Free Republic

nald Trump has made America's mental health crisis much worse. Beginning with his presidential campaign and through to his third year as president, the United States has experienced an increase in anxiety, suicide, depression, and other mental health problems. The president of the United States is also a role model. His or her behavior influences the public. And as documented by Dr. James Gilligan in his book "Why Some Politicians are More Dangerous Than Others," Trump's assault on the country's mental health is part of a much larger pattern: the Republican Party and the conservative movement have, for decades, advanced...

Deadly metaphor: Has an antiwar screed by a Beverly Hills sex therapist inflamed anti-American sentiment in the Islamic world — even inspiring terrorism? Yes, according to the Boston Globe. Susan Block, a California sex therapist who hosts a syndicated radio show and HBO's "Radio Sex TV," wrote an April 15 column titled "The Rape of Iraq" for the antiwar Web site Counterpunch (www.counterpunch.org). The column used rather elaborate metaphorical language to compare the conquest of Baghdad to rape. Televised expressions of gratitude by the Iraqi people were being used to justify "the Anglo-American rape of Iraq," Miss Block wrote: "As...

<p>For a free e-mail subscription to Best of the Web Today, click .</p> <p>The supreme victory for the rapist is proof that his victim "enjoyed" it. Though he may force his way into her property, demolish her home, murder her loved ones, pillage her belongings, though he may terrify and humiliate her, beat and batter her, break her bones and tear her flesh, spill her blood, wound her organs and lay waste to her very soul, if, in the midst of the rape, between tears and shrieks of agony, if his victim should, for a moment, for some reason, any reason, if she should smile, or, better yet, orgasm [sic], the rapist is redeemed; he is even (in his mind) heroic.</p>

<p>ISTANBUL -- The allegations can be heard almost everywhere in Turkey now, from farmers' wives eating in humble kebab shops, in influential journals, and from erudite political leaders: American troops have raped thousands of Iraqi women and young girls since ousting dictator Saddam Hussein.</p>