Right-wing pundits play doctor; diagnose Gore as "insane" (complaint by liberal media watchdog)

Media Matters for America ^ | 05/28/04 | David Brock

[aculeus]

Repeat after me: Brock is a Crock.

[hardhead]

In all the news and posts I've read, I have only seen one demo criticize his own party - Zell Miller. Democrats are like muslims, shut up and toe the party line.

[highlander_UW]

Typical leftist response, instead of considering the sanity of Gore it has become..."the right wing conspiracy did it" to Gore.

[VaBthang4]

HEY!! I didn't get my VRWC fax concerning our talking points per Al Gore.

[miltonim]

An Associated Press account of yesterday's speech notes that "Gore, who served in Vietnam, predicted greater problems for America's involvement in Iraq." The AP apparently means to suggest that Gore suffers from posttraumatic stress disorder, since the Vietnam reference is otherwise a complete non sequitur.

By the way, did you know Kerry was also in Vietnam?

[B-Chan]

[BenLurkin]

"Ah . . but the strawberries, yes - that's where I had them!"

[hermgem]

Gore wants to go back into graces with Democrats.
His hug fest with Howard Dean where he performed with the intention to repeat-serve as Vice President made him an outsider with inner circle Democrats.
After ballooning after his Florida court failures, dieting to get the fat off again, he now performs for attention, regardless of style, to serve again.
Gore needs to realize and accept the fact that he is through.

[BlazingArizona]

Two friends are cycling bipolars,..

I've noticed this about quite a few spokeheads. Make sure your friends keep to the off-street trails.

[lavrenti]

Nyuk, nyuk, nyuk.

[HardStarboard]

Bump for Dennis Miller's comment on mad Al Gore:

I think he's gone daft because he's a sad little man now.

[Bonaparte]

If we accept Brock's terms of debate, then Charles Krauthammer, who is a psychiatrist, concurs with the pundits who believe Gore is mentally disturbed.

Who shall we believe -- a duly licensed physician specializing in psychiatry or a self-admitted liar and sexual pervert?

[beavus]

Hopefully after Dean and Gore's respective fiascos, Democrats will give up their efforts to rally the troops.

[badgerlandjim]

Hey, cut Al some slack... could be
he's under slumlord stress again be-
cause of rental unit toilet problems...

[oyez]

Better yet.

[oyez]

(Heh-heh) Algore is probably looking for a key to the lock box about now. He has proved with geometric logic that a key does exist.

[NYCVirago]

Funny how David Brock missed this comment:

John Kerry's advisers were surprised and annoyed to hear that Mr. Gore hollered so much, he made Howard Dean look like George Pataki. They don't want voters to be reminded of the wackadoo wing of the Democratic Party.

I guess it doesn't count, as it was written by the liberal Maureen Dowd, and not a member of the VRWC.

[Bonaparte]

Brock claims that commentators are "playing doctor" when they offer their opinions on Gore's sanity. He is clearly implying that a non-professional is somehow not "qualified" to render an opinion on somebody else's sanity. The US Supreme Court and numerous other courts disagree with Brock. In fact, it is a legal maxim that a sane individual under oath should be able to state an opinion on the sanity of another.

From Moore v. Duckworth (USSC)...

Held: Although a state prisoner is entitled to a determination whether the record evidence could support a finding of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, Jackson v. Virginia, ante, p. 307, nevertheless a remand for further consideration in light of Jackson is inappropriate here. The Court of Appeals properly deferred to a rule of Indiana law permitting sanity to be established by either expert or lay testimony, and although that court applied an improper legal standard in considering the due process claim, it appears that such claim concerned the above Indiana rule and that the evidence in support of the conviction was constitutionally adequate under the Jackson standard.

From State v. Lewis (Sup. Ct. So. Carolina)...

A defendant may rely on lay testimony to establish insanity. State v. Hinson , 253 S.C. 607, 172 S.E.2d 548 (1970); see also, State v . Rimert , 315 S.C. 527, 446 S.E.2d 400, cert. denied , 513 U.S. 1080 (1994)(State relied on lay testimony to establish sanity); State v. Smith , 298 S.C. 205, 379 S.E.2d 287 (1989)(where defendant presents expert testimony on his insanity, State is not required to present expert testimony on sanity; lay testimony may be sufficient). In fact, a jury may disregard expert testimony. Milian-Hernandez, supra.

For more judicial opinions upholding the admissibility and sufficiency of lay testimony on sanity, go to Google and type "lay testimony" sanity into the search field.

[texasflower]

That was hilarious!