her dad ended up not going.  Apparently there just wasn't enough money...   he said, "You and your mother go this time and I'll come with you next time."

There was no "next time".  

She relayed that story to me.... and she reflected upon the funeral of the 8 year old little girl we'd just attended... and she said to me, "That's why I'm going to Hawaii". 

......

In 3 weeks my wife, our children, and my Mother-In-Law will all be traveling to Hawaii.  We are celebrating our 10th Year Wedding Anniversary in style and we are terribly excited!!!

We don't really have the money, of course...  that seems to be a common theme in our lives...  but it doesn't seem to stop us!
This trip will be expensive... although the airplane tickets have already been paid for... and so has the cruise... and we already have money put back for the Condo...  this will still suck a shit-ton of cash out of us and we'll return home with very little financial "cushion" indeed!

But you know what...  I think my wife is right.  There might not be a "Next Time".   THIS is the ONLY time we have... and it's far to fragile and short to be saving for some day down the road that may never come.

....

Jillian, may you rest in peace.   Jerry and Tracy, may you each find peace in your lives after such a devastating loss... she was a beautiful child and an inspiration to me...

My Old Man

I'm gonna do a little bragging about my Dad.

He's a clever little monkey with a 2 year Associates Degree in Electrical Engineering...

While working a dead in job (a hundred years ago) he'd Moonlight for a few extra bucks... Among other things, the University of Kentucky had a Mass Spectrometer or two that occasionally needed maintenance...

They'd call him in and he'd fix it for $50 or something silly like that... This saved them a TON of money.

Finally, the company that made Mass Spectrometer, Finnigan - (Now known as Thermo Finnigan http://www.sisweb.com/ms/finnigan.htm ) - found out who was cutting in on their action and offered him a "Real Job".

He spent approx 15 years as their top field engineer... For the better part of that time he was THE GUY (The ONE and only guy) sent to service the Mass Spectrometers at the Oak Ridge Nuclear Facility.

Time passed and he ended up shifting gears and settling down a bit... He worked for a company called Pharmacology and Toxicology Research Labs (PTRL)... He pretty much did the same work for them... He serviced their HP Mass Spectrometer... he serviced the Gas Chromatographs... and all other "Science Stuff"... Saved them a LOT of money on service contracts...

While there he got to learn about a new machine: An NMR (Nuclear Magnetic Resonance). This was a very interesting machine, indeed (and I could talk about it more later to the extent that I'm able if anybody wants).... Needless to say, it was a challenge for him... Said it was the hardest training he'd ever gone through... But he nailed it.

Then PTRL went belly up and he scrambled for work...

He ended up as the "Director of Scientific Instrumentation" at the illustrious Berea College www.berea.edu (Incidentally, I met Carl Sagan and stood within 10 feet of the Dalai Llama at Berea College long before my dad ever worked there)....

Anyway... He's been there several years now...

Check out this recent email he sent me

Our Physics Department just synthesized (for the first time I believe) C36 (Carbon 36) using a laser ablation vacuum system designed and built by your little old Dar Dar! I don't know how many extra tickets I'll be able to get for the Nobel Prize dinner but I'll try to get you guys in if at all possible.

Love,
Da (of Berea)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laser_ablation

Woooohooooo!!!!!!

In case you wanna know what C36 looks like, you can get an idea here: What a C36 Molecule Looks Like

Not bad for a hippie with a 2 year degree

Way to go, Pop!

The Following is an email exchange I had with my Father today...

My Dad:
Sons, check out this new "toy"......
4 days in the air at 20 km ceiling, not bad for a new spycraft!
http://www.luchtvaart.tv/video.php?id=12875

Me:
It's not just the eye in the sky... EVERY digital communication is copied and saved (email, phone call, text... etc...)...

I'm gonna start the "Luddite Party" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luddite



I figure if we can rid the world of all computers and technology then we can stop worrying about this kind of thing.


