I am beginning to worry about the sanity of the Left. Bush Derangement Syndrome was bad enough. Could any human being so thoroughly epitomize the quintessence of evil that the Bush of the Left’s imagination conjured up? But watching BDS suddenly displaced by an epidemic of Palin Hysteria Syndrome has left me positively alarmed. Have these people taken leave of their senses?
Like many observers, I fully expected to Left to attack her. We are, after all, in a partisan political race and criticizing the other side is a large part of what politics is all about. A few days ago, I quoted William Kristol, who observed in The Weekly Standard that
what we will see in the next days and weeks . . . is an effort by all the powers of the old liberalism, both in the Democratic party and the mainstream media, to exorcise [the spectre of Sarah Palin]. They will ridicule her and patronize her. They will distort her words and caricature her biography. They will appeal, sometimes explicitly, to anti-small town and anti-religious prejudice. All of this will be in the cause of trying to prevent the American people from arriving at their own judgment of Sarah Palin.
And so it has transpired, but with a virulence and panic-driven hysteria that I find astonishing. Sarah Palin has acted like a sort of locoweed on the media and Team Obama. She stunned them, not into silence (alas) but into a frenzy of groundless vituperation. Watching it is like watching someone suffer an epileptic fit. Quick, fetch me a tongue depressor!
If (mirabile dictu) I were asked to give one bit of advice to the Obama campaign (a group whose membership includes, ex officio, as it were, the professoriate, the main stream media, and other representatives of the so-called cultural elite) it would be this: give up criticizing Palin for her supposed lack of experience. Just give it a rest. As has been repeatedly pointed out in the last few days, Palin has run a company, a town, and the largest state in the republic. No only does she have more executive experience than Obama, she has more executive experience than Obama, Biden, and John McCain put together. Experience is not the issue. As my friend Jay Nordlinger observed with his customary pithiness, “The reason — the main reason — to oppose Barack Obama is not that he lacks experience but that he is a leftist. The reason [for those on the Left] to oppose Palin is that she is a conservative.”
What worries me is how the Left is going cope come the election. Their hysteria about Sarah Palin simultaneously shows that they know deep down that something has gone terribly wrong with Obama’s Children’s “Yes-we-can” Crusade and that they are unable to acknowledge the damage. Their hysteria signals both their panic and their blindness. I predict that on the morning of that fateful day in early November they are going to be like Pauline Kael the day after the 1972 election when Richard Nixon won 49 states: “How could that be?” a bewildered Kael asked. “I don’t know a single person who voted for Nixon.” The disillusionment this time will be even more bitter. I suggest that caring Republicans consider establishing emergency telephone hotlines and outpatient trauma centers in demographically susceptible areas–New York City, for example, Ann Arbor, all of the states of Massachusetts and Vermont, etc.–in order to cope with the shock that their burst bubble will undoubtedly cause.
At bottom, this election is not about “change” or “experience” but about culture, which is to say it is about what we value as individuals and as citizens. It is about some very basic questions: what matters most in a society? How should we live our lives? What place does love of country, of family, of freedom have in the economy of our hopes and ambitions? The crises of the last several years–the threat of Islamic terrorism, economic instability, a newly rampant Russia and Iran–have pushed such questions out of the limelight. But Sarah Palin–the pro-life, gun toting, seriously religious hockey mom and aggressive political reformer–has suddenly brought them back into vogue. As Thomas Lifson notes, “Liberals have long lamented the existence of two nations in America. They are right to do so today, but in a way they never meant. It is not the divide between rich and poor which soon will be causing serious pain on the left. Sarah Palin’s pending nomination for Vice President is exposing the depth of the cultural divide between Middle America and the leftists who have taken over the education, media, and cultural establishment of our country.”
With the victory of John McCain and Sarah Palin, the hegemony of the left-wing establishment in those cultural redoubts will be fundamentally challenged. The Left senses, even if it has yet to face up to, this reality. That is why they are so hysterical. And it is one reason they will wake up repeating the Pauline Kael lament in November.
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173 Comments
1. LSD:One has to question the left’s strategy of of leveraging against the teenage pregnancy of Palin’s daughter:
Obama is on the record with his description of the unplanned child of a single mother as a ‘penalty.’ Palin’s assessment is that the decision to have the baby will require her daughter to mature more quickly and that the birth is anticipated by a loving extended family.
With this sort of contrast, the hysterical-attack strategy seems especially stupid.
Sep 3, 2008 - 8:03 am 2. Richard Porter:The Frontier hypothesis of Frederick Jackson Turner and Sarah Palin
Frederick Jackson Turner was probably the most influential American historian of the late 19th and early 20th century. His hypothesis, which was laid out at the Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893, specified that the American character differed from its European roots by virtue of the frontier. The frontier produced a new type of citizen - one with the power to tame the wild and one upon whom the wild had conferred strength and individuality. As successive generations moved further west, shifting the lines of settlement and wilderness, European distinctiveness fell by the wayside and the old country’s institutions (e.g. churches, aristocracies, intrusive government, and class-based land distribution) became increasingly out of place. Every generation moved further west and became more American, more democratic, and as intolerant of hierarchy as they were removed from it. They became more individualistic, more distrustful of authority, and more dependent on ad-hoc organizations they formed themselves. The very institutions that Alexis de Tocqueville marveled at in helping define American exceptionalism. In broad terms, the further west, the more American the community became.
I believe Sarah Palin reflects that Western can-do mentality. She entered politics to fix local institutions that weren’t working and ultimately successfully attacked the one-party Republican regime that ran the State of Washington in the interest of itself and not the people. When I heard her on the radio last week from Dayton, it did sound to me like a breath of fresh air for the Republican brand, which has been tarnished by spending too much time in Washington and on K Street. One might think they believe as Democrats that government spending creates wealth and, of course, more government creates more wealth. Such may be true for the denizens of Arlington and Fairfax Counties in Virginia and Montgomery County in Maryland but not for the country as a whole. That fresh spirit appears to be part of the frontier mindset, where one careless mistake can do one in. It echoes the waste-not want not precepts that my grandparents imbued in me.
Sep 3, 2008 - 8:58 am 3. Self-hating boomer:LSD, it’s not a strategy. That’s the point of the piece. It’s a panic convulsion. Sarah Palin, in multiple ways, strikes at the left’s sense of identity. What you’re seeing is roughly equivalent to the self-destruction of Veejer (original Star Trek series) when given a paradox.
[Non-sequitur! Non-sequitur! *Boom!*]
Sep 3, 2008 - 9:15 am 4. Ruth M:The fear that is being displayed and published so fervently is not the fear of “change” or “inexperience” but the fear of “Normal”. Governor Sarah Palin represents the “normal” Americans and the “real” American experience. There is no cure for normal. This is what has the MMS & the Leftist panties is a twist. She is not some packaged up, degreed lawyer who never really practiced her craft. She is a real person, who has lived a normal life and with her husband raised a normal family. The Leftists just don’t know what to do about “normal.” So they are trying to exterminate it and innoculate themselves from it. They need to practice the Yoga breathing (In, out, in, out, in, out, in, out, in, out, in). now don’t you feel better?
