Normally, I’d ignore the rantings of the fringe, but Erica Jong sees herself as a replacement for Susan Sontag … which still makes her fringe, but noteworthy.  In an interview with Italian magazine Corriere della Sera, the Fear of Flying author makes the jump to public moonbat by predicting an armed struggle if Barack Obama loses the presidential election.  Why?  Because someone has to target the “Republican Mafia”, dagnabbit:

Basically, Jong says her fear that Obama might lose the election has developed into an “obsession. A paralyzing terror. An anxious fever that keeps you awake at night.” She also says that her friends Jane Fonda and Naomi Wolf are extremely worried that Obama will be sabotaged by Republican dirty tricks, and that if an Obama loss indeed comes to pass, the result will be a second American Civil War. …

“The record shows that voting machines in America are rigged.”

“My friends Ken Follett and Susan Cheever are extremely worried. Naomi Wolf calls me every day. Yesterday, Jane Fonda sent me an email to tell me that she cried all night and can’t cure her ailing back for all the stress that has reduces her to a bundle of nerves. … My back is also suffering from spasms, so much so that I had to see an acupuncturist and get prescriptions for Valium.”

And the #1 quote from Erica Jong?  The troop drawdown in Iraq has a secret purpose:

“If Obama loses it will spark the second American Civil War. Blood will run in the streets, believe me. And it’s not a coincidence that President Bush recalled soldiers from Iraq for Dick Cheney to lead against American citizens in the streets.”

I’d bold the more lunatic portions, but who can make that distinction?  Jong makes Truthers look almost sane.  (Almost.)

While I’m sure most of us fret constantly about the collective psychoses of Jane Fonda and Naomi Wolf, it’s difficult to see who Jong wants to impress with these statements.  If Jong is so obsessed, why isn’t she talking about this in America?  Why talk to the Italian magazine instead of getting involved to stop the Second Civil War?  I guess Jong’s commitment to democracy and her country consists of popping a few happy pills and seeing an acupuncturist.  What a patriot!

It could be worse, I guess.  Fonda could get Jong to travel to Pakistan in order to get photo ops of them operating Taliban anti-aircraft guns.

Speaking of which, by the way:  of whom does Jong’s rhetoric remind readers?  “Blood will run in the streets.”   Sounds like an echo of 1960s radical terrorists like, oh, the Weather Underground.