I askeered about the future... All those dystopic SciFi books I've read over the years really have me bugged out.


My Dad:
Don't believe any of that stuff. It's just a chip the government planted in your brain shortly after your birth that makes you "feel" that way. Don't worry. Everything is perfect. Trust me.


Me:

Whew...

You always know just what to say to make me feel better.


My Dad:
It's what they told me to say. They know when you deviate from policy. Have a nice day.

Now you know where the worms in my head came from

Paul draws backlash to comments about poverty

by BRUCE SCHREINER
Associated Press Writer

updated 7/12/2010 8:29:49 PM ET

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Republican U.S. Senate candidate Rand Paul says the poor in America are "enormously better off than the rest of the world," citing an old Cold War film that showed even impoverished homes had color televisions.

Paul's recent remarks at his first forum with Democratic opponent Jack Conway stirred some anger in impoverished pockets of Kentucky, where as many as a third of residents live in poverty.

The libertarian-leaning Paul addressed the issue of poverty by alluding to a decades-old, anti-American propaganda film by the Soviet government designed to criticize the free-market system.

"They filmed a building in the poorer section of New York with some broken windows and they said, 'Oh, this is how the poor in America lives,'" Paul said at last week's forum. "But it backfired on them because the Soviet citizens looked at that video closely and they saw flickering color television sets in all those windows."

Paul went on to say that "the poor in our country are enormously better off than the rest of the world. It doesn't mean we can't do better. But we have to acknowledge and be proud of our system of capitalism."

Conway did not respond directly to Paul's comments about poverty, but told the audience he thinks Kentucky's best days are ahead. He said he supports small business tax credits and other measures to boost job creation.

Charles Hardin, a Democratic judge-executive from eastern Kentucky's Magoffin County, said Monday that Paul's comments rubbed him the wrong way and he criticized Paul for relying on "anecdotal tales."

"I think it reflects a dogmatic belief in free enterprise and limited government," said Hardin, who argued that government should reach out to assist those who can't help themselves.

Kentucky ranks among the poorest states in the country. The state tied for second poorest nationally with 17.3 percent of its residents living below the poverty level, according to the most recent U.S. Census Bureau figures.

Knott County Judge-Executive Randy Thompson, a Republican, said Monday he wasn't uncomfortable withPaul's comments about the poor, and that they reflected the truth.

"I know that as bad as we have it, there are people that have it worse in Third World countries," Thompson said.

Albey Brock, another Republican county judge-executive in the region, said he didn't think Paul meant to be hurtful or disparaging with the remarks.

"Oftentimes his unique way of communicating opens himself to criticism to be taken out of context," said Brock, who backed Paul's main opponent in the primary. "And in this instance, I'm not certain I know what context he meant it in."

Paul campaign manager Jesse Benton said Monday that the Republican has used the anecdote for years "to illustrate the strength of America, the power of our traditions and the superiority of freedom to socialism."

Paul, a Bowling Green eye doctor, drew sharp criticism in late May for saying the Obama administration's stance toward BP after the massive Gulf spill was un-American and anti-business. He drew more heat for expressing misgivings about requiring businesses to comply with the Civil Rights Act.

The Republican candidate also sparked a backlash from some county officials for suggesting at last week's forum that he would prefer to see programs for drug abuse paid for at the local level.

The issue came up in a question about a popular, federally funded task force that does drug investigations and pays for treatment for addicts and education programs in eastern and southern Kentucky.

Pike County Judge-Executive Wayne T. Rutherford, a Democrat, said Monday that the drug problem has become too big for local governments to handle all the costs.

"I think he made a drastic mistake," said Rutherford, predicting that the remarks would ultimately cost Paul votes in the region.

Thompson said he agreed that local communities should tackle their drug problems head on, but said, "We can't do it without the help of the federal government."

Paul said at the forum that he would strive to keep more money in Kentucky to deal with drug problems.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38214127/ns/politics/

A Favela in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

There are 220,000 people living in this Favela and there are approx another 250 Favela´s in Rio.




