A study shows that the greatest concentration of psychopaths is in Washington, DC. This is a contest in which it isn’t even close, as Politico informs us. But then again, you knew that, right?
Ryan Murphy, an economist at Southern Methodist University, “matched up the ‘constellation of disinhibition, boldness and meanness’ that marks psychopathy with a previously existing map of the states’ predominant personality traits, he found that dense, coastal areas scored highest by far – with Washington dominant among them. ‘The District of Columbia is measured to be far more psychopathic than any individual state in the country,’ Murphy writes in the paper.”
That explains an awful lot, now doesn’t it?
Surely this “disinhibition” business explains the willingness of someone like Samantha Power, the destroyer of Libya, to denounce the President’s Korean peace initiative: apparently, we have a “responsibility to protect” virtually everyone on earth, but there is no responsibility to prevent a nuclear exchange on the Korean peninsula. And as for meanness, well there are plenty of examples to choose from, notably the Trump administration’s cooperation with the Saudi-Emirati invasion of Yemen. (That this may be ending is something that, as far as I can see, only Antiwar.com has reported in any noticeable way.)
Speaking of Korea, both North and South are ignoring the nearly universal disdain with which the US media is treating the summit and its results, and they are going ahead with more confidence-building measures. In a couple of weeks when the separation of families is in our headlines, in Korea families that have been separated since the Korean war broke out are being reunited:
“North and South Korea agreed on Friday to allow families who were separated during the Korean War to meet in August – the first such reunions since 2015. Each side will choose 100 people to meet at the scenic Mount Kumgang resort in North Korea from August 20 to 26, according to a statement released by the South Korean Unification Ministry.
“Many families have been split across the border with little to no contact since the war ended with an armistice in 1953.
“South Korean government figures from May showed 132,124 citizens had registered since 1988 to be included in a lottery for reunion visits. More than 75,000 have since died and 60 percent are aged 80 or older.”
Oh but American “liberals” don’t care about those separated families, because [something-something] Trump [something-something]. Besides which, there are no virtue-signaling opportunities inherent in the plight of the Koreans.
While you’re unlikely to hear much about the fast-moving Korean peace initiative in the Western media – it redounds to Trump’s credit, and is therefore not worth reporting or even commenting on – you can always come here, to this space, for your hit of the good news coming out of the country formerly known as the Hermit Kingdom. The latest evidence for my view that Kim Jong-un is going whole-hog and is not only making peace with the West but is also pulling a Gorbachev is coming out in the North Korean media:
”For decades, the US was a ‘rotten, diseased, pirate nation’ in the eyes of North Korea’s propagandists. Then almost overnight the hate stopped. Following a landmark summit between Pyongyang and Washington on June 12, anti-US vitriol has disappeared from state media reports — a development that some analysts see as preparing North Koreans for a new era in relations between the two longtime adversaries. ‘The anti-American slant is just gone. North Korea appears to be preparing people for a new beginning,’ said Peter Ward, an expert at Seoul National University who studies the North’s propaganda.”
After demonizing all things American for decades, the North Korean propaganda machine is making a 180-degree turnaround. If they were just making an adjustment to their foreign policy by making peace with the West, and abandoning their nuclear program, such a radical reorientation would be unnecessary. But this, combined with their ditching of the “military first” doctrine and the adoption of liberalized economic measures, augurs a new era for North Korea. Trump’s suggestion that the North Koreans could have some great condos overlooking their pristine beaches may not be that far in the future.
This is good news for sane people all over the world, and very bad news for the anti-Trump fanatics who pollute the political landscape with their hate-filled screeds and wacko conspiracy theories. Yes, if you are one of these lost souls, it must be very disappointing to read the following:
“Once filled with visceral anti-American screeds, the pages of Rodong Sinmun, the state’s main newspaper, have not featured a direct attack on Mr. Trump since March, when diplomacy on the Korean peninsula began picking up pace. The most recent mildly negative reference was on May 20 and since then critical comments had been dropped altogether, Mr. Ward said.”