Sep 3, 2008 - 9:21 am 5. LSD:Self-hating Boomer:
I believe you’re right. But when Obama’s staff rallies minions to attack the likes of our host Roger for unabashed use of his bow-tie, or support of Jerome Corsi, it seems both spastic and organized. It’s like the campaign has two faces.
Sep 3, 2008 - 9:34 am 6. Self-hating boomer:Much is going on, all at the same time. The primary Obama constituency, which is blacks and the MoveOn crowd, are terrified that victory is being snatched from their jaws. They’re in a panic. Feminists, who were already ambivalent about Obama, are are in a state of identity crisis.
But there’s a particular subset of the MoveOn crowd - the environmentalists - who see the biggest reversal in fortunes in the history of the environmental movement. They’re the ones who are in a Jim Jones style panic, because they see themselves at the saviors of the universe, and they see all of their heroic efforts being wiped out by an uppity woman.
If you want to understand who’s pooping bricks, it’s the Gore brigade. The rich ones stand to lose their investments in carbon-trading schemes. The not-so-rich ones stand to lose their identity. Of course their drawers are soiled.
Sep 3, 2008 - 9:42 am 7. Tio Roger sabe das coisas… | Dicta & Contradicta:[...] e Barack that´s not a nigger´s name* Obama), esqueça tudo o que leu na imprensa nacional. Leiam Roger Kimball que, em poucas palavras, resume a verdadeira questão por trás desta [...]
Sep 3, 2008 - 10:07 am 8. Pat:Self-hating boomer, that was Nomad. V’ger didn’t appear in the Original Series, was not presented with a paradox, and did not self-destruct.
Sep 3, 2008 - 10:48 am 9. Pajamas Media » Introducing … Palin Derangement Syndrome!:[...] the entire post here [...]
Sep 3, 2008 - 10:51 am 10. Teplost:“…because they see themselves at the saviors of the universe, and they see all of their heroic efforts being wiped out by an uppity woman.”-Self-hating boomer
Yes, indeed! “The best laid schemes o mice an men Gang aft agley.” - Burns
Sep 3, 2008 - 10:56 am 11. Chris of Rights:Vetting Sarah Palin.
Sep 3, 2008 - 11:02 am 12. tanstaafl:Cute couple, Bristol and Levi
Sep 3, 2008 - 11:07 am 13. DEGUELLO:Palin wil be a formidable threat to liberalism, both politically,and culturally;therefore, they have to destroy her by any means,no matter how loathsome.
Sep 3, 2008 - 11:12 am 14. tanstaafl:McCain aides whose judgment I trust are impressed by Sarah Palin. One was particularly amused by this exchange: A nervous young McCain staffer took it upon himself to explain to Palin the facts of life in a national campaign, the intense scrutiny she’d be under from the media, the viciousness of the assault that she’d be facing, etc.:
Palin: “Thanks for the warning. By the way, do you know what they say the difference is between a hockey mom and a Pit Bull?”
McCain aide: “No, Governor.”
Palin: “A hockey mom wears lipstick.”
Kristol on Sarah Palin, Hockey Mom
Sep 3, 2008 - 11:13 am 15. barrybarryquitecontrary.com:Roger - “Have these people taken leave of their senses?”
There is a very compelling case made, that yes, liberal socialists are in varying stages of losing thier minds.
Read: The Liberal Mind - The Psychological Causes of Political Madness by Lyle H. Rossiter, jr., M.D.
Dr. Rossiter is board certified in general and forensic psychiatry and has diagnosed and treated mental disorders for more than forty years.
Be forewarned, this book is a scientific and clinical writing. For many it may seem too clinical. Since I work in orthopaedic spine surgery it was extremely refreshing to find out that there is actually clinical evidence for what we as conservatives have been feeling and thinking for a long time. Liberals are losing, or have lost theirs minds regarding individual rights to freedom and property. Collectivism is a socially transmitted disease.
Sep 3, 2008 - 11:13 am 16. xqqme:There’s nothing the matter with Kansas! The ‘progressives’ really thought they had this one sewn up. (The Dems could have won this if they didn’t choose such a ‘leftist’) I feel sorry for all their ‘outreach’ efforts that went for naught.
Sep 3, 2008 - 11:24 am 17. Fallon:Nothing re-energizes voters more than the opposition’s terrible behavior.
I thought the press would celebrate the first Republican woman on a presidential ticket, but they truly fear her. Interesting and perplexing.
Remember, “We are the ones we have been waiting for.” I guess Governor Palin was the one they didn’t expect. The press has been fervently waiting for Godot/Obama for so long. They were sooo close to being saved. Maybe next time…
Sep 3, 2008 - 11:27 am 18. dvd:Why Dems to be surprised in Nov? “People like me; who have not voted for more than 25 years, will be coming off the bench.”….
obama is a communist/ socialist, his staff has failed to understand that in the history of American politics, when a socialist actually calls himself a socialist he loses. SO here we are, an unfolding campaign between a socialist and a hero of American values.
obama has no economic literacy, none at all. while Palin was negotiating the Alaska pipeline deal, obama was negotiating with black liberation theologists to please shut up.
pretty clear to anyone, not, just a few years removed from any college campus.
the human potential isnt something to be assigned to a cabal of self interested elitists….every single day i remind myself, that this congress sustains an approval rating below 12%……for me, that says it all.
Palin took on the establishment, the business as usual bought and paid for class of alaska……mcCain the same in the low approval body….together they represent the only change we’ve been waiting for.
God bless them.
Sep 3, 2008 - 11:31 am 19. tanstaafl:I became slightly familiar with that book awhile ago.
It has helped to view some of the things that have been said and written in the MSM and the blogosphere (especially over the past few days) in the light of psychosis.
Excerpts from The Liberal Mind
Sep 3, 2008 - 11:34 am 20. 49erDweet:S-hb, If by “blacks” you mean [what I call] “professional blacks”, I agree. Many blacks I know are not of that ilk, and are more and more troubled with the recent ugliness unleashed by BHO and his staff.
And I believe Richard Porter meant to write “State of Alaska” not “Washington”.
Watch out! The fun starts now! The left once again implodes. Unbelievable. But much appreciated.
Sep 3, 2008 - 11:39 am 21. Mark:t
Richard Porter writes:
“The Frontier hypothesis of Frederick Jackson Turner and Sarah Palin . . . .”
Great post. Very thoughtful and insightful. (Got the state wrong, but that’s o.k.!)
Sep 3, 2008 - 11:45 am 22. Tired Old Cliche:Yeah yeah … everybody on the left has BDS, CDS (Cheney Derangement Syndrome), MDS (McCain Derangement Syndrome), and now PDS.
Sep 3, 2008 - 11:49 am 23. barrybarryquitecontrary.com:And everyone on the right has ODS, CDS-2 (Clinton Derangement Syndrome), and BDS-2 (Biden Derangement Syndrome).
