Mandatory mental health screening? Puh-leeeze...

I proudly plead guilty to making direct analogies between the Bush League's political doublespeak and the origin of the phrase, as coined in Orwell's 1984. I feel they have been, and still are, justified.

I also know the difference between informed caution and abject paranoia.

I will, of course, man the barricades with Mary Anne, Tom, and most others on this Board in defence of my liberty, and my freedom to refuse medical examination, and my freedom to refuse medication. But I do not see it coming. As badly misinformed as Bush and Ashcroft are about the meaning of the Constitution, I cannot envision anything close to this idea becoming reality.

On the other hand, I consider the source.

On a more practical level -- I happen to be not totally without an informed impression of the state of the mental health profession (some might say "industry") as practiced in this country at this time. It would be impossible to find enough qualified professionals to examine the entire population (including each other!). If such a law were to pass -- and therein lies the 'paranoid delusion' of my post's title -- the result of such examinations could, and would, be immediately challenged in court.