Portal of Explanation
Portal of Explanation
The following is a sustained argument in four parts that the firestorm* over United Arab Emirates ownership of US seaport facilities can be explained by Freudian psychodynamics; specifically, as unconsciously acting out defense against the group-fantasy of anal male rape. (“Gaynxiety”)
1. Hysterical over-Reaction.
David Brooks, right-wing New York Times columnist, speaks for a large segment of expert opinion on the pertinent facts of the port deal:
“But let’s be clear: the opposition to the acquisition by Dubai Ports World is completely bogus,” he writes. “The deal would have no significant effect on port security. Regardless of who operates the ports, the Coast Guard…Customs Service…harbor patrols, police...do their job” of handling physical security. (“Kicking Arabs in the Teeth”, New York Times, 2.23.06 A27)
Contrast the previous day’s New York Post editorial:
“At last: a uniter, not a divider.
“There stood President Bush yesterday, vowing to veto legislation that would prevent a company owned by the United Arab Emirates from taking operational control of six of the nation’s ports – including New York and New Jersey.” Jersey’s Sen. Jon Corzine has noisily filed suit to block the deal, citing concern for the security of his state’s people.
The Post’s editors go on to say “The UAE – and, specifically, Dubai – has been a breeding ground for terrorism …banking system provided most of the case for the 9/11 hijackers…stonewalls U.S. Treasury Department’s efforts to track al Qaeda’s bank accounts…” etc. Others link two of the 9/11 hijackers.”
Attention is called here to the enormity of the gap between sober-sided fact, over against the tenuous threads linked to terror threat. The Post’s eds are speaking with/for the “unified” – against Bush, on this one – but pulling threads to inflate threats of terror like crazy. Having no fact to support their case, there is nothing to which they can appeal except to the source of the inflation, itself – the unconscious fantasy complex.
The one thing the serious commentators agreed on was the facts in no way warranted the hullabaloo. From Tom Friedman to George Will and elsewhere, this was the reality-based judgment. The orchestrated massive outcry was the paranoid, narcissistic, homosexual complex Freud found in the case of Daniel Shreber. It is a peculiar kind of perverse sexual energy discharged along paths first established in early childhood (with whatever trauma/abuse); later revived in regressed states as unconscious templates of token repetition.
2. The psychodynamics is in the Sign-use connections
The mass reaction to talk of “vulnerability”, “penetration”, “putting Arabs in charge of national security” in regard to ports, must, from the above assesement of the facts, be considered the tokens directing discharge of the peculiar sexual perversion underlying the hysterical overreaction.
This is only the first step in understanding it; without it, however, predicating on a group phenomena, the direction to look in for its explanation is undetermined. With it, and with Freud’s deciphering of dream-thoughts, the explanation in terms of motive is given by the symbolic character of the tokens.
These converge unmistakably on the fantasy of anal rape. The “port” is the harbor, where ships put in. It is the ship’s left side; displacing the “port holes” “below”, it becomes the backside, especially of “portly” people. Repeated pictures of dockside packages unleaded by cranes, from trucks, on ramps with Fox NEWS ALERT voices warning of possible weapons they might conceal, heightens the arousal. Augmented again by announcers seeming to jump up and down in their seats. Add in “vulnerability to penetration”, and the motive to ward off anal rape threatened by Arabs emerges on its own, even without the background of Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo, etc..
3 Political Exploitation of the group fantasy.
There is no doubt but the media has whipped up the case to banter Bush. Lou Dobbs, New York Rep. King, Sen. Shumer, practically all joined Corzine’s chorus. One source attributed ultra right-wing commentator Michael Savage with flicking the bic on this as a national issue, but the firestorm it set off quickly took on a life of its own.
Though essentially innocent of wrongdoing on this one means little. They’ve stolen his thunder on national security. The fact that the threat is entirely bogus just makes retaliation by the “united” more delicious. Giving back what they got (combining the push-pull of fetal-placental relations with unconscious anal rape fantasy reversal).
