It’s finally happened: there’s a two-state solution in Palestine. The only problem is that the two states are both Palestinian, run by terrorist Hamas in Gaza and corrupt Fatah in the West Bank. Actually, that’s not the only problem; both groups are violent, welfare-dependent, and dedicated to the destruction of Israel. Find out who’s to blame and what the future holds in this week’s podcast.

Science is objective—-or is it? Not when the popular press, the schools, and scientists with an agenda get through with it. Join this week’s podcast as the Sanity Squad explores the wonders of scientific research and its discontents; including the unforeseen consequences of Rachel Carson’s vendetta against DDT, the vagaries of estimating AIDS cases in Africa, the vaccination vigilantes, and other victims and victimizers.

Click “More…” to listen or download.

The violent clashes between the Lebanese government and al-Qaeda affiliated terrorists in Palestinian refugee camps have left many civilians dead in Lebanon. But the mainstream media has been relatively silent about this fierce Arab/Arab violence compared to the fuss made whenever Israel or the West is involved. The Squad discusses why this is so, what’s behind the battles, and whether Vladimir Putin means what he says when he threatens to point his nuclear weapons at Europe.

The public figure who is simultaneously a leader is a dying breed. With elected officials that display a spine being so few and far between, the Squad talks about the nature of good leadership, taking responsibility for one’s actions in the era of the rote public apology, and whether or not leadership itself has gotten a bad rap.

Part one of this week’s podcast focuses on conspiracy theories, and their origins in fear and denial. In part two, author, and marriage and family therapist Rabbi Shmuley Boteach of the hit TLC series “Shalom in the Home” joins the Squad as a special guest to discuss the breakdown of family life, the need to make judgements about right and wrong, and when to hate our enemies.

The election of Nicolas Sarkozy as President of France signals that it’s most definitely not business as usual there, although the French are hoping he’ll be good for business. Sarkozy is a rare and controversial combination for a French politician: an unapologetic admirer of the US, a man of action, and a believer in the value of work. What does the future hold for France under Sarkozy?

The CIA used to pride itself on its closed-mouthed secrecy. But ex-CIA director George Tenet is busily defending himself with a book tour and interviews touting At the Center of the Storm: My Years at the CIA, while the self-serving charges and counter-charges fill the air. Meanwhile in Israel, fingers are flying to assign blame for a less-than-perfect outcome in last summer’s war in Lebanon. And comedian (?) Bill Maher gets into the diagnosis act with his mental health evaluation of Bush, and believers in the Second Coming. And then there’s that miracle pill….

Can dangerous behavior really be reliably predicted? If so, what should be done about people judged dangerous when they haven’t yet committed a crime? What is the role of mental health professionals and involuntary commitment in balancing the need to protect society with the need to champion the liberty of the individual? Get the answers in this week’s podcast.

Recorded on the evening of 4/16/07, the Sanity Squad looks at the immediate aftermath of the murder of 32 people on the campus of Virginia Tech. Why do these horrifying events, that in the past would have remained in the realm of the unthinkable, seem so commonplace today?

Nancy Pelosi’s recent, and roundly criticized, trip to the Middle East has stirred up a hornet’s nest of controversy. Get the psychology behind the disaster in this week’s podcast. Also on the couch this week are the semantics of “War on Terror.” In which the term plays the role of unwanted stepchild.

The hostage drama is potentially explosive theater, produced and directed by the mullahs of Iran. In its role in the opening act, Britain seems to be giving a lesson in how not to negotiate from strength. What is the place of diplomacy in these situations, and when should the threat of force enter into the script? And what is the West willing to fight for these days, anyway?

The Iranian government has seized fifteen British sailors and marines who were patrolling the Shatt al-Arab. But somehow Iran seems remarkably unafraid that there will be any retaliation for an act that not all that long ago would have been considered an act of war. What’s Iran’s motivation? And what should be the West’s response?

Khalid Sheikh Muhammed has been singing like a bird in Gitmo. Whether the product of braggadocio and waterboarding, or the real deal, why are we focusing on the context of his confessions rather than the content of his crimes? Get inside the mind of the media in this week’s podcast.

The United States of the 21st century believes that it can negotiate with Islamic totalitarians post-9/11. This week’s podcast focuses on such frailties of human hearts and minds with input from an expert on the subject: Dr. Kenneth Levin, psychiatrist and author of The Oslo Syndrome: Delusions of a People Under Siege.

Run of the mill narcissicism just not cutting it anymore? The Sanity Squad diagnoses a plethora of new disorders for the politically conscious lunatics among us. From frankly regressive acute utopian disorder, and clinical paranoia with or without conspiracy theory, to Kim Jong il-omania, culture related acute psychosis, and Carter martyrism. Let this week’s podcast be your guide to the future of crazy.

Oscar night is Hollywood’s annual ritual of fashion and self-congratulatory spectacle. The Sanity Squad skips the glam gowns and the glitz, and focuses instead on the influence of the movies on politics, sexuality, and even on our perception of history. The Sixties were a turning point for film and American culture, and the Squad discusses another turning point, as well: the psychological and sociological effects of abortion on demand.