A slum in Maharashtra, India.
As many as 20,000 people will crowd into a single acre of land. 60% of Mumbai's population of 13 million is made up of slum dwellers





.........

not sure where this one is... but it looks very crowded and awful...


.......................

Anyway, it is projected that world populations will be more and more Urban... This will mean more Urban Slums... There's a link between Urban Growth and Poverty...

......................

When Rand Paul says the poor in America are "enormously better off than the rest of the world," I wonder if he's not right to a certain extent.


How many of you have actually walked the streets of a Favela?

I have.

How many of you have laid in bed at night while THREE Waring Favelas fire automatic machine guns from one hillside to the other and back again (while you lay in the valley between them)?

I have.

How many of you have sat in a room that has a bullet hole in it's wall from a stray bullet that came through the week before?

I have.

There was once a photo in a Brazilian newspaper that showed some kids playing Futbol (Soccer) in a Favela... their "ball" was a human head!

My wife has witnessed someone being shot dead right in front of her...

A friend grew up in an awful favela... she had No TV... Many times they had nothing but WATER in their refrigerator. MANY times (quite often) they'd have to lay flat on their floor while gun fights raged outside in the street... Once, while they were away from their house, a thief was shot and killed IN THEIR HOUSE!

The point is: NOBODY in the US (In my experience) comes close to this kind of poverty. Cabrini Green was probably the closest thing I can think of, but there weren't MILLIONS of people living there...

The most poor among us are mostly housed, fed, and receive at least some medical care. We are a WEALTHY nation... even the poor among us, when compared to the MILLIONS and MILLIONS and MILLIONS of Poor world wide.

.....


Now... what concerns me more about Rand Paul's statements: Why would he make this comparison in the first place?

Is he suggesting that the poverty stricken in the rest of the world should be considered "Acceptable"?
Is he saying, "Until we are as poor as the rest of the world, then we shouldn't complain. We shouldn't do anything else." ???

If that's his contention, then it is absurd!

Does he WANT the US to resemble the rest of the world?
Is he saying that, "until the US resembles the rest of the impoverished world then we really don't have to worry about it."

It's almost like he's trying to create a Super-Divide between the Haves and Have-Nots...


Oh ...

Wait...


He's basically a Libertarian/Tea Bagger... OF COURSE That's what he's trying to do!

................................

Those pictures I provided above are a glimpse into the Future. That future will be here QUICKLY if Rand Paul (and those of his ilk) are elected. Take that to the bank.

The Warrior Gene Defense: ( Sympathy For The Devil - III )

The Warrior Gene Defense - Can Your Genes Make You Murder?

I think this is the last installment of this report...

In today's report we hear of Bradely Waldroup from the mountains of east Tennessee.
He had a gun and a machete and sat around drinking (and reading the Bible) waiting for his estranged wife to show up and drop off the kids.

Well... to make a short story even shorter, he went ape shit and killed his wife's friend and tried to kill his wife. Blood was everywhere!

The prosecution said it's clearly Murder ONE. He had something awful in mind long before his wife got there...

The Judge allowed the defense to use some "Genetic Evidence".

the MAO-A gene -- also known as the warrior gene because it has been associated with violence. Bernet says they found that Waldroup has the high-risk version of the gene.

This gene, combined with childhood abuse pretty much made him very prone to violence. They argued he really couldn't help it. That he had, indeed, "snapped" and it was not "premeditated".

Mr. Waldroup doesn't deny doing the crime... His defense just maintains he's not a candidate for the death penalty.

....

He "won". The jury heard the science and found it compelling enough to hand out a "Guilty of Voluntary Manslaughter"

So... I suppose this fella will be out on the streets in so many years... Sleep tight.

This part makes me woozy... If he's genetically predisposed to be this violent person AND his history of abuse to make him a ticking time bomb... Then I worry about him walking the streets again.

