Comments on: The Shame of Medicine: The Case of General Edwin Walker http://www.thefreemanonline.org/columns/the-therapeutic-state/the-shame-of-medicine-the-case-of-general-edwin-walker/ Ideas on Liberty Wed, 15 Feb 2012 04:40:14 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3 By: Stephen in São Paulo http://www.thefreemanonline.org/columns/the-therapeutic-state/the-shame-of-medicine-the-case-of-general-edwin-walker/comment-page-1/#comment-44225 Stephen in São Paulo Mon, 27 Jun 2011 04:41:56 +0000 http://www.thefreemanonline.org/?p=12028#comment-44225 Brilliant, Dr Szasz's proposal of defense expert. Brilliant, Dr Szasz’s proposal of defense expert.

]]> By: John, Sartell, MN, USA http://www.thefreemanonline.org/columns/the-therapeutic-state/the-shame-of-medicine-the-case-of-general-edwin-walker/comment-page-1/#comment-39071 John, Sartell, MN, USA Fri, 21 Jan 2011 23:06:12 +0000 http://www.thefreemanonline.org/?p=12028#comment-39071 Since when is "RACISM" a DMSV diagnosable mental illness- the moment it is I want to see thousands of 'Black Muslims' and 'Black Panthers' and 'La Raza' and similar potentially violent groups hauled into psyciatric examination. (Or is it just 'WHITE RACISM' that is a disease, not 'BLACK RACISM' or 'LATINO RACISM' or 'CHINESE RACISM'?) Some years ago in junior high one of my brothers was asked to do a presentation on mental health. He happened on one of Thomas Szasz's books in the library. Boy did the shit hit the fan. The teacher was totally unprepared for the idea that there is no such thing as 'Mental Health'. Paranoia is just two dollar word for survival stress, and such stress runs high in the military. (In males a symptom of paranoia is homophobia, in females fear of being raped and forced into prostitution.) On Walker's behavior: Perhaps he suddenly needed to go into the bushes and water a tree. Since when is “RACISM” a DMSV diagnosable mental illness- the moment it is I want to see thousands of ‘Black Muslims’ and ‘Black Panthers’ and ‘La Raza’ and similar potentially violent groups hauled into psyciatric examination. (Or is it just ‘WHITE RACISM’ that is a disease, not ‘BLACK RACISM’ or ‘LATINO RACISM’ or ‘CHINESE RACISM’?)

Some years ago in junior high one of my brothers was asked to do a presentation on mental health. He happened on one of Thomas Szasz’s books in the library. Boy did the shit hit the fan. The teacher was totally unprepared for the idea that there is no such thing as ‘Mental Health’.

Paranoia is just two dollar word for survival stress, and such stress runs high in the military. (In males a symptom of paranoia is homophobia, in females fear of being raped and forced into prostitution.)
On Walker’s behavior: Perhaps he suddenly needed to go into the bushes and water a tree.

]]> By: Jeanne Alviola http://www.thefreemanonline.org/columns/the-therapeutic-state/the-shame-of-medicine-the-case-of-general-edwin-walker/comment-page-1/#comment-35281 Jeanne Alviola Mon, 15 Nov 2010 04:00:09 +0000 http://www.thefreemanonline.org/?p=12028#comment-35281 (A second response is a continuation of the first after your response of inadequacy, since you do not want the truth.) (A second response is a continuation of the first after your response of inadequacy, since you do not want the truth.)

]]> By: Jeanne Alviola http://www.thefreemanonline.org/columns/the-therapeutic-state/the-shame-of-medicine-the-case-of-general-edwin-walker/comment-page-1/#comment-35280 Jeanne Alviola Mon, 15 Nov 2010 03:57:15 +0000 http://www.thefreemanonline.org/?p=12028#comment-35280 Weinberg had his functionary, Adam Yarmolinsky pressure McNamara to relieve the general of his command. He twice requested to resign, the first request being refused. He again made this request and after several hot disagreements with his superiors was permitted to resign. Several vicious and lying statements and charges have been levelled against this stalwart and good man; it also being untrue that he was opposed to the black student being enrolled in school. His statement regarding that incident was Kennedy sent 23,000 men to enroll one student in college. He said he would guarantee he could handle any such problem with only fifty men. Who needed to be locked up over this incident? Weinberg had his functionary, Adam Yarmolinsky pressure McNamara to relieve the general of his command. He twice requested to resign, the first request being refused. He again made this request and after several hot disagreements with his superiors was permitted to resign. Several vicious and lying statements and charges have been levelled against this stalwart and good man; it also being untrue that he was opposed to the black student being enrolled in school. His statement regarding that incident was Kennedy sent 23,000 men to enroll one student in college. He said he would guarantee he could handle any such problem with only fifty men. Who needed to be locked up over this incident?

