Lew, I’m confused. I admit, I’m not a psychiatrist, nor am I neoconservative, but when I read Nasser Ghaemi write in The War Street Journal:
When times are good and the ship of state only needs to sail straight, mentally healthy people function well as political leaders. But in times of crisis and tumult, those who are mentally abnormal, even ill, become the greatest leaders. We might call this the Inverse Law of Sanity.
I find myself wondering — does this rule apply to Iranian leaders, or North Korean leaders, or Libyan leaders, or Syrian leaders, or Hitler? (Because what good talk of insanity and leadership doesn’t end with Hitler?) Does Aristotle’s link between madness and genius apply to Führers, Supreme Leaders, Dear Leaders, or Leaders With No Official Title? Because, you know, I thought madness in leaders was a bad thing, that it led to war and expansion and conquest and secret weapons projects and threats to destroy the world. That’s what the neocons (and their nationalist militarist and humanitarian interventionist allies) keep saying.
Ghaemi further writes:
Great crisis leaders are not like the rest of us; nor are they like mentally healthy leaders. When society is happy, they toil in sadness, seeking help from friends and family and doctors as they cope with an illness that can be debilitating, even deadly. Sometimes they are up, sometimes they are down, but they are never quite well.
Apparently crazy is not a bad thing. Especially in “crisis” (read: war!) leaders. Effective war leadership requires insanity! What an admission!
So I’m going to suggest something I thought I’d never suggest — the President of the United States should be required to take Prozac (or a similar drug), a double dose, twice a day, to ward off the black cloud, to paste a permanent stupid smile on his or her face. But why stop there? Cymbalta for all of the Joint Chiefs! Zoloft for everyone on the National Security Council! Perhaps in the water, or a mist in the air along the Potomac. If drug-induced bliss for those in power ends war and empire, then I think it’s an idea worth considering.
12:50 pm on July 31, 2011