Blah blah blah … the year 2000 called, they want their tired old cliche back.
Why don’t you pundits on the left and the right both try writing something original for a change.
Excerpted from: The Liberal Mind - Lyle H. Rossiter, jr., M.D.
The Psychopatholgy of the Liberal Mind
“In his determination to control the world, he constantly defends himself against what Karen Horney aptly described as the most basic of human fears: being alone and helpless in a dangerous, indifferent world, the nightmare of the abandoned, terrified child. Persons plagued with such fears easily conclude that it is in their greatest interest to dominate others, or to imagine that they can, and to set about achieving that goal through the manipulation of government power.”
In my opinion, this excerpt could be describing Barack Obama’s life of abandonment. It may shed some light on why he systematically controlled his environment leading up to and begining his run for President of the United States with so little experience. Experience doesn’t matter, control matters. I’m not making a judgement on his abandoment. It wasn’t good or bad, it just was. But understanding the liberal mind is helpful since so little of what they do makes sense.
Sep 3, 2008 - 11:58 am 24. barrybarryquitecontrary.com:Tired Old Cliche - Read Lyle H. Rossiter, jr., M.D. “The Liberal Mind” and come back and join in with something intelligent to say. We’ll be waiting.
The truth invites inspection… always!
Sep 3, 2008 - 12:03 pm 25. Aaron:Wait, is “Bush Derangement Syndrome” the condition of the 29% or so of people who insist that he’s doing a good job? I didn’t have time to read the Wikipedia thing.
Sep 3, 2008 - 12:07 pm 26. always right:Yes, I really like the ‘Citizens of the World, Meet the American down-to-earth Mommy Executive’ metaphore.
Sep 3, 2008 - 12:12 pm 27. Robert Hahn:The Obama campaign can only watch in horror as their carefully-scripted victory is smashed on the rocks by people trying to help. Obama’s fans in the blogosphere — and in the legacy media — cannot now be stopped. They will attack, and attack, and attack. They will do the most thorough job of publicly stoning a woman and her children the world has ever seen. Saudi honor killings will seem tame compared to what professional journalism has in store for Sarah Palin.
All of this will done in the hopes of aiding the Obama campaign.
What it will do instead is bring forth one of the most powerful cultural forces uniting humanity: the visceral urge to rush to the aid of threatened women and children.
The smarter heads in the Obama campaign are probably realizing this as we speak. But they will not be able to make it stop. The Kossacks, the Frank Rich’s, the Ron Forniers, the Campbell Browns and the Wolf Blitzers will not be able to contain their already-on-display hatred of this threat to their politics. They will cut, and slash, and burn, no matter how loudly their Messiah asks them to stop. They think they are helping. They think they are destroying The Enemy.
They are destroying themselves.
Sep 3, 2008 - 12:15 pm 28. Herb:You gotta love the right wing…
Unable to comprehend why reasonable people might not be so ecstatic over their methods and ideas, they go directly to diagnosing all dissenters as insane.
Keep up the good work, guys. And never, ever look in a mirror.
Sep 3, 2008 - 12:18 pm 29. Everett Parker:Overheard fictional dialog:
“My dear, Buffy actually met an Alaskan once when she and Garrett were at the club. They had to offer him a tie for the dining room. Can you imagine?”
Sep 3, 2008 - 12:30 pm 30. Dick Stanley:Right, adults picking on a seventeen-year-old girl is not insane. That’s normal behavior.
Sep 3, 2008 - 12:31 pm 31. ProgMeister:The left is losing their minds? I see what appear to be adult human beings salivating over the The Golden Vagina from Wasilla … and they’re all hard-core righties who want to force women to bear the children of rapists and incestuous uncles.
Pathetic.
Sep 3, 2008 - 12:34 pm 32. barrybarryquitecontrary.com:Herb - When you can present me with a comprehensive clinical writing on conservatism that is written by a board certified forensic pshychiatrist with 40+ years of clinical experience I’ll read it.
Dr. Rossiter’s expert clinical opinion is used in the court of law all over the United States. As a clinician myself, it is not “right wing” to inspect Dr. Rossiter’s analysis, it is called evidence that demands a verdict. If you want to question Dr. Rossiter’s study methods and assumptions you must first read his work. Until then, you are being intelletually dishonest. If it’s working for you, keep it up, if not, you could try exposing your intellect to differing points of view.
Collectivisim is a socially transmitted disease! This is my educated analysis.
Sep 3, 2008 - 12:37 pm 33. OLDPUPPYMAX:Very well said and right on the money. Nothing is more frightening to the left than the threat of awakening the sleeping American public to the unending attack on our culture and society, which is the religion of this Marxist media and democrat horde. Neither their agenda, nor its dangers must be exposed. Palin’s life story does just that, because it represents the values with which Americans identify, and the lack of values which so clearly identifies the left.
Sep 3, 2008 - 12:39 pm 34. Evil Pundit:The behaviour of some segments of the Left is looking more pathological every day. Is there any prospect for a cure?
Sep 3, 2008 - 12:41 pm 35. jay:Aaron
“Wait, is “Bush Derangement Syndrome” the condition of the 29% or so of people who insist that he’s doing a good job?”
No, he’s talking about the 18% that thinks Pelosi’s congress is doing a good job.
Sep 3, 2008 - 12:44 pm 36. jay:Herb:
Sep 3, 2008 - 12:46 pm 37. Joshua:How’s your mirror?
ProgMeister - Breath, breath… go take your medication and come back and post in 1 hour when the selective seratonin re-uptake inhibitors kick in.
That is, unless you are deliberately perpetuating your insanity defense. Then carry on!
P.S. If the former, get a hug too, that always helps!
Sep 3, 2008 - 12:47 pm 38. Consanescerion:Progressives hate women breeders. They tolerate women who have one or two children if they’re liberal, but in general, but they hate heterosexual women with many children. They hate them with a purple passion. The only acceptable women to them are feminists who are lesbians or breeders with few children. Their literature over the years makes this clear.
So it’s no mystery that they are going out of their minds about Gov. Palin.
Sep 3, 2008 - 12:54 pm 39. Consanescerion:my bad… pls. strike the “but in general”.
Sep 3, 2008 - 12:55 pm 40. Aaron:Jay, those of us in that 18% have redefined our expectation of Congress — it is to keep Bush from screwing up anything else before leaving office. I still don’t know if they’ll succeed. Crossing my fingers.
Sep 3, 2008 - 12:56 pm 41. jay:Aaron:
Sep 3, 2008 - 1:06 pm 42. Scott Somerville:Is that what they call being lazy and good for nothing? Actually don’t bother replying. I really don’t care.
Sarah Palin is a pioneer woman who can take what the left has coming at her.
You don’t crack the highest, hardest glass ceiling in the world by sucking up to the media elites. (Ask Hillary!) You do it by taking on the good old boys in a corrupt establishment–whether they are Republican Senators or the twisted minds at the New York Times.