]]> By: Jeanne Alviola http://www.thefreemanonline.org/columns/the-therapeutic-state/the-shame-of-medicine-the-case-of-general-edwin-walker/comment-page-1/#comment-35279 Jeanne Alviola Mon, 15 Nov 2010 03:46:51 +0000 http://www.thefreemanonline.org/?p=12028#comment-35279 Your statements about the late General Edwin Walker are not tempered with some truthes of his militay career. He was the first general officer to retire without an action pending against him, the second being GeneralGeorge Reed Doster who was an airforce reserve officer over Kennedy calling the defenders of the Bay of Pigs incident. Doster had served with Claire Chenault with the Flying Tigers. General Walker was notoriously and infamously smeared and persecuted by our left wing media. He was doing nothing more venal in the last false charges against him than getting out of his home and visiting with students from SMU and he told me personally that they were very smart kids. The resigned former general officer had been in Augsburg Germany over the 24th Infantry Division and had a discpline program called Pro-Blue under which moral and efficiency went up, delinquency went down and chapel attendance tripled. His troops also won the LeClerc shooting award. General Walker had identified Soviet Russi as the enemy because they were communist and knownto be aggressive toward other nations as well as heinous to their own citizens. Your statements about the late General Edwin Walker are not tempered with some truthes of his militay career. He was the first general officer to retire without an action pending against him, the second being GeneralGeorge Reed Doster who was an airforce reserve officer over Kennedy calling the defenders of the Bay of Pigs incident. Doster had served with Claire Chenault with the Flying Tigers. General Walker was notoriously and infamously smeared and persecuted by our left wing media. He was doing nothing more venal in the last false charges against him than getting out of his home and visiting with students from SMU and he told me personally that they were very smart kids. The resigned former general officer had been in Augsburg Germany over the 24th Infantry Division and had a discpline program called Pro-Blue under which moral and efficiency went up, delinquency went down and chapel attendance tripled. His troops also won the LeClerc shooting award. General Walker had identified Soviet Russi as the enemy because they were communist and knownto be aggressive toward other nations as well as heinous to their own citizens.

]]> By: Nelson Borelli http://www.thefreemanonline.org/columns/the-therapeutic-state/the-shame-of-medicine-the-case-of-general-edwin-walker/comment-page-1/#comment-17852 Nelson Borelli Mon, 28 Sep 2009 17:24:39 +0000 http://www.thefreemanonline.org/?p=12028#comment-17852 Dear "Ernie 1241" I agree with you, Walker was nots or notty. But you have to agree with me that one does not have to be mentally ill to be notty. Please forgive me for the unsolicited advice: honor your intellect. Read again Szasz's piece. His point is about the misuse (to put it mildly)of the concept of mental illness. In Walker's case as in the case of E. Pound,(another not) the State was confronted with a very difficult case to put in jail by the use of due process. Instead, by the use of Psychiatry, the state was able to detain him immediately. That was better than jail because the psychiatrists had the jail's key. Regards, Nelson Borelli, MD n-borelli@northwestern.edu Dear “Ernie 1241″
I agree with you, Walker was nots or notty. But you have to agree with me that one does not have to be mentally ill to be notty.
Please forgive me for the unsolicited advice: honor your intellect. Read again Szasz’s piece. His point is about the misuse (to put it mildly)of the concept of mental illness. In Walker’s case as in the case of E. Pound,(another not) the State was confronted with a very difficult case to put in jail by the use of due process. Instead, by the use of Psychiatry, the state was able to detain him immediately.
That was better than jail because the psychiatrists had the jail’s key.
Regards,
Nelson Borelli, MD
n-borelli@northwestern.edu

