And why is she dumber than soup? It is not entirely because of this errant nonsense:

At a Senate Judiciary Committee meeting on Thursday, Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-California) opposed an amendment to her Assault Weapons Ban legislation that would allow military veterans to continue to buy the firearms that would be banned. Feinstein says a veteran may be mentally ill and should be prevented from purchasing firearms.

It’s because of this errant nonsense:

“The problem [said Feinstein] with expanding this is that, you know, with the advent of PTSD, which I think is a new phenomenon as a product of the Iraq War…”

“…as a product of the Iraq War.”

(pause)

Wasn’t Dianne Feinstein supposed to be the bright one from California?

Moe Lane (crosspost)

PS: OK, for the benefit of any liberal Democrat (or other kind of historical illiterate) reading this… the properties of post-traumatic stress disorder were first codified in the Vietnam era, and became an actual recognized condition in 1980. Something like it had been suspected for some time previously, of course: the conditions of World War I were sufficiently horrific that doctors started realizing that something was going on (the term was ‘shell shock,’ which phrase has by the way long since been incorporated into Standard English). Translation: contra Feinstein’s mistaken belief (click the link), PTSD was a condition prior to, during, and after the last “assault weapons ban.”

MORE TO THE POINT, Senator Feinstein, the link between PTSD and actual premeditated aggression is weak at best. Sufferers (who are not all military, by the way) are much more likely to suffer from depression, self-harm, and increased problems with anger and impulsive aggression… but sufferers are NOT picking up guns and starting shooting sprees left and right. They’re just portrayed that way by lazy and ignorant scriptwriters – who are usually from, hey, California!

Again: I expect this kind of abject stupidity and pop-culture psychoanalysis from Barbara Boxer. But when it comes to national security issues, Dianne Feinstein is supposed to be the smart one of the two.