Sep 3, 2008 - 1:10 pm 43. Herb:barrybarryquitecontrary.com, I don’t believe I said anything about Dr. Rossiter or his sublime study. If he proved scientifically that liberalism is a mental disorder, why haven’t his views been accepted by the mainstream?
(And don’t say the mainstream is a hotbed of liberal contempt for traditional values. Depending on the circumstances, the mainstream may move left or right, but either way, it’s where most people are swimming. That’s the very definition of mainstream. Count me among those who don’t like the fact that “mainstream” has been turned into a pejorative.)
Jay, My mirror is fine, thank you very much. You see, I just disagree with the Palin pick. I don’t think her supporters are crazy. Subtle, I know, but surely you can see the difference.
Sep 3, 2008 - 1:22 pm 44. barrybarryquitecontrary.com:Evil Pundit - “The behaviour of some segments of the Left is looking more pathological every day. Is there any prospect for a cure?”
Excerpted from: The Liberal Mind - Lyle H. Rossiter, jr., M.D.
Spontaneous Remission
“Like other ocnditions arising from early developmental trauma the liberal neurosis tends to persist over time. It endures for many reasons already noted: it defends powerfully against psychic pain, gratifies primitive needs for hope and attachment, promises to satisfy dependency longings, endorses self-centeredness and self-indulgence, wards off shame, discharges aggression, avenges envy, mitigates feelings of inferiority, and provides identity, affiliation and self-esteem, to name a few benefits. Nevertheless, some liberals, even those of radical bent, are able eventually to renounce the madness of liberalism and become competent adults. What usually triggers these conversions are the recurrent collisions of the liberal agenda with the realities of adult life, especially those that expose the agenda’s irrational nature and destructive consequences.”
So, in a word, yes, it can be overcome but there must be sustained effort which will confront liberals with the reality of adult decisions. If we continue to give them entitlement handouts and absolve them from the consequences of their behavior, healthy conversion will not take place. As a result, society will gradually devolve into the proverbial, “Inmates running the asylum.”
Sep 3, 2008 - 1:26 pm 45. Tired Old Cliche:barrybarry …
Sep 3, 2008 - 1:33 pm 46. Joseph Somsel:You’re making pretend that the republicans are holy and perfect. This is incorrect.
My whole point is that if the roles were reversed, the far right would be reacting the exact same way the far left is reacting now.
The far left and the far right are exactly the same, and react the exact same way to situations.
The over-used “Derangement Syndrome” cliche is a perfect example … both the far left and the far right display psychotic symptoms like that.
I’m in the energy business and I’ve watched the leftists slowly gain control over our energy supplies, one little bite at a time. Most people didn’t care since the lights stayed on and gas stations still pumped at a reasonable price. For most people, this has been a MEGO issue.
That’s changing rapidly. People are waking up to the knots we’ve tied ourselves into over energy and how that strangles growth and production. Many environmentalists are quite clear in their goal of killing off 5/6s of the global population and decreasing energy supplies have a strategic role in that die-back.
I’ve been skeptical of female politicians in the US for a long time but then my local example is Barbara Boxer. Finally we have an articulate, clean-headed, clean example who cuts through the lies and distortions about our energy policies.
Now is the time to strike, much like the 2001 California energy crisis turned over the governorship of California. This time, voting for Palin will be a clear choice. I have great confidence in her judgment on energy and in my vote for her.
Sep 3, 2008 - 1:34 pm 47. barrybarryquitecontrary.com:Herb - You were dismissive of the premise. I did not say Dr. Rossiter has scientifically proven liberalism is a mental disorder.
What I said was, his clinical assumptions are compelling and as an esteemed physician with 40+ years of clinical experience as a forensic psychiatrist I found his writings on this subject helpful to my understanding of the liberal mind.
Why haven’t Dr. Rossiter’s writings become more mainstream? Because frankly, most people don’t sit around reading clinical studies like I do. To illustrate this point, bone morphogenic proteins have become one of the most, if not the most effective treatment for osteoblastic morphology in spine fusion surgery. Many surgeons don’t use BMP’s because they are expensive. But if the public was aware of the remarkable benefits BMP’s afford in spine fusion, those having the procedure would ask for them in every case since the clinical success rate for the procedure is 50% +/-. There are many forces that conspire to keep good data from the people.
Sep 3, 2008 - 1:52 pm 48. tanstaafl:…those of us in that 18% have redefined our expectation of Congress — it is to keep Bush from screwing up anything else before leaving office.
I’m sure that the obstructionist school marm, Nancy Pelosi, and the addled Harry Reid are up to the task.
Chuck Schumer ? Ted “I’ve never screwed up anything” Kennedy ? Cold Cash Jefferson ? Henry “I’ll examine nooks and crannies that don’t exist” Waxman ?
I’ll get typer’s cramp if I keep going.
Sep 3, 2008 - 1:54 pm 49. Herb:Barry, I am dismissive of the premise. Sorry, that’s not very clinical of me, but I generally resist efforts to define whole swaths of people as crazy based on their personal beliefs. Does Dr. Rossiter say anything about religion?
Sep 3, 2008 - 2:05 pm 50. barrybarryquitecontrary.com:Tire Old Cliche - I agree with you that liberals and conservatives have both entered into the “post-decency” age. This also applies to our American culture in general, although there are pockets of decency still left in our country (rarely, if ever in politics).
The point of this article is about liberalism as a mental disorder and I simply suggested to those on this post the comprehensive clinical work of Dr. Lyle H. Rossiter jr. regarding this topic. Dr. Rossiter’s expert clinical assumptions point out the stark differences between liberals and right thinking individuals with “individual” being the key word here. Collectivism creates a downward spiral of behaviors and increased government control that attempt to abolish individual freedoms and property rights. The evidence for this assumption is clear in liberal socialist politics like the ones Barack Obama is advocating.
Sep 3, 2008 - 2:09 pm 51. ProgMeister:I’m in the energy business and I’ve watched the leftists slowly gain control over our energy supplies
hey, Joe … how about a break? are you working in the energy business in Caracas?
not to worry, fella …. Palin is a proven reformer who will take on the big oil companies, and, uh other guy … the one that’s running for president …. hmmmmm …. oh, yeah, McCain … he’s gonna give ‘em lots of tax breaks … you’re covered all the way around
Sep 3, 2008 - 2:11 pm 52. tanstaafl:In Nov. of last year, CNN reported that…
The Illinois Democrat (Barack) has missed nearly 80 percent of all votes since September…and…Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware has missed 68 percent of the votes during the same period
They’re gonna get bad grades for holding the screwer-upper, GWB, in check !
Sep 3, 2008 - 2:12 pm 53. barrybarryquitecontrary.com:Herb - It is completely within in your right to be dismissive even when confronted with an alternate (clinical) assumption. In my line of work people may die if I reject clinical data that I don’t personally care for. Therefore, I am compelled to remain a lifelong student of my discipline. So the real question is: Do you believe the medical discipline of psychiatry is worthy of clinical (meaning study of humans)evaluation? I’m not saying you have to like the outcomes of the data, but I am saying a good student would carefully consider them. Read the book and we’ll talk again.