Might this "Genetic Defense" have to be modified in some way?

I have an idea: IF a person chooses to say "My genetics are screwed up and I can't help myself", then might we as a society be willing to say, "That's fine. You won't get the death penalty, but you WON'T be allowed back on the streets again, either." ?

If the person admits they are broken and can't be helped then they sacrifice their freedom in order to protect society...

THIS might be a deterrent... defendants might just decide they DON'T want to use this defense if it means they don't have a chance of walking free again one day... you know?

Anyway...

___________________________

If this science is recognized and accepted by judges, then I wonder just how hard it will be for prosecutors to do their jobs going forward?

Might the "Genetic Defense" be applied to lots of other cases? Just how far will this go?

On the other hand, if this science is correct... If all of these defenses are "true" or "legitimate", then shouldn't they be used whenever possible?

Where is this heading?

A Psychopath's Brain In The Courtroom pt.1

Kent Kiehl has studied hundreds of psychopaths. Kiehl is one of the world's leading investigators of psychopathy and a professor at the University of New Mexico. He says he can often see it in their eyes: There's an intensity in their stare, as if they're trying to pick up signals on how to respond. But the eyes are not an element of psychopathy, just a clue.

Officially, Kiehl scores their pathology on the Hare Psychopathy Checklist, which measures traits such as the inability to feel empathy or remorse, pathological lying, or impulsivity.

"The scores range from zero to 40," Kiehl explains in his sunny office overlooking a golf course. "The average person in the community, a male, will score about 4 or 5. Your average inmate will score about 22. An individual with psychopathy is typically described as 30 or above. Brian scored 38.5 basically. He was in the 99th percentile."

"Brian" is Brian Dugan, a man who is serving two life sentences for rape and murder in Chicago. Last July, Dugan pleaded guilty to raping and murdering 10-year-old Jeanine Nicarico in 1983, and he was put on trial to determine whether he should be executed. Kiehl was hired by the defense to do a psychiatric evaluation.

In a videotaped interview with Kiehl, Dugan describes how he only meant to rob the Nicaricos' home. But then he saw the little girl inside.

"She came to the door and ... I clicked," Kiehl says in a flat, emotionless voice. "I turned into Mr. Hyde from Dr. Jekyll."

On screen, Dugan is dressed in an orange jumpsuit. He seems calm, even normal -- until he lifts his hands to take a sip of water and you see the handcuffs. Dugan is smart -- his IQ is over 140 -- but he admits he has always had shallow emotions. He tells Kiehl that in his quarter century in prison, he believes he's developed a sense of remorse.

"And I have empathy, too -- but it's like it just stops," he says. "I mean, I start to feel, but something just blocks it. I don't know what it is."

Kiehl says he's heard all this before: All psychopaths claim they feel terrible about their crimes for the benefit of the parole board.

"But then you ask them, 'What do you mean, you feel really bad?' And Brian will look at you and go, 'What do you mean, what does it mean?' They look at you like, 'Can you give me some help? A hint? Can I call a friend?' They have no way of really getting at that at all," Kiehl says.

Kiehl says the reason people like Dugan cannot access their emotions is that their physical brains are different. And he believes he has the brain scans to prove it.

This is the part that intrigues me. 

At the moment I am inclined to agree with Mr. Kiehl. 

The story goes on to discuss how this argument holds up in court... 

I found the prosecutors arguments rather compelling, I must admit. 
However, this first quote was not one of them:

"There may be many, many people who also have psychopathic tendencies and have similar scans, who don't do antisocial behavior, who don't rape and kill," Brodie says.

As we noted yesterday, Mr. Fallon has the brain scan and genetic defect to fall into this category...  It was the childhood abuse that was absent.  This might very well explain away Mr. Brodie's thought...

But then he adds that Dugan's brain scan in 2009 says nothing about what his brain was like when he killed...

"I don't know with Brian Dugan what was going on in his brain" when he committed his crime, Brodie says. "And I certainly don't know what was going on from a brain scan that was taken 24 years later.