]]> By: jennifer whittall http://www.thefreemanonline.org/columns/the-therapeutic-state/the-shame-of-medicine-the-case-of-general-edwin-walker/comment-page-1/#comment-17687 jennifer whittall Thu, 24 Sep 2009 22:52:27 +0000 http://www.thefreemanonline.org/?p=12028#comment-17687 Dear Mr. Szasz What a fascinating story! Thank you for this unique essay on an uncomfortable subject. I am neither a Somebody nor, even, an American but my mother was incarcerated in Menningers' Clinic on several occasions "for her own good" during that same period of time. She was intelligent,overly articulate & shot from the hip. My father was the Canadian broker for Lloyds of London. It was deemed a good thing for her to be safely tucked up in a golf course environment ~ out-of-town. Good for business, I suppose. Anyway, Mr. Szasz, you have hit the nail on the head with this article. I completely agree with you about the Therapeutic State. Sincerely, Jennifer Dear Mr. Szasz
What a fascinating story! Thank you for this unique essay on an uncomfortable subject. I am neither a Somebody nor, even, an American but my mother was incarcerated in Menningers’ Clinic on several occasions “for her own good” during that same period of time. She was intelligent,overly articulate & shot from the hip. My father was the Canadian broker for Lloyds of London. It was deemed a good thing for her to be safely tucked up in a golf course environment ~ out-of-town. Good for business, I suppose.

Anyway, Mr. Szasz, you have hit the nail on the head with this article. I completely agree with you about the Therapeutic State.
Sincerely,
Jennifer

]]> By: ernie1241 http://www.thefreemanonline.org/columns/the-therapeutic-state/the-shame-of-medicine-the-case-of-general-edwin-walker/comment-page-1/#comment-17676 ernie1241 Thu, 24 Sep 2009 16:13:11 +0000 http://www.thefreemanonline.org/?p=12028#comment-17676 I agree that it was wrong to place Walker under "psychiatric arrest". However, what the article by Dr. Szasz does not mention is that Walker's own allies acknowledged that he sometimes appeared incoherent. J. Edgar Hoover wrote on one FBI internal memo concerning Walker that he was "a nut". Robert Welch distanced himself and the Birch Society from Walker because of his erratic behavior and Welch told his National Council members that Walker had the potential to produce "very serious embarrassment to conservatives and the conservative cause in general" if he continued to heed the advice of the people he surrounded himself with -- which was a reference to assorted racists and religious bigots that he allied himself with. Furthermore, there are very few factual accounts concerning Walker's beliefs and associations -- some of which are quite bizarre. How many people know that... (1) Walker seriously considered an offer to become the Grand Dragon of the Texas Ku Klux Klan (2) Walker's partner in the American Eagle Publishing Company (Robert Alan Surrey) was a leader of the American Nazi Party in Dallas and Surrey subsequently became Southwest Regional Coordinator and National Business Manager for the American Nazi Party (3) Walker was arrested in July 1976 and again in March 1977 for public lewdness in a Dallas City Park So, ya, it was wrong to incarcerate Walker "in the U.S. Medical Center for Prisoners for 'psychiatric observation' on suspicion that he was mentally unfit to stand trial" -- but this was a guy whom, by all accounts, may have benefited from some psychiatric intervention. I agree that it was wrong to place Walker under “psychiatric arrest”.

However, what the article by Dr. Szasz does not mention is that Walker’s own allies acknowledged that he sometimes appeared incoherent.

J. Edgar Hoover wrote on one FBI internal memo concerning Walker that he was “a nut”.

Robert Welch distanced himself and the Birch Society from Walker because of his erratic behavior and Welch told his National Council members that Walker had the potential to produce “very serious embarrassment to conservatives and the conservative cause in general” if he continued to heed the advice of the people he surrounded himself with — which was a reference to assorted racists and religious bigots that he allied himself with.

Furthermore, there are very few factual accounts concerning Walker’s beliefs and associations — some of which are quite bizarre.

How many people know that…

(1) Walker seriously considered an offer to become the Grand Dragon of the Texas Ku Klux Klan

(2) Walker’s partner in the American Eagle Publishing Company (Robert Alan Surrey) was a leader of the American Nazi Party in Dallas and Surrey subsequently became Southwest Regional Coordinator and National Business Manager for the American Nazi Party

(3) Walker was arrested in July 1976 and again in March 1977 for public lewdness in a Dallas City Park

So, ya, it was wrong to incarcerate Walker “in the U.S. Medical Center for Prisoners for ‘psychiatric observation’ on suspicion that he was mentally unfit to stand trial” — but this was a guy whom, by all accounts, may have benefited from some psychiatric intervention.

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