Remember where this article started: “I am beginning to worry about the sanity of the Left.”
Sep 3, 2008 - 2:24 pm 54. JamesT:I first notice this “Derangement Syndrome” way back in the Reagan years with Robert Bork, then later, Clarence Thomas.
Sep 3, 2008 - 2:33 pm 55. tanstaafl:All these DS eruptions have these two reasons in common:
1. An outsider (not part of Beltway culture and politics).
2. Abortion. The 800 pound gorilla in the living room.
Mark this: the left in this country will do anything, ANYTHING, to make sure the murder of the unborn continues. It is part of the fabric of who they are. They will never let go of it, and woe to the person who tries to take it away.
Rossiter has some interesting ideas that give a possible psychological context or basis for the genesis of the “thinking” of some liberals.
For the record (Soapbox Alert !) modern liberalism is 180 degrees out from anything this country was ever conceived to be.
It’s the reworking of the office of President they propose that should make the hair stand up on the back of your neck.
Sep 3, 2008 - 2:49 pm 56. purplepeep:“Self-hating boomer:
LSD, it’s not a strategy. That’s the point of the piece. It’s a panic convulsion. Sarah Palin, in multiple ways, strikes at the left’s sense of identity. What you’re seeing is roughly equivalent to the self-destruction of Veejer (original Star Trek series) when given a paradox.”
I agree that’s driving the Democrats into a total frothing, frenzied panic, Boomer.
But I believe you might be thinking of “Norman” on Mudd’s android planet from Star Trek TOS (episode “I, Mudd”), whom ended up with smoke puffing out of his ears and a fried brain trying to compute Spock’s claim that “Everything I say is a lie.”
Sep 3, 2008 - 2:53 pm 57. CornFedBeauty:(And yes, I do have way too much free time…)
Vis a vis James T’s last comment, I was thinking the other day about exposure, as it was practiced by the ancient Greeks. When a child was deformed in some way, or even if it was inconvenient, the family would take the child out of the city and sometimes pin it to the ground with a stake through its feet. They would leave it there, exposed to the elements, until the child died (it didn’t take long).
I remember first reading about this in the story of Oedipus as a child and asking my mom what “exposure” meant. When she told me, I couldn’t believe anyone could be so cruel as to do such a thing.
Abortion is just modern day exposure. In even 15 years, the methods by which abortion is now performed will be considered incomprehensibly barbaric. We’re talking about leaving a live child, sometimes missing an arm or a leg, in a dirty broom closet until it suffocates to death.
This is a practice Barack Obama and the left defend. This is why the sight of Sarah Palin, her baby and her pregnant daughter drive them wild: because if she has had the moral fiber and strength and faith and courage to make the decisions she has and is still a wild success, then their own lives are meaningless. Women who had multiple abortions in the service of holding on to a long-ago boyfriend or a career look very small indeed next to Sarah Palin.
Sep 3, 2008 - 3:02 pm 58. Larry J:Have the Left lost their minds? To answer that question is to presume they had minds in the first place. As a whole, their ignorance is only exceeded by their arrogance. Palin is just the latest manifestation of their reflexive hatred for anyone who dares question their dogma, therefore she must be destroyed at all costs.
Sep 3, 2008 - 3:03 pm 59. JamesT:“It’s the reworking of the office of President they propose that should make the hair stand up on the back of your neck.”
Bingo.
Sep 3, 2008 - 3:04 pm 60. new4Obama:They want a dictator.
They may not abort them, but crazy Reps eat their young!
From AP 43 minutes ago:
“After a segment with NBC’s Chuck Todd ended today, Republican consultant Mike Murphy and Wall Street Journal columnist Peggy Noonan were caught on a live mic ridiculing the choice of Sarah Palin.
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“It’s over,” said Noonan, and then responded to a question of whether Palin is the most qualified Republican woman McCain could have chosen.
“The most qualified? No. I think they went for this — excuse me — political bullsh** about narratives,” she said. “Every time Republicans do that … because that’s not where they live and it’s not what they’re good at and they blow it.”
Murphy chimed in:
“The greatness of McCain is no cynicism, and this is cynical.”
What intellectual dwarfs
Sep 3, 2008 - 3:10 pm 61. Boris:“It’s the reworking of the office of President they propose that should make the hair stand up on the back of your neck.”
You mean like castrating legislation with signing statements and arguing that the executive branch should be exempt from oversight by the legislative branch, or is it creating secret tribunals apart from the judicial branch and blocking access to energy policy deliberations–or perhaps it’s creating an eavesdropping program that subverts the 4th amendment, so many choices.
Wait. Let me guess. You have no problem with the way Bush has “reworked” the presidency? Will you be happy with all those new executive powers when Obama is in charge?
Sep 3, 2008 - 3:14 pm 62. Fresh Air:BarryBarry is right. Liberals are living, breathing Peter Pans. They refuse to grow up. In many ways they are simply our alter-egos: the fantastical side of our natures, where the real world is reassembled as if it were a Cubist painting. Actually, they are not liberals at all: they are reactionaries or Progressives, but in no true sense liberal. I look forward to reading Rossiter’s book.
Sep 3, 2008 - 3:17 pm 63. Fresh Air:Boris–
You are an idiot. The three branches are co-equal. You can look it up; it’s in the Constitution.
Sep 3, 2008 - 3:18 pm 64. jlpillinois:I believe that the liberals went postal due to the glaring truth that being a conservative women WORKS.
It is like the alcoholic who hates a non drinker, because it make them look at the truth about themselves.
Sarah Palin has faced Obama unleashing his demons, but they cannot destroy the fact that this woman has lived her beliefs with courage and strength.
The demonic frenzy has made me love Sarah more, and call it the mother instinct, but it makes me want to fight for her more than ever.
Sep 3, 2008 - 3:29 pm 65. Roderick Reilly:I don’t buy this “Psychological pathologies” stuff about the left. You know why? Because for decades now, people on the right have been periodically psychoanalyzed by fruitcake lefty shrinks as being “disturbed.”
Being on today’s political left is not a malady, but a wrong-headed approach to how human affairs should be governed. The fact that so many on today’s left are so much more disproportianetly vile in their behavior compared to conservatives is more a manifestation of a degenerate level of immaturity coupled with a degenerate version of an old and discredited ideology.
Now Lenin, on the other hand, was , literally, a syphillitic nut case.
Sep 3, 2008 - 3:41 pm 66. Aaron:I think that it may be worth separating the ‘juicy gossip’ elements of what people are talking about from the substantive conversations about Palin’s beliefs and abilities. I would guess that although everyone is abuzz with the pregnant daughter thing, no one really thinks that it negatively reflects on Palin, even if everyone is discussing it from every gory angle.
In the conversations that I’ve seen in the MSM, I’ve actually been struck by the fact that everyone is taking the Palin pick seriously, whether they are supporting or criticizing the pick. In addition, much of the criticism is leveled at John McCain, not Palin, for making such an off-the-cuff decision. And even if you don’t want to admit the truth, the last 8 years have proven without a doubt that the people with BDS were rational and correct to think that Bush is an awful president. So if you want to put PDS on the same level, I’m proud to say that I have it.