That, to me, seems to be a good point.

Any such evidence should be obtained as soon as possible...  But I wonder if the same argument could be made even then?  I mean... Is a persons brain function at the time a crime is committed the same as it is 24 hours later?  It seems it could be argued that unless you have a brain scan of the criminal at the instant the crime is being committed then you really can't say conclusively how his/her brain was working.  :shrug:

Dugan's lawyers argued:

"Someone shouldn't be executed for a condition that they were born with, because it's not their fault," Greenberg says. "The crime is their fault, and he wasn't saying it wasn't his fault, and he wasn't saying, give [me] a free pass. But he was saying, don't kill me because it's not my fault that I was born this way."

And Kiehl adds:

Kiehl says the emotional circuit may be what stops a person from breaking into that house or killing that girl. But in psychopaths like Dugan, the brakes don't work. Kiehl says psychopaths are a little like people with very low IQs who are not fully responsible for their actions. The courts treat people with low IQs differently. For example, they can't get the death penalty.

"What if I told you that a psychopath has an emotional IQ that's like a 5-year-old?" Kiehl asks. "Well, if that was the case, we'd make the same argument for individuals with low emotional IQ -- that maybe they're not as deserving of punishment, not as deserving of culpability, etc."

But perhaps Steven Erickson may be on to something:

This argument troubles Steven Erickson, a forensic psychologist and legal scholar at Widener University School of Law. He notes that alcoholics have brain abnormalities. Do we give them a pass if they kill someone while driving drunk?

"What about folks who suffer from depression? They have brain abnormalities, too. Should they be entitled to [an] excuse under the law?" he asks. "I think the key idea here is the law is not interested in brain abnormalities. The law is interested in whether or not someone at the time that the criminal act occurred understood the difference between right and wrong."

The idea that nobody's (or very few people's) brain is "perfect".  The idea that we all are likely to have some deficiency that we could use to justify what we do.

However true this may be, I hesitate to embrace it warmly. 

Can you imagine how slippery this slope could be?

I am kinda fascinated by this, as if you couldn't tell.  There are very real physical 'limits' to all our ability to function optimally...  Each of us are likely deficient in some way(s)...   Most (?) of us are able to have empathy... most (?) of us are able to, over time, recognize our limits and work within them...  Most (?) of us are able to live in relative peace with one another... and I suppose most of us should be held to pretty much the same standard.

But with the psychopath/sociopath... and perhaps there are other extreme examples we should consider...  I wonder if it's not a good idea to give serious consideration to their seeming inability to do anything about their condition.  After all, we have sympathy for and try to help those with Down's Syndrome, for example.  

We are compassionate and sympathetic after all, right?  If we are unable to be the compassionate and sympathetic and humane, then are we any different from the psychopath?

...

..

.

Neuroscientist Uncovers Dark Secret

(You can listen to NPR's report at link above...  You'll also find the transcript)

I'll give you the short version of the report, but you should certainly check it out in it's entirety for your own good.

Mr. James Fallon has been studying the brains of psychopaths for almost 20 years.
He believes (believed?) that all human behavior can be explained by the way ones brain works.
Among other things, he's been taking brain scans of psychopaths and comparing them to the brains of non-psychopaths...

Turns out that the Orbital Lobe of the brain is very limited in function in the brains of psychopaths(sociopaths).  Scientists believe this is the part of the brain involved with ethical behavior, moral decision-making and impulse control.  When this part of the brain isn't functioning properly then one is left "The area of the brain that drives your id-type behaviors, which is rage, violence, eating, sex, drinking."

Furthermore, there is a chemical in the brain called MAO (Monoamine Oxidase).  MAO affects the way you absorb (or not) Seratonin...  Seratonin has a calming effect on a person...  unless that person doesn't receive seratonin properly...
It is thought that those with the MAO problems are more prone to violence and aggression as a result...