Pyongyang has quit #TheResistance! Oh well, they’ll just have to make do with Canada.
If you thought hating on our President has reached its peak, you ain’t seen nothing yet! Just wait until the Trump-Putin summit comes to town! Oh, he’s giving away the store! He’s colluding! It’s “Red Dawn, Revisited”! I can hear the “liberals” now, can’t you?
If peace can break out on the Korean peninsula, it can break out practically anywhere: it can even warm the winds of Cold War II before they really get started. That’s what the War Party is deathly afraid of: it’s why the Deep State and its foreign collaborators have launched their unprecedented assault on this White House.
Here’s a good place to make an announcement: I’ve been the Editorial Director of Antiwar.com since around 1995, when we started. My role, however, soon evolved into something quite different. It used to be that I chose many if not most of the opinion pieces you see featured on the front page: working with Eric Garris, our managing editor, I did this and wrote my column (which used to be daily) for many years. However, the burden of turning out so much original material soon weighed on me, and the task of choosing op ed pieces fell to the heroic Scott Horton, whose radio program is the go-to place for interviews with noninterventionist authors and activists. He’s been doing the Editorial Director’s job for quite some time, and so we’ve decided it’s time to give him the title: I am now “Editor at large,” which means whatever you want it to mean.
This is a generational change: I’m pushing 70, and I’m quite ill – although I’m getting better every day! – and that’s reason enough for this change, but it also has political-ideological significance. I won’t pretend that my political views have nothing to do with this bout of editorial musical chairs: the rest of the Antiwar.com staff is considerably less enthusiastic about our President than am I. And while no one has actually attempted to refute or in any way answer what I have written about Trump – that would be too hard! – there is indeed a chasm there, and I won’t deny it. Indeed, I’ve been told by an insider that the left-libertarians who constantly complain about me “hate your guts.” Which is fine by me. As Franklin Roosevelt said about the “economic royalists,” “I revel in their hatred!”
I revel in it because I will eventually be proved right, just as the Korean peace initiative is proving me right every day. Trump, for all his faults, represents a sea-change in the foreign policy realm, a breakthrough that has destroyed the old GOP consensus of perpetual war and augurs a renaissance for opponents of global intervention. If I’m wrong, let history judge. If I’m right, then a lot of very foolish luftmenschen are going to look even sillier and more shortsighted than they actually are.
On a personal note: This Monday I am seeing my oncologist for an update and evaluation of my case so far. I’m feeling 500% better than I did only a few months ago, and if this optimistic prognosis is confirmed we’ll see about returning to my old thrice-weekly schedule. Which means: I’m making no promises, but it’s very possible. Stay tuned.
Charles Krauthammer, RIP: The death of Charles Krauthammer was an opportunity for the pundits and the media to acknowledge a very smart – and apparently very personable – man. I did not agree with his politics, particularly when it came to foreign policy, and yet, when it came to his commentary, he was capable of objectivity and great depth of perception. In that he was very like Pat Buchanan, his ideological opposite number in many respects (and of course much closer to my own views): he had an almost instantaneous grasp of essentials, and a rare ability to communicate in clear, clean, thoughtful prose. Requiescat in pace.
NOTES IN THE MARGIN
You can check out my Twitter feed by going here. But please note that my tweets are sometimes deliberately provocative, often made in jest, and largely consist of me thinking out loud.
I’ve written a couple of books, which you might want to peruse. Here is the link for buying the second edition of my 1993 book, Reclaiming the American Right: The Lost Legacy of the Conservative Movement, with an Introduction by Prof. George W. Carey, a Foreword by Patrick J. Buchanan, and critical essays by Scott Richert and David Gordon (ISI Books, 2008).
You can buy An Enemy of the State: The Life of Murray N. Rothbard (Prometheus Books, 2000), my biography of the great libertarian thinker, here.
