Shrinking Clientele

The latest from the Political Grapevine:

Shrinking Clientele

The south Florida shrink, who treated 20 Kerry supporters for trauma caused by President Bush’s re-election, says the possibility of an Ohio recount has given Democrats an outlet for their frustrations and they’ve stopped calling him for therapy.

Psychologist Douglas Schooler told The Boca Raton News that the Kerry campaign’s deafening silence after their defeat was largely responsible for the loss of appetite, sleeplessness, nightmares and pervasive moodiness associated with what the American Mental Health Association is calling Post Election Selection Trauma or PEST.

Schooler says now that Kerry has vowed that all the votes will be counted, his supporters "no longer suffer in silence." And Dr. Schooler’s phone no longer rings. But the head of the AHA, Rob Gordon, says the healing process will continue as long as Bush is in office. He adds, "He’s going to keep making mistakes and sending people into therapy."

Sylvester Says Sorry

Nearly a week after branding Secretary of State Colin Powell an Uncle Tom and calling secretary of state nominee Condoleezza Rice an Aunt Jemima on the air, Milwaukee radio host John Sylvester says he’s sorry if he offended African-Americans with his comments. When questioned last week about his racial remarks, Sylvester, who is white, did apologize to Aunt Jemima.

But in a letter sent to newspapers across the country Sylvester now says he "knows the term is not complimentary to African-American women." However, Sylvester goes on to call Rice a "black trophy" of the administration, and once again attacks the national security adviser as an "incompetent, dishonest political appointee."

Fanning the Flames?

The French government says it will allow a satellite television station with ties to the anti-Israeli terror group, Hezbollah, to continue broadcasting in France, despite increasingly violent anti-Semitism in that country. Lebanese based Al Manar has been banned for what the French government called "anti-Semitic content," but was granted its license after agreeing to no longer broadcasting programs, like one aired in January 2003, encouraging violence against Jews and accusing of them of conspiring to world dominance.

Al Manar released a statement saying the station would comply with French requirements, but went on to accuse the "Zionist entity" of attempting to silence the "voice of the Lebanese resistance."

— FOX News' Michael Levine contributed to this report