He can even be charged, harmlessly, with their hysteria. “What WERE You Thinking?” editorials blared. “Prez is Nuts.” Turning over control of our vulnerable, easily penetrated “ports” to swarthy Arabs. Bush didn’t do that? …characteristic of this administration. This is the unconscious thought explaining what is being acted out politically.
The political pivot that is that by turning against Bush in this way, those who have used him and his line to bugger everyone else can simply shift over from Republican to Democrat and continue the same pattern of abuse without missing a beat. On to Iran and China. Thus, upstate NY Rep. Peter King, prominent Catholic, and downstate NY Senator Charles Schumer, prominent Jew, were still out front on TV talk shows Sunday, conjoining the opposites: a show of unity across political, religious, regional boundaries, just like the Post said.
But even this all-out assault may fail to set Bush back. After the quickly arranged 45 day “cooling off” period, during which the Arab owned Dubai Port World company modifies its profile, his may appear the level-headed response to his hater’s demonstrated irrationality.
4. Timing
Though the deal was several months old, it only became big news during the week following Dick Cheney’s shooting accident.
The swap-off of energy is explained, again, through the group fantasy dynamics.
The story of Cheney was surely risible. Tough talking man’s man peppers hunting companion in face with birdshot. Another enfeebled daddy gets his karmic thunder stolen. Hee Haw – but knock it off. He’s still the V.P., there’s still a war on terror going on, “No! No! – We don’t hate him, we love him!” This is the mechanism of “reaction formation”: reversing the death-wish impulse toward The Father (in fantasy) into Love-wish expression. The symbolism of getting shot by the surrogate Father, carried by identification with the victim Harry Wittington, pushes this Dark Rapist Killer Monster image from among the most ancient among human archetype to the limit – too close to consciousness. Reaction formation, acquired elsewhere from personal childhoods, kicks in below the surface, converging with low poll numbers for the President, neutralizing the blame both bear. The media was compelled to turn FROM the Cheney story, by the consideration of not overly-offending Father; the symbolic route the unconscious followed was TO the bogus Port security threat; the psychodynamic motive is therefore defense against anal rape threat from Father, displaced onto “His enemies”, Arabs (Allah worshippers).
The following is a sustained argument in four parts that the firestorm* over United Arab Emirates ownership of US seaport facilities can be explained by Freudian psychodynamics; specifically, as unconsciously acting out defense against the group-fantasy of anal male rape. (“Gaynxiety”)
1. Hysterical over-Reaction.
David Brooks, right-wing New York Times columnist, speaks for a large segment of expert opinion on the pertinent facts of the port deal:
“But let’s be clear: the opposition to the acquisition by Dubai Ports World is completely bogus,” he writes. “The deal would have no significant effect on port security. Regardless of who operates the ports, the Coast Guard…Customs Service…harbor patrols, police...do their job” of handling physical security. (“Kicking Arabs in the Teeth”, New York Times, 2.23.06 A27)
Contrast the previous day’s New York Post editorial:
“At last: a uniter, not a divider.
“There stood President Bush yesterday, vowing to veto legislation that would prevent a company owned by the United Arab Emirates from taking operational control of six of the nation’s ports – including New York and New Jersey.” Jersey’s Sen. Jon Corzine has noisily filed suit to block the deal, citing concern for the security of his state’s people.
The Post’s editors go on to say “The UAE – and, specifically, Dubai – has been a breeding ground for terrorism …banking system provided most of the case for the 9/11 hijackers…stonewalls U.S. Treasury Department’s efforts to track al Qaeda’s bank accounts…” etc. Others link two of the 9/11 hijackers.”
Attention is called here to the enormity of the gap between sober-sided fact, over against the tenuous threads linked to terror threat. The Post’s eds are speaking with/for the “unified” – against Bush, on this one – but pulling threads to inflate threats of terror like crazy. Having no fact to support their case, there is nothing to which they can appeal except to the source of the inflation, itself – the unconscious fantasy complex.
The one thing the serious commentators agreed on was the facts in no way warranted the hullabaloo. From Tom Friedman to George Will and elsewhere, this was the reality-based judgment. The orchestrated massive outcry was the paranoid, narcissistic, homosexual complex Freud found in the case of Daniel Shreber. It is a peculiar kind of perverse sexual energy discharged along paths first established in early childhood (with whatever trauma/abuse); later revived in regressed states as unconscious templates of token repetition.