Anyway...  This is where Mr. Fallon's own personal story gets interesting.

His mother told him he ought to look into his father's side of the family... there were some "cukoos", she said.   He investigated and found there were SEVERAL Killers in that line... ending with Lizzie Bordon.

So, he asked his mother, siblings, wife, and kids to submit themselves to his testing.  Everybody's brains scanned normally... Everybody's MAO Gene checked out, too. With one glaring exception:  Mr. Fallon, himself.

Turns out his Orbital Cortex looks just like a psychopath's... 
Turns out his MAO Gene is all wonky, too...

He said, "I'm a natural born killer."

But he's not a psychopath/sociopath.  He's not a killer.  Not even close.

So...

Other researchers say this is because there's a third ingredient that is missing in the case of Mr. Fallon:  Childhood Abuse.

Apparently, we can't explain everything simply by looking at brain structure or genetics alone...  Apparently these things can predispose a person to being a psychopath...  BUT these things alone are not enough to make somebody a psychopath.
Mr. Fallon's own original ideas are being challenged...

Now, to a bit of an ethical dilemma...

IF a person is a psychopath... a rapist or murderer...  should we not have some sympathy for them?

After all, it's not their fault that their brains don't function properly.
After all, it's not their fault that their MAO Gene is all messed up.
After all, it's not their fault they were abused as a child.

NONE of those things are within the control of that person.  That person, at no time, could have changed anything of their condition(s).  They are a victim, completely.  It's not really that they had a choice in anything.

One could argue that they "knew the difference between right and wrong"... but I gotta wonder.  Given all we've heard and read thus far.  I don't think such a person really has a "choice".  I don't think such a person is really capable of such thought. 

..............

From what I understand, for a crime to be committed one must be able to show "Intent".  With such a person, I'd say any demonstration of "intent" would be severely challenged.

I acknowledge that society needs to be protected from such people... and I really can't think of a better way of handling them...  I don't believe they can be "rehabilitated"...  unless a person can figure out how to do a brain transplant. (And we all saw what happened when Dr. Frankenstein tried that in "Young Frankenstein")... and I'm not sure that would be ethical, either.  But I digress.

I'm curious about this...

Any thoughts or ideas on the subject?

The Supreme Court "came to the aid Tuesday of well-funded candidates in Arizona and blocked the state from giving extra public money to those candidates who had agreed to forego private financing." "It is the latest sign the high court's conservative bloc is skeptical of legal rules to limit election spending or to equalize the spending between wealthy and not-so-wealthy candidates," after the Citizens United decision and others.

I guess I'm not surprised given the current mix on the Supreme Court, but I felt I should post it and comment nonetheless.

On the one hand, it seems like a damn fine idea to allow lesser known candidates (i.e. Candidates not supported by one of the two Major Parties") to have an audible voice.  There are some smart people who have good ideas (at least in theory) that are never heard simply because they don't have a Big Political Machine supporting them...  The Voters are often unaware of these candidates in any meaningful way...   So, in the spirit of Democracy, let's make sure "We The People" are informed of our choices...

On the other hand, a Taxpayer can complain that he/she shouldn't have to provide this kind of support to a candidate he/she doesn't support.  The Gov't shouldn't spend his/her money in this way....

Personally, I think there is likely a greater good served to society by this taxpayer funded policy...

...and, BIG F'n DEAL if your tax dollars are being spent in a way you don't like.   Sh*t, my tax dollars are being spent on a Friggin WAR that I don't support!   There are some people who don't want to spend tax dollars on Medicare or any number or other things... 
The feeling that your tax dollars "shouldn't" be spent in this way is silly, to me.
If you don't like the laws passed by your legislature and signed into law by your Governor then elect new representatives and Governors...    Until then, deal with it and pay your taxes just like I pay mine... you never know, this might actually be a good idea afterall.

OR... you could find a Sympathetic Supreme Court of the United States lying around somewhere, I suppose...