Mark Twain wrote : The fact that man knows right from wrong proves his intellectual superiority to other creatures; but the fact that he can do wrong proves his moral inferiority to any creature who cannot.”

I have no desire to give the foetid L.A. any more reason for press time, but I am fascinated by psychopathologies and he represents a pretty acute one. This is a man who lied, lied loudly, brought legal actions against innocent people, destroyed others willy nilly, took the applause of many, stole money, broke hearts, infected youth with cynicism and single-handedly destroyed the historical Tour de France.

And when he talks to his kid, all he can tell him is to stop defending him to his friends. He can’t even apologize to his KID, who no doubt is suffering the seven levels of hell these days. If I were the mother of those kids (all five of them), I’d be going for sole custody and all the alimony the judge would grant. And I’d be participating in some serious parental alienation.

Because sometimes it’s deserved.

I was listening to Q today on CBC and was astonished to hear panelists talk about how good-looking he was, how they could feel empathy for him as he did his “confession” (without apology) on Oprah. It goes to show how sociopaths and psychopaths have the power to convince us that they are normal, desirable, even as they break our hearts and rob our pockets.

It gives me despair for the human race. I know how capable I am of dissembling, hiding my true feelings, pretending to be something I’m not, and I don’t THINK I’m a sociopath. (I imagine I’d be wealthier if I were). It seems to be a skill we’ve been given to greater or lesser amounts, this ability to lie.

And while animals are guilty of self-interest, we are capable of totally destroying others in ways that don’t involve eating or survival.

You’ve got to wonder why.

Occasionally I feel the fingers of evil on my neck.