2. The psychodynamics is in the Sign-use connections
The mass reaction to talk of “vulnerability”, “penetration”, “putting Arabs in charge of national security” in regard to ports, must, from the above assesement of the facts, be considered the tokens directing discharge of the peculiar sexual perversion underlying the hysterical overreaction.
This is only the first step in understanding it; without it, however, predicating on a group phenomena, the direction to look in for its explanation is undetermined. With it, and with Freud’s deciphering of dream-thoughts, the explanation in terms of motive is given by the symbolic character of the tokens.
These converge unmistakably on the fantasy of anal rape. The “port” is the harbor, where ships put in. It is the ship’s left side; displacing the “port holes” “below”, it becomes the backside, especially of “portly” people. Repeated pictures of dockside packages unleaded by cranes, from trucks, on ramps with Fox NEWS ALERT voices warning of possible weapons they might conceal, heightens the arousal. Augmented again by announcers seeming to jump up and down in their seats. Add in “vulnerability to penetration”, and the motive to ward off anal rape threatened by Arabs emerges on its own, even without the background of Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo, etc..
3 Political Exploitation of the group fantasy.
There is no doubt but the media has whipped up the case to banter Bush. Lou Dobbs, New York Rep. King, Sen. Shumer, practically all joined Corzine’s chorus. One source attributed ultra right-wing commentator Michael Savage with flicking the bic on this as a national issue, but the firestorm it set off quickly took on a life of its own.
Though essentially innocent of wrongdoing on this one means little. They’ve stolen his thunder on national security. The fact that the threat is entirely bogus just makes retaliation by the “united” more delicious. Giving back what they got (combining the push-pull of fetal-placental relations with unconscious anal rape fantasy reversal).
He can even be charged, harmlessly, with their hysteria. “What WERE You Thinking?” editorials blared. “Prez is Nuts.” Turning over control of our vulnerable, easily penetrated “ports” to swarthy Arabs. Bush didn’t do that? …characteristic of this administration. This is the unconscious thought explaining what is being acted out politically.
The political pivot that is that by turning against Bush in this way, those who have used him and his line to bugger everyone else can simply shift over from Republican to Democrat and continue the same pattern of abuse without missing a beat. On to Iran and China. Thus, upstate NY Rep. Peter King, prominent Catholic, and downstate NY Senator Charles Schumer, prominent Jew, were still out front on TV talk shows Sunday, conjoining the opposites: a show of unity across political, religious, regional boundaries, just like the Post said.
But even this all-out assault may fail to set Bush back. After the quickly arranged 45 day “cooling off” period, during which the Arab owned Dubai Port World company modifies its profile, his may appear the level-headed response to his hater’s demonstrated irrationality.
4. Timing
Though the deal was several months old, it only became big news during the week following Dick Cheney’s shooting accident.
The swap-off of energy is explained, again, through the group fantasy dynamics.
The story of Cheney was surely risible. Tough talking man’s man peppers hunting companion in face with birdshot. Another enfeebled daddy gets his karmic thunder stolen. Hee Haw – but knock it off. He’s still the V.P., there’s still a war on terror going on, “No! No! – We don’t hate him, we love him!” This is the mechanism of “reaction formation”: reversing the death-wish impulse toward The Father (in fantasy) into Love-wish expression. The symbolism of getting shot by the surrogate Father, carried by identification with the victim Harry Wittington, pushes this Dark Rapist Killer Monster image from among the most ancient among human archetype to the limit – too close to consciousness. Reaction formation, acquired elsewhere from personal childhoods, kicks in below the surface, converging with low poll numbers for the President, neutralizing the blame both bear. The media was compelled to turn FROM the Cheney story, by the consideration of not overly-offending Father; the symbolic route the unconscious followed was TO the bogus Port security threat; the psychodynamic motive is therefore defense against anal rape threat from Father, displaced onto “His enemies”, Arabs (Allah worshippers).
posted by Sid Thomas | 8:56 PM
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