Technically, it's the unwarranted fear of the opinions of others. Looking around the bitstream this morning, I can't help but notice that this is a rather widespread disorder. More alarmingly, if left untreated, the phenomenon appears to result in full-blown autodoxaphobia. Let's take a look at some examples, and ask ourselves from whence arises such unbridled displays of craven self-loathing. Betcha anything it's academic guilt.

Kerrying the Cross

Echoing the sentiments of John Brady Kiesling with regard to our squandered diplomatic capital, Democratic presidential contender John Kerry launched a vigorous attack on the White House yesterday, going so far as to call for a domestic "regime change."

For this, as you'd expect, he immediately drew heavy fire from our stalwart Republican defenders of the plutocracy. Amusingly, Kerry is a decorated Vietnam veteran, whereas his critics, Mssrs. Hastert, DeLay, and Frist, somehow managed to avoid military service although they didn't miss this opportunity to grandstand on the issue of our men and women who are in "harm's way."

Campaign spokesman Robert Gibbs said Kerry intended no disrespect toward the commander in chief at a time of war. "Unlike many of his Republican critics, Senator Kerry has worn the uniform, served his country, seen combat, so he'd just as soon skip their lectures about supporting our troops."

They Report; We Deride

The Chicago Tribune has a brilliant analysis this morning of how FoxNews is "winning the war" against their own competition. Like it or not, Fox's jingoism plays well to the heartland:

We deride Fox News Channel for saying "us" and "our" in talking about the American war effort, a strategy that conjures images of gung-ho anchor Shepard Smith, like Slim Pickens in "Dr. Strangelove," riding a Tomahawk straight into Baghdad.

Best Served Cold

Here and there you'll find a few stories this morning about the nature of Iraqi resistance. Just exactly why are some of the locals defending their despot? Part of the answer may be a widely disseminated Iraqi training video of the 1991 uprising in Sulaymaniya, in which the citizenry massed an attack against the Baath Party security headquarters, a building known colloquially as the "Red House."

The security men's ammunition ran out. As many as 400 of them were hunted down in the building's hallways and offices and butchered. The Iraqi regime is said to have screened a video of that bloody fiasco for its security services. The message is not lost on them.

Nothing Personal

French President Chirac has sent a formal apology to the Queen of England in which he expresses his "most sincere regrets" over the recent desecration and vandalism of a British war cemetery near Boulogne by anti-war protesters.

Slogans daubed on the cemetery monument included "Dig up your waste," and "May Saddam prevail."

It Was Only a Matter of Time

We've been expecting this for the past two days, and here it comes in the guise of the UK Indepent's own Deborah Orr, who deftly surmises that "even in battle, blondes get all the attention."

Ms Lynch's story might have been made up in Hollywood, so perfect is its reflection of American values and the American dream. In fact, if a Hollywood screenwriter had made it up, the critics would have roundly condemned the story as excruciatingly cheesy, hopelessly cliched and even offensively racist.

Ribbonesque

Don't know about you, but where I live there's yellow ribbons tied up everywhere. Supposed to show support for the troops, and let them know we're wishing their safe return.

The one you see here is one of 500 that were put up in the city of Burlingame, just south of San Francisco. They're largely the handiwork of Burlingame resident Jagdeep Grewal, whose 21-year-old son is fighting in Iraq. She got permission from the mayor and went to work, and found a hundred friends to help out. Then the hate mail and death threats began arrriving. Here's a representative member of the opposition:

"I find the yellow ribbons on city property offensive to my senses," Seth Yatovitz, a 43-year-old freelance television producer, wrote in his complaint. "Please follow your own municipal codes and remove them until they are authorized. I will wait for a response before I begin an organized boycott Burlingame campaign. If I do not hear back, I will consider litigation and a request for enforcement of the violations, including fines and possible misdemeanor charges against the person involved."

Brand Awareness

We'll end on a bright note. Seems that the NCAA has taken a stand for family values.

They're not allowing this commercial, the "second generation" of Miller Lite Cat Fight Girls commercials, to be shown during televised NCAA basketball games. Here's NCAA president Myles Brand:

"There has to be some sense of decorum in commercials," Brand said. But Brand said he didn't have an opinion about whether it's proper to have any alcohol advertising during televised college sports events. "It's not clear the role they play in college drinking," Brand said. "More research needs to be done."

11:48:42 AM