Conservative> Debra Saunders> Norway S Definition Of Insanity Is Well

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Norway's Definition of Insanity Is, Well...

In AMC's zombie series, "The Walking Dead," tensions build between an old-fashioned veterinarian farmer, named Hershel Greene — who thinks zombies have a disease that may be cured someday — and a caravan of gun-packing refugees, led by Deputy Rick Grimes. Because Hershel wants to protect the zombies he has hidden in his barn, he orders Rick and company to leave his property — even though leaving could make Rick, his family and his friends easy pickings for the undead.

It's disturbing how self-congratulatory humanitarians can be willing to endanger the lives of others in order to maintain their worldview.

In Norway, an insanity defense requires a defendant be psychotic — so out of touch he cannot control his own actions — while committing a crime. Somehow this week, two forensic psychiatrists determined that Anders Behring Breivik, 32, was insane when he methodically killed 77 people July 22.

Breivik has admitted that he set off a car bomb in Oslo, killing eight, and then gunned down 69 people, mostly teenagers, in an island summer camp. But he has refused to plead guilty on the grounds that his actions were "atrocious but necessary" in service to his crusade to "save" Europe from Marxism and a "Muslim invasion."

The maximum criminal sentence in Norway is 21 years — although authorities can extend prison time for those deemed to be a danger to society. Thus, Breivik had reason to believe that disguised as a police officer, he could shoot up a camp full of teenagers, lay down his weapons and surrender — and he still might go free in his 50s.

If the forensics board backs up the insanity finding, a court could commit Breivik to three years of psychiatric care.

It's unlikely, but he could be out in his 30s.

In an email, University of Oslo psychology professor Svenn Torgersen explained, "At least every three years, he can be assessed. If he is non-psychotic, and in addition considered no threat to other people, he will be free, and no new court case. Yes, many psychiatrists and psychologists are surprised."

Prosecutor Svein Holden supported the "delusional" finding as he told reporters that Breivik's "thoughts and acts are governed by this universe." And: "He sees himself as chosen to decide who shall live and who shall die and that he is chosen to save what he calls his people."

Swedish forensic psychiatrist Anders Forsman, however, told The Associated Press: "It is difficult to see this as criminal insanity. He seems to have carried out the killings in a rational way. He is an efficient killing machine."

Consider these words from Breivik's terrorist manifesto: "Once you decide to strike, it is better to kill too many than not enough, or you risk reducing the desired ideological impact of the strike." For a man not in control of his thoughts or actions, he sure did what he wanted to do.

News accounts indicate that Norwegians could accept an insanity finding as long as Breivik spends the rest of his life in government custody. But Oslo deliberately prohibits life sentences, even for the most heinous crimes. Politicians boast about the nation's humane criminal justice system, with its commitment to redemption.

So why do I think Oslo's chosen experts have decided that Breivik was insane? They're so sublime that they don't know how to recognize evil.

Email Debra J. Saunders at dsaunders@sfchronicle.com. To find out more about Debra J. Saunders and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.

Comments

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You gotta hand it to Ms. Saunders. She is independent and calls them as she sees them, regardless of the politics.

All I would add to this succinct and hit-the-bullseye indictment is that, like President Newt, the whole crop of Republican contenders falls so breathtakingly short of being worthy of consideration for anything other than late night comedy, it is an utter embarrassment for the nation that they are actually taken seriously. And a tragedy for the planet.

Get ready for four more years of President Obama. On the bright side, he doesn't slobber all over himself, he has a positive IQ, he's not a jerk, liar, hypocrite, fantasy addict, chameleon, weirdo, etc., and he will have had four years of solid, on-the-job training (which we have all paid dearly for, and might as well start getting a return on) when he goes into his fifth year of being president.

Comment: #1
Posted by: Masako
Wed Nov 30, 2011 9:14 PM

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Masako
It saddens me to read posts by an eloquent individual saying wrong things. Candidate Obama started off lying about public campaign financing, how he would use that. He decided later that a financial advantage in the election was worth changing his stance.
President Obama uses the tricks and twists and vagaries of all politician. He has the hubris to believe his vision alone is best. He laments the equal powers of a duely elected congress. He warps context to claim different meaning from his past statements. He is an exemplary politician, but nearly a failed president.
And you seem to take a page from the man himself, willfully neglecting so many distasteful aspects of President Obama that one begins to question your integrity. If you must denigrade those you disagree with, please at least don't lie so egrigiously about your candidate.
I for one would hate to see the mess after 8 years if "On the job training"

Comment: #2
Posted by: riposte
Sat Dec 3, 2011 12:15 AM

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Re: riposte. Oh, please, buddy, take a breath. All politicians engage in the tricks of the trade. Try out Mars if you think somewhere there is better available.

Obama has made huge mistakes, no doubt about it. The problem with the Republican candidates, with the possible exception of Huntsman, is that they just aren't big league material, and the level of denial they surround themselves with is truly dangerous.

The on-the-job training thing is no joke. One of the greatest weaknesses of our system is that we do invest dearly in the "training" of our leaders, only to have them tossed out, regardless of their competence and the acquisition of skills they have gained by being in their post, every time the political tide changes.

Obama had no executive experience when he came into office, and that, in fact, was the most serious and legitimate criticism leveled against him by the Repes and even some Dems. You do learn, just as Clinton dramatically did after his first two years, and Obama clearly has as well.

Think carefully about installing some sophomoric idiot like Cain or let's-just-forget-the-past hypocrite like Gingrich. See Shields' column here about the damage just the election process alone will do if someone like them is the candidate.

I was hopeful about Romney at first, because he does have executive experience and business acumen and clearly could do a good job, but I (and the voters, I believe) can't get past that pathological liar syndrome he shows no sign of shaking any time soon.

It's just a bad crop out there. They don't have the leadership heart and soul to stand up to the strong sentiment of movements like the tea party and lead the herd instead of being shoved out of the corral by it.

Comment: #3
Posted by: Masako
Sat Dec 3, 2011 10:09 AM

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