Tactics are often a tricky thing to discern; in war, a commander’s ability to remain one step ahead of opposing forces may well bring victory over defeat.
In politics, victory means the ability–or inability–to push for positive change. When a few hundred men can control the lives of our nation’s military men and women, the livelihood of her selfless public servants and the specter of a powerful economy, political “victory” of open-minds over dangerously closed-minds is perhaps a greater national priority than token “bipartisanship”–a popular whine by Republicans and Democrats when each party isn’t getting their respective way.
Republicans have been quick to implicate Democrats each year in a phantom ploy to capsize capitalism, whining about their pushing of a Welfare State or a Nanny State. This wholesale misleading of the electorate has befallen many a promising progressive and allowed our country to wallow in its current systemic quicksand.
Yet as the Boehner-led 112th Congress makes clear, Republicans have a tactic of their own to gain power of not just the political reigns of power, but the economic strings, as well. They advocate replacing our federal republic with a stateless market structure more accountable to Chinese investors than it is to American citizens. Their tool in this endeavor?
The Emergency State.
I am sharing this diary about pediatric bipolar disorder (which is not listed separately from BD in the DSM) because I think most educated people have at least a rudimentary idea of what bipolar disorder is. Pediatric bipolar disorder is less talked about because it is less accepted and therefore more controversial. This makes sense for plenty of reasons. For one thing, the criteria being used to diagnose it are often different or fewer than those formally listed in the DSM. Many people believe that bipolar disorder never fully manifests until late adolescence or early adulthood, and will not accept a “pediatric” form of the disorder as being valid. Further, it is very controversial because of the generally accepted notion that bipolar disorder requires pharmacological intervention, and the medications used to treat it can cause a plethora of adverse cognitive and physiological side effects. The idea of giving these medications to children in their formative years is disturbing to many (including myself, due to intimate personal understanding of how dangerous these medications can be even for adults). Then, of course, there is the argument that bipolar disorder may be over-diagnosed, and that to label a child with such a debilitating, chronic illness is inappropriate. 
‘m a bit obsessed with this story ~ this monumental story. I honestly did not pay much attention to Tunisia and I watched cautiously during the early days in Egypt waiting for the people to give up or die trying.