It took just a few days, it seemed, to galvanize the country in the wake of 9/11.  We were united in an unheard of fashion against a common and clearly evil enemy.

Now, 6 years later, we are hopelessly divided: divided by ourselves and a struggle for power where the politics of the war mean more the the goals and values of the war, and our enemy takes comfort in our struggle and mocks our hesitation.

It is sickening to see the posturing in Washington DC as our supposed leaders use the war on terror as a campaign tool.  While the Democrats are more disgusting int he disregard for the the lives they risk, many of the Republicans have lately soured me as they show themselves to be limp and weak, and unduly concerned with reelection instead of leadership.

In 2000 I was not impressed with Lieberman, as he seemed soft and incapable of the degree of determination we need in a leader.

Now, 6 years later he remains one of only a few die hard Democrats who are willing to put the needs of the country ahead of their party line.  Ironic.

I can only hope as we take yet another day to remember our fallen, hope that we can someday recover the unity that ones empowered us.

Before its too late.

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Both liberals and conservatives continually ask themselves “what are they thinking” when listening to the other side.  Now we have proof:  The differences run deep.

Study finds left-wing brain, right-wing brain

Exploring the neurobiology of politics, scientists have found that liberals tolerate ambiguity and conflict better than conservatives because of how their brains work.

I think that right there, the study actually exposes the truth.  But Ill get back to that.

In a simple experiment reported today in the journal Nature Neuroscience, scientists at New York University and UCLA show that political orientation is related to differences in how the brain processes information.

Previous psychological studies have found that conservatives tend to be more structured and persistent in their judgments whereas liberals are more open to new experiences. The latest study found those traits are not confined to political situations but also influence everyday decisions.

The results show “there are two cognitive styles — a liberal style and a conservative style,” said UCLA neurologist Dr. Marco Iacoboni, who was not connected to the latest research.

I know the liberals are having a good laugh on this, but frankly i don’t see it as a negative.

Conservatives are able to stay focused whereas liberals tend to drift on tangents and fail to maintain their purpose…except where Bush Derangement is for some weird reason.

But seriously that is the core of the difference in many ways.

Conservatives believe in absolutes:  Good evil, Right wrong etc.  Liberals cloud their judgments with nuanced variations and degrees, and often lack the ability to accurately judge the simple and obvious.

Conservatives believe in action and consequence, whereas liberals believe in rationalization, mitigation justification and such more ambiguous concepts.

Where a simple yes or no would suffice liberals will muddy it with maybes, probably’s and shoulds.

The Seattle Times says:

Brains of liberals, conservatives may work differently, study finds

You decide.

Mexico Dynamite Truck Explosion Kills 34

A dynamite-laden truck exploded after colliding with another vehicle on a busy highway in northern Mexico’s coal country, killing at least 34 people, including three reporters at the scene, state and federal officials said.

Authorities said the two vehicles crashed into each other Sunday evening, drawing a crowd of curious onlookers as well as a small army of police, soldiers, emergency officials and journalists.

Shortly after the crowd arrived, the wreckage caught fire, and the dynamite exploded, sending a ball of fire into the sky that consumed nearby cars and left a 10-by-40 foot crater in the concrete, said Maximo Alberto Neri Lopez, a federal police official.

The explosion raised further questions about the safety of Mexican trucks.

This weekend, Mexico began sending its first tractor-trailers across U.S. territory under a long-delayed, NAFTA-mandated program. Before, Mexican trucks were limited to 25-mile zone along the border.

Many in the U.S. fought the change, arguing that Mexican trucks are unsafe.

In the interest of full disclosure, bear this in mind.

Randy Grider, editor of Truckers News magazine, however, said Mexican trucks with hazardous materials aren’t included in the new program.

“I think it would be a very long time before the border would open to hazardous loads,” he said

Very likely true.  But still, I am not surprised people wonder….

I don’t know what else to call it.  When I see stories like these I have to wonder about the sanity of the people in them.

Starting with the King of the Liberal Nutroots, Kos.

DailyKos: Osama’s No More Evil than Reagan

Plenty of conservative bloggers have noticed the resemblance between some of the rhetoric in Osama bin Laden’s latest tape, and the comments on lefty blogs in the U.S. Arianna Huffington wrote that Bush had left bin Laden “free to offer kudos to Noam Chomsky and Michael Scheuer’s Imperial Hubris, and to fret over global warming and U.S. mortgage rates.” Apparently the irony of sharing talking points with the world’s most wanted terrorist was lost on her. But Frank J suggested that Osama and the left ought to pool their resources, and AllahPundit noted that bin Laden sounds like a socialist icon. Despite the commonality of the rhetoric, some on the left are understandably very angry about the comparison.

But not all, apparently. Over DailyKos, they’re wondering why people automatically dismiss Osama by saying he’s evil or crazy. Apparently, they think he’s neither crazy nor evil, or at least no more evil than say, Ronald Reagan.

bin Laden does not rail against the U.S. and other Western countries because they are “free,” because they are “modern,” because they are “Christian,” or even because they purport to be “secular” (though he asserts that Americans would be more happy if they were to adopt Islam). He rails against them because of specific U.S. (and allied) policies–military, political, and economic–that he and his followers believe harm ordinary people in the Islamic World.

Bin Laden uses the imagery and vocabulary of Islam in making his points to his Arab and Islamic audience, much as George W. Bush, Joseph Lieberman, John Edwards, or Bill O’Reilly will use the imagery and vocabulary of the Judeo-Christian tradition to make points to their audiences. But bin Laden is not a raving religious fanatic. He is fundamentally a political revolutionary with a strong sense of suffered injustice, a sense which is shared by much of his audience and which he can therefore effectively manipulate for his political aims.

The first I heard of this it was about the eerie similarity between OBL’s rants and the Democrat or Liberal talking points, in this case as stated by Keith Olbermann.

Truly there are some similarities.  See the clip below for more from the Greg-alogue.

What is ironic is that Olbermann takes the same speech and makes his comparisons to Hannity.  

 In what he no doubt considered cutting edge humor, MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann on Friday night contended that Sean Hannity, just like Osama bin Laden, “rants without making a specific threat or point,” and MRC President/NewsBusters Publisher Brent Bozell, also just like bin Laden, “makes vague threats, is cranky and has a bad dye job on his beard.”

“So he’s Sean Hannity?” Olbermann asked rhetorically immediately after he teased Countdown by describing how in the new Osama bin Laden video “he criticizes congressional Democrats and just rants without making a specific threat or point.” As Olbermann uttered Hannity’s name, MSNBC inserted a picture of Hannity over the image of bin Laden in the new video. A half hour later, with “Finding Bin Laden” on screen under the bin Laden image, Olbermann plugged the upcoming segment by comparing the physical appearance and attitude of the terrorist with Bozell: “And he criticizes the Democrats, makes vague threats, is cranky and has a bad dye job on his beard. Brent Bozell? No, there’s another Osama bin Laden tape. Wasn’t the President going to catch him dead or alive six years ago?” Bozell has a beard, but it’s not dyed.

I find it telling that an analysis of the tape finds the content matches the liberal mantra, and actually chastises the liberals for being too soft, while the liberals want to make ad hominem attacks on conservatives on surface style observations, and not actual content.

Maybe Olby cannot defend the comments he has made and their questionable similarity to OBL so he attacks as a distraction.  I find it a continuing source of fascination how much the democrats allow themselves to be defined by a set of talking points that continues to have a close correlation to that of a person who claims responsibility doe the death of thousands of Americans.