Sep 3, 2008 - 3:46 pm 67. Self-hating boomer:“All those new executive powers”?
Boris is proving BarryBarry’s point. There is some serious unhingement going on in the cult of the O.
Sep 3, 2008 - 3:55 pm 68. Tcobb:Its the fringes–both on the Left and the Right. For the psychologically dysfunctional people who are filled with anger the ideologies of the fringes provide them with a justification for venting their own sick hatred on other people. Its not a character flaw on their part that they hate other people, there is a REASON to hate them and thus there really isn’t anything wrong about the fact that they hate the society that they think undervalues them.
Extreme ideologies are the most dangerous forms of denial.
Sep 3, 2008 - 4:04 pm 69. Paul M Hupf:How is it that those supporting the Democratic candidate for president wish to demonize Sarah Palin before she has spoken a word? The only inference that can be drawn from the above is that they fear her and therefore are trying their best to “shoot the messenger” before she can speak a word!
Sep 3, 2008 - 4:04 pm 70. BobNC:Hey, give them a break! The thugs and pimps of organized labor and all their lobbyists have spent billions over the years to turn all workers into labor slaves paying dues. Hussein works for these same pimps.
Sep 3, 2008 - 4:20 pm 71. notutopia:Why wouldn’t you expect them to use dirty tactics to protect all that money. Hussein wants a vacation home in Oahu, a town house in Chicago on Lake Michigan and he won’t get paid unless he delivers.
Contradictions to the “Derangement Syndrome”.
Sep 3, 2008 - 4:28 pm 72. Frank Logan:LOSS and Fear of the Unknown is what is occurring within our media and society. It’s personal protection called self defense. They have been challenged at their beliefs.
When people froth at the mouth, and lose sight of the consequences that their actions and behaviors are contradicting their “belief systems”, while they are on auto-pilot mode defending their core issues, they are NOT sharing in our reality anymore. This is a most uncomfortable state to be in. They, as a huge subset of our society are classically displaying all the signs and symptoms of a clinical “Panic State”.
Most liberal mindsets could be in for 60 plus more days of Panic… If they don’t stroke out or keel over from toxic epinephrine surges. At best, some may actually be “awakened” during the next 60 days, that being if they truly are uncomfortable enough with themselves or in their state of panic, to admit that their beliefs have been “Untrue” and have not matched their actions and behavior. In the worst case scenario, the panic state will cycle, becoming in no specific order of arrangement: depression, anger, bargaining, and bewilderment for the many days, months, and maybe years to come. Only a rare few will make it through to acceptance and self reform. I foresee some very, very angry people come November.
AAron, Please enumerate the reasons you think Bush was a awful president.
Sep 3, 2008 - 4:53 pm 73. ehunter:1.2 Billion Chinese are wondering
Sep 3, 2008 - 4:55 pm 74. Brent:can Americans really be this dumb?
My pot, your kettle?
Roger:
The last line of your quote of William Kristol’s piece in your post reads as follows:
“All of this will be in the cause of trying to prevent the American people from arriving at their own judgment of Sarah Palin.”
The context of this remark is the Sarah Palin brouhaha and how he believes the left will paint her. Doubtless he is correct.
Yet the purpose of this and thousands of kindred statements, including most of your spin posts, is to “prevent the American people from arriving at their own judgments”. Because that is the nature of political rhetoric: to persuade the Brights and the dims, the unwashed and the perfumed, to lock step to the point of view of the persuaders. Thought that mediates such rhetorical inoculations must itself be disintermediated through yet other vaccinations. For such dissonant thought can only be not only wrong but also evil—the handiwork of Beelzebub himself.
To claim that neither the left nor the right is in the business of bamboozlement is to live with a mystified cynical irony in which I hold that my speech is pure whilst the speech of my other is pure malevolent drivel.
Let us all, then, own up to the fact that we all spin because the nature of this beast called politics is that it is a discourse so impure and vexed that its open-ended messiness necessitates its rhetorization. The spin meisters of both left and right know in their hearts they are right (and good, if not also beautiful) and what both want to do is to have others buy their wares without hesitancy so as to free them from the bane of the unfreedom of their false judgments.
Thus in this year of living hysterically, we should resolve to:
Let no pot call any kettle black.
Sep 3, 2008 - 5:08 pm 75. Donna:1.2 Billion Chinese are wondering
can Americans really be this dumb?
Sure they are. When they’re not wondering if they’re ever going to see their cousin the political dissident again, or if they should abort the baby girl the missus is carrying because they can only have 1 child per couple.
Yeah, I’m really worrying about what the Chinese think of our system of government.
Sep 3, 2008 - 5:10 pm 76. Joe C.:Make no mistake about it, that is exactly what is going on. They see Sarah Palin as a threat to their very existence; just like Reagan and to a lesser extent Newt Gingrich. From their POV, the whole election changed with her naming as VP nominee. They were comfortable that McCain/Romney could be rolled by conventional class warfare, but Palin changed the game, and they were completely unprepared. That is why they are exhibiting this explosive overreaction of lies, smears, personal destruction. The surprise to me is that the Media blew right past bias and double standard and went directly to wholesale and obvious complicity. When an animal is cornered - as the Left is now - they rely on their most basal instincts, which are on display now for all to see.
If Palin knocks one outta the park tonight, and challenges them to drop the gloves (to borrow a hockey phrase), I predict that you will see the most vile, base, and prurient assault on a single person not seen since McCarthy outed the Commies. I also predict that should McCain win, there will literally be blood in American streets as the “tolerant” Left foment a racial and proletariat revolt worthy of Robespierre and Lenin.
Sep 3, 2008 - 5:11 pm 77. Evil Pundit:Ehunter: The radical left is only a tiny portion of the population, though they control the media and academia. The rest of America is not dumb.
Sep 3, 2008 - 5:13 pm 78. cedarford:49erDweet:
S-hb, If by “blacks” you mean [what I call] “professional blacks”, I agree. Many blacks I know are not of that ilk, and are more and more troubled with the recent ugliness unleashed by BHO and his staff.
Not “more and more troubled” enough to not see blacks vote 95-1 for Obama and against McCain.
Republicans can hope to get more blacks, - but frankly their prospects are much better with Latinos, Asians and even Jews in the future. Practically, you write the black vote off to Dems, and work to get other groups in the middle to swing more to the Reps. Already the Hispanic population and donations exceed blacks, and their vote stength will exceed blacks by 2010.
“It’s over,” said Noonan, and then responded to a question of whether Palin is the most qualified Republican woman McCain could have chosen.
“The most qualified? No. I think they went for this — excuse me — political bullsh** about narratives,” she said. “Every time Republicans do that … because that’s not where they live and it’s not what they’re good at and they blow it.”
