Charles Shiflett Column June 20, 2004

Do You Have OCCD?

There's a new illness sweeping our nation, and it's very likely some of your friends or family members
may already have it. You may even be infected yourself! The symptoms range from mild to severe, but
upon close observation even milder symptoms are usually noticeable. Ironically, those with this
disease very rarely know they have it, and will probably laugh at you or even get angry if you suggest
to them the possibility of them being ill.

Most physicians and healthcare facilities are not aware of this illness. A call to the American Medical
Association revealed no knowledge of the disease in their database. Likewise, the World Health
Organization was totally ignorant on the subject. How could this be? With millions of Americans
suffering from this infirmity, you would think the media would be cranking out numerous news stories -
but there's been nothing.

This disease is often referred to by its acronym: OCCD. While it strikes without regard for sex, race, or
age - it is more common among college students, females of all ages, and those from the northeastern
U.S. It is in almost epidemic status in Canada. Gwen O'Looney, former director of the Family and
Children Services office in Athens, Georgia, suffers from OCCD and she lost her job because of it.

As a child welfare director, O'Looney - ignoring the law - twice instructed welfare workers to flush
marijuana down a toilet in order to spare a teenager from criminal possession charges. She felt the
situation would be better handled by social workers than by the judicial system. She ignored a state
law requiring any welfare agency employee to report knowledge of a child involved with drugs to
juvenile court.

Many believe O'Looney shouldn't be held accountable for her actions. It could be reasoned that she
wouldn't have risked her career if not for OCCD. Unfortunately, there is no OCCD support network for
O'Looney or others afflicted by this disorder. Perhaps some attorney out there will develop a legal
defense based upon OCCD for people like O'Looney.

We see OCCD in America's courtrooms, where liberal judges would rather release criminals or place
them on probation instead of removing them from our nation's streets. We see OCCD in the demands
of the International Red Cross that the U.S. either charge Saddam Hussein with crimes or release him
by June 30th. We see OCCD in our churches where Biblical truths are set-aside in order that no one is
offended.

We see OCCD in our schools, where children are promoted to the next grade level despite being
unprepared. OCCD is also prevalent among those who would take children away from classroom
instruction time in order for them to jump rope or walk around a track to raise money for some charity.
Those who design sports and games for children where everyone wins and there are no champions
usually suffer from OCCD as well. Life is all about competition, but don't tell them that.

OCCD is rampant among those who help illegal aliens by supplying free services, food, and healthcare
instead of turning these people over to immigration officials for deportation. They only encourage more
illegals to come here through their actions. Additionally, OCCD shows up among those who would
rather give someone a handout and send him on his way instead of working with that needy person to
change the behavior that caused the person to be needy in the first place.

People with OCCD are generally opposed to tax cuts or reforms of government social service
agencies. They like to take money from achievers and redistribute it to those less fortunate. They
detest expensive cars, homes, and boats - thinking about how much good they could accomplish with
your money. They forget it's your money and that many of their neighbors depend on production of
those expensive items for their livelihood.

Those suffering with OCCD will tell you they care about others and this is what motivates them.
Charity and helping your fellow man are admirable traits and we should all be so inclined. But forcibly
taking time or money from one group to help another goes against everything this nation was founded
on - personal property rights. And breaking the law to help others is just as bad.

So what is OCCD? According to talk show host Neal Boortz, who coined the phrase - it's “Obsessive
Compulsive Compassion Disorder”. Forget accountability, forget reason, forget logic, and don't worry
about the long-term consequences of your compassionate actions. As long as you feel good about
helping someone, the ends justify the means. Right?

To those of you who think I'm being a little hard-hearted today, I have an excuse. I'm suffering from
MGISIG: “My gallbladder is shot and I'm grumpy”. If everything goes as planned, my gallbladder will be
happily resting in a biomedical waste dump tomorrow night and maybe next Sunday's column will be a
little more compassionate - without the obsessive compulsive part.