Reflecting on attitudes towards US Presidents then and now, greats and not-so-greats, the Squad talks about what’s happened to the office over time, and how the judgments of history compare to today’s opinions. Can you guess which President the London Examiner was referring to when it wrote that the man had “murdered the Constitution of the United States” and “overthrown all for which Washington fought and Patrick Henry spoke?” Hint: it wasn’t George Bush.

Now that presidential campaigns last two years — and that’s just officially — an election is going on just about half the time, the other half being spent recovering from the last one. At least the ‘06 - ‘08 campaign isn’t lacking for interesting candidates, featuring one of the most diverse groups ever. The Squad takes a look at the frontrunners, the interminable process, and the terminal effect it’s having on the electorate.

The IPCC report on climate change calls for drastic cuts in CO₂ emissions. How do we figure out if such measures are necessary—and what would be the costs of making an error in either direction? Has “Chicken Little left the barnyard?” This hot topic, and the efforts in the MSM and Congress to rein Bush in on Iran in this week’s Sanity Squad.

Multi-culturalism has met the Holocaust. There’s a movement afoot to make Holocaust remembrances more “inclusive;” especially in Britain, where the Muslim Council has been campaigning to replace “Holocaust Memorial Day” with “Genocide Day,” and proposing that the latter should include the so-called Israeli genocide against the Palestinians. The Squad discusses the benefits of victimhood, Kerry’s dissing of the US, Carter’s attitude towards history, and the only cause the Left ever championed and then abandoned.

Benny Morris’s sobering Jerusalem Post article paints a picture of a Second Holocaust—a nuclear-armed Iran willing to sacrifice the loss of millions of its own people to have the satisfaction of destroying Israel, and an Israel whose own nuclear weapons would be of no real use against an enemy so resistant to deterrence. Is there any way out of this dreadful dilemma? The Sanity Squad discusses paranoia vs. denial, the West as the enabler of its own enemies, and Iran’s vulnerabilities.

An article in this month’s Psychology Today purports to describe what goes into the making of liberals and conservatives, and the motivations behind post-9/11 change. Short version of the answer: conservatives are fearful, liberals rational. The Sanity Squad has plenty to say about that, and the difference between headlights and lamps, epiphanies, ambiguity, tipping points, and political paranoia.

Many Democratic leaders—Pelosi and Reid and Biden, to name a few—are vocally opposed to Bush’s new plan for Iraq even before its official unveiling. Is it déjà vu all over again, a repeat of the late-1974 withdrawal of funding from Vietnam? Try to keep up as the Squad discusses going “wide” in Iraq, self-defense in the modern world, and the tyranny of utopianism.

It seemed like a long time coming, but Saddam Hussein has finally been executed. The reaction from around the globe has been mixed — the Left, Europe, and human rights groups are not all that happy, and neither are certain people in Tikrit. But many others — including the Sanity Squad — think it was a case of justice being served at last.

Here comes Barack Obama, and just in the nick of time, because, “The Democrats are not going to win with any of the [ermmm… people] that have been representing them.” That and more from our panel of gentle and caring professionals when the Sanity Squad takes on Senator Obama’s apotheosis and the prospects for civil war in Palestine, in this week’s episode.

Iran’s “Holocaust” Seminars: “One of the great tragedies of the Arab world… is this world they’ve created for themselves. Imagine an entire life lived as a psychotic episode.”

Kofi Annan: “This chief clown of the United Nations has probably been one of the most corrupt, hypocritical, pathological and dysfunctional world leaders that has ever been lionized by the left.”

“It’s a very sad day for US foreign policy” as John Bolton resigns from the UN. But what is the Sanity-minded listener to expect when “the whole confirmation process basically sucks.” The Squad takes on the exponentially increasing irrelevance of a “failed organization” in this week’s episode. Also on the slate is a fake story based on a fake witness with a false premise, discovered by Flopping Aces.

Between Iraq and the hard place of a Europe with a burgeoning Muslim population, The Sanity Squad considers the future of a continent and the future of a Muslim Democracy. Conclusion? Sanity is in short supply in Europe, Iraq, and the fringes of the new Democratic majority in congress.

In honor of Thanksgiving, the quintessential American holiday, the Squad has a pre-dinner conversation about American values and how they’re perceived (or misunderstood) around the globe.

The election is over but the analysis has only just begun. “It’s all theatre. What the Democrats are going to do for the next 2 years is ‘put on a show.’…. This whole notion that the Democrats have this noble history is about as credible as believing little green men built the pyramids.”

When the Mufti of Australia likens uncovered women to meat in the street, the Sanity Squad is there for a full-court reality check. And even though the coming election may have gone beyond reality, the Squad still tries to recover a shred of sense from the whole charade.

This week the Squad discusses enemies foreign and domestic. Can radical Islam be moderated into coexistence with the West?

The Sanity Squad doesn’t hold our domestic breed of politician in much higher regard than a certain “finely coiffed whackjob” from north of the DMZ.

The Sanity Squad is, along with the vast majority of sane Americans, disgusted with DC: “DC is a den of thieves and clearly this means both parties. They’re both degenerate. And a den of thieves will attract thieves. It’s no longer Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. Now it’s Mr. Son-of-a-Bitch with a Gambling Habit and Big Debts Goes to Washington.”