Noonan is part of the faction that believes McCain did a high risk selection with inadequate vetting. If Palin goes out and appears like a babe out of the woods, or more baggage is uncovered, McCain goes down on poor judgment. That is her fear, and the chance she may be right and it hurts the Republicans more than helps are higher than the Palin partisans care to admit. And if her selection dooms McCain, the post mortem on how Johnny poked the pootch will go just as Noonan says. Noonan is no intellectual dwarf. She writes on WSJ for a reason. Both her and her peer Dorothy Rabinowitz are smart as hell and great writers.
Sep 3, 2008 - 5:23 pm 79. beerstine:The left is reacting this way because they still can’t believe they’re in a dogfight this year. By any stretch of the imagination, McCain shouldn’t have a chance, but there’s enough mistrust of Obama to keep the race close, and when the Palin announcement limited Obama’s bounce, Palin became the target.
They can’t assail McCain’s character, Obama’s pales in comparison. They can’t match McCain’s record, Obama has none to run on. They can’t call for bipartisanship, McCain has walked that walk (often to his political disadvantage), Obama might not even know a Republican outside the Senate.
All they have are scare tactics about McCain’s age and ties to Bush, and no Republican is less tied to Bush on major issues than McCain. That’s what we’ll see until Election day.
Sep 3, 2008 - 5:30 pm 80. LSD:Ehunter:
Wow, 1.2 billion? Are they all reading this?
Sep 3, 2008 - 5:35 pm 81. fredras:“The Golden Vagina from Wasilla”
That is just an amazingly sexist characterization by ProgMeister. The left is far more deranged than the right. Its not Republicans that are smashing windows and spraying bleach on people in Minneapolis-St. Paul. Its Obama supporters.
Sep 3, 2008 - 5:36 pm 82. Red Blooded American:Amazing. Nothing more than platitudes about “liberals” and pep-rally level chest pounding declaring victory in November. In case it escaped you all’s attention, the apoplexy around the person of Gov. Palin is coming from: 1) the gossip media, (US Magazine, NY Post etc.) who can’t pass up anything salacious or sexy; 2) bloggers of both persuasions, who apparently have nothing better to do than try to one-up each other in outlandishness; 3) the right wing of the Republican party itself, which is leaping over itself to defend the choice of Gov. Palin against all manner of imagined attacks. The Democrats are mostly not in any state of apoplexy whatsoever regarding the choice of Gov. Palin, as evidenced by Obama’s statements that her private life should remain her own and has no bearing on her ability to serve as either Governor or VP. But go ahead and distract yourselves with the imaginary “liberal” bogeymen coming out of the woodwork everywhere to persecute poor Gov. Palin, and keep up the chest-pounding proclaiming victory two months before election day.
Sep 3, 2008 - 5:50 pm 83. Waller:The Dems are suffering a fourth quarter meltdown. Thet were supposed to be unbeatable in 2008 with the Iraq War, the downturn of the economy, and Bush’s dismal approval rating.
But it’s like the national champs playing the perenniel cellar dweller at home in a horrible upset. The favorite team can’t get a drive going, they bobble opportunities, and have squandered a 30 point advantage.
Now there’s two minutes left and the Republicans are within a touchdown (who would believe it?!!). Worse yet the opposing team (GOP) has the ball.
The media (home team fans) are freaking out. They can’t believe what’s happening. They can’t even think rationally. (Well, that’s my excuse for them)
{BTW Self-hating Boomer, the probe who said “nonsequiter” and “analyze” in the original Star Trek series was “Nomad”. Veejeer was the probe/entity in the first movie (although they both suffered from dislusional premises, so your analogy is still valid!)
Sorry, had to say something because I’m just a geek too. LOL}
Sep 3, 2008 - 6:14 pm 84. BC:Umm, sorry guys, but it’s been Republicans and neocons in general who have been suffering from “RDS” lo these past several years — “Reality Denial Syndrome”: about Bush not being an utterly dishonest, grossly incompetent President that you were completely suckered into voting for, especially the second time around; Global Warming being only a theory among many foisted by liberal scientists; how invading Iraq was for fighting terrorism ‘cuz ex-Reagan buddy Hussein had all these WMD’s and connections to al-Qaeda; that giving up privacy and “essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety” makes total sense; and McCain relinquishing his choice of friend Joe Lieberman for VP under party pressure in favor of a little known, and poorly vetted (as it’s turning out to be more and more the case despite all the BS denials to the contrary) female governor actually shows conviction and ready-to-lead-the-country competence….
Sep 3, 2008 - 6:24 pm 85. Waller:We know that if Palin was such an unqualified choice, the media wouldn’t have attacked her so furiously. They reserve this level of hatred for people like Clarence Thomas, Dick Cheney, Carl Rove, and Condaleeza Rice. And we know how damaging those individuals were to liberals.
All this screaming hysteria has done is galvanize the conservative base behind her and McCain.
The left is scared s***less that Palin may present a very viable alternative to the liberal “successful woman”. The last thing they want is a conservative woman who may serve as an inspiration to women voters, not to mention a woman that moderate and conservative men will vote for.
Sep 3, 2008 - 6:37 pm 86. Sean:“PDS”?? Since some of her most ardent detractors are “Femenists” (check out:http://momocrats.typepad.com/momocrats/palin_in_comparison)…
I propose “PMS” (Palin Mendacity Syndrome)
Sep 3, 2008 - 6:54 pm 87. ELC:With all due respect, I blogged about this two days ago: “Two predictions today: Sarah Palin will be the most vilified and despised vice-presidential candidate in the history of the country because she is a woman who is a Republican candidate for presidential office. (It’s bad enough that she’s a traitor to her sex by being a Republican; what’s worse, everybody just ‘knows’ the first woman elected to the White House is ’supposed’ to be a Democrat.) And, John McCain will become the most vilified and despised president in the history of the country because he stopped the apotheosis of the Obamessiah. Leading the charge will be the ‘liberal’, ‘tolerant’, ‘progressive’ Democrats who populate mainstream media. I would like to be able to say that I think the reaction from the Democratic Establishment — politicians, ‘journalists’, professors, et al. — will be amusing. I think not. I think it might very well be horrifying.”
Sep 3, 2008 - 6:59 pm 88. Andrew X:My analogy that I have considerd for some time is Easter Island. The islanders built those stone gods by the dozens, for the purpose of protecting them, providing for them, giving them a framework for their lives and world, and protecting their future.
And when it was determined that the stone gods were failing, the Easter Islanders went stark raving mad and toppled them all in an orgy of self-destruction.
Sometimes I wonder about that.
Sep 3, 2008 - 7:04 pm 89. Tired Old Cliche:fredras said:
“’The Golden Vagina from Wasilla’
That is just an amazingly sexist characterization by ProgMeister.”
—- Yes fredras, it is … but its a
—- leftist reflection of those on the
—- fringe right that have been referring
—- to Obama as “the magic negro” and
—- “the black messiah” for months. It’s
—- mocking the reverence of the other
—- side’s candidate.
fredras said:
“The left is far more deranged than the right.”
—- No, the derangement is equal on both
—- the left and the right.
fredras said:
Sep 3, 2008 - 8:24 pm 90. John Samford:“Its not Republicans that are smashing windows and spraying bleach on people in Minneapolis-St. Paul. Its Obama supporters.”
—- Though its great fun for fredras to
—- make pretend that this is another
—- “secret conspiracy” of the “liberal
—- agenda”, it’s not.
—- They’re criminal anarchists who were
—- also at the Democratic convention and
—- have been at every convention and world
—- trade meeting for the last 20 years at
—- least.
—- This thread is a great example of the
—- tired old cliche of “derangement
—- syndrome” is way overused by both sides.
Business DOES NOT pay taxes. They just add it to the cost of a product, collect it and pass it over to the Government.
So when you give a business a tax cut, you are really giving the People that buy products from that business a tax cut.
The Left has NEVER figured this out. The Right uses it to provide ’stealth’ tax cuts to the citizens.
“Under capitalism, man exploits man. Under communism, it’s just the opposite.”
Sep 3, 2008 - 8:38 pm 91. Waller:John Kenneth Galbraith
US (Canadian-born) administrator & economist (1908 - 2006)
TOC,
The difference is that you have the MSM quoting and repeating the deranged left on “issues that need to be investigated”. The deranged right is only quoted to show “how despicable and slimy” they are. [SwiftBoat!!!]
(fill in the blank)Derangement Syndrome is only important in that it’s completely absent in all MSM reporting concerning liberal figures. [John Edward's lovechild!!!]
But you’re right. You know we’re kind of sick of the “Bush lied” mantra ourselves. Or does that “Old Tired Cliche” bother you too?
Sep 3, 2008 - 8:45 pm 92. Dave II:Roger…you WORRY about “how the Left is going cope”????
Well, I guess…maybe…sort of like a wild animal caught in an Alaskan bear trap! It IS kind of disgusting watching them gnaw off their foot to escape…
This is one election loss they just may not recover from! (Yes…the loss is a virtual certainty in so many ways.)
Of course, they will still have Hillary to pick up the pieces and present a more “centrist” party in 2012…but much can happen before then.
But I’m afraid the “derangement syndrome” will never entirely be cured. Like herpes, you have it for life, and only see it when it flairs up!
Sep 3, 2008 - 9:45 pm 93. Marina:Sarah was just gorgeouse wright now.
Sep 3, 2008 - 9:47 pm 94. Rotwang:Seeing her speech, all fear of her has fled.
What a hyped-up nothing. Palin brings zilch to the ticket but claims that are easily refuted by her record, and a crate-full of unexploded land mines.
Like Fred Thompson, I suspect she peaked the moment she announced her candidacy.
Sep 3, 2008 - 9:48 pm 95. Marina:Wright is wrong btw.
Sep 3, 2008 - 10:05 pm 96. HRPKathy:We all know how Obama dissed SC Justice Thomas at Saddleback by calling him unqualified. We know the standard line of attack is about being qualified. The sweet irony here is that “unqualified” Sarah Palin is going to be the downfall of Barack hussein(shhh) Obama and the maniacs going all out to tarnish her will only help her case. (Because if she wasn’t better than him they wouldn’t need to - sorta like the way we look at Biden - not worth our concern.) It takes effort to work up to so much hate, PDS, and we know that democrats may not be able to stick to anything as well as they do hate.
And then the democrats wonder why they are perceived as elitists. LOL.
Perhaps it’s because they are constantly usurping from the people the judgment the people prefer to make themselves.
Sep 3, 2008 - 10:07 pm 97. Kirk:I am beginning to lose hope that I will hear a reasoned argument from the left that does not involve Sarah Palins uterus. I mean for crying out loud, you’d think she was the first person in the United States to have a vagina AND leave the home. !gasp! The scandal!
It’s true, McCain has closed the “motivation” gap. Conservatives WILL turn out, not stay home apathetically. Even if it’s only in the defense of a family unknown to us, yet similar in troubles and values. I think many conservatives see a slice of our own home in the Palin family, and wince at the poisonous attacks. Every “over-the-top” attack on her family makes Obama weaker.
Sep 3, 2008 - 10:16 pm 98. Tired Old Cliche:Waller,
Sep 3, 2008 - 10:17 pm 99. barrybarryquitecontrary.com:Don’t even get me started on the “Bush Lied” mantra … I’ve been sick of that after the first dozen times I’ve heard it, and that was over six and half years ago.
Using “Bush Lied” in a blog spot is like using (fill in the blank) Derangement Syndrome … they’re both signs of lazy writing.
In today’s blogosphere, no one is just allowed to have a differing opinion or ask a pointed question anymore. Anyone in disagreement is now a “Moon-bat !!!” or a “Tali-born-again Fascist !!!” or … etcetera etcetera, I’m sure you’ve heard them all also.
They are all tired old cliches.
And, lets face it, bloggers are pretty much the biggest plagiarizers out there … if you’re going to read one outrageous rumor on a blog one night, chances are there will be 1000 copies of that rumor on 1000 other blogs within 24 hours.
Such is the power (and the curse) of the internet.
I know you won’t agree with me, but I really do not believe in your contention of an overwhelming left-wing bias of the mass media.
Bias to the point of the media, as a whole (every newspaper, every television newscast, every magazine), being under some secret agreement to totally quash some stories while totally playing up other stories to the benefit of some eventual liberal dictatorship or some-such other nonsense.
Newscasting, like most every other business in the world today, is a cut-throat competition.
The idea that the New York Times, or ABC News, or Time Magazine would voluntarily go out of business before reporting the news that people want to see is illogical on its face.
Granted, the NYT and broadcast news are losing circulation/viewership, but they’re losing equally among liberals and conservatives alike.
The problem isn’t their news selection as much as it is their business plan … with the internet, the old media business plan is no longer as effective as it once was.
Though some among the right cheer the death of the old news outlets, the new news outlets are not all right-wing. Left wing media is growing at an equal pace on the internet.
Roderick Reilly -
“I don’t buy this “Psychological pathologies” stuff about the left.”
“Being on today’s political left is not a malady, but a wrong-headed approach to how human affairs should be governed. The fact that so many on today’s left are so much more disproportianetly vile in their behavior compared to conservatives is more a manifestation of a degenerate level of immaturity coupled with a degenerate version of an old and discredited ideology.”
You’re splitting hairs. The very definition of malady is “bad condition.” Pathology in science, certainly in the case of mental health, is generally degenerative, or if you prefer, a progressive disease (no pun intended).
Conservatives and liberals alike would benefit from Dr. Rossiter’s book. It is a comprehensive, scientific writing on the various stages of collectivism, it’s psychological roots and it’s well documented destructive outcomes regarding individual freedoms and property rights.
The Liberal Mind - The Psychological Causes of Political Madness
Sep 3, 2008 - 10:34 pm 100. Tired Old Cliche:Lyle H. Rossiter, Jr., M.D.
BarryBarry,
I was interested in your continued interest in Dr. Rossiter’s book, and took some time to look more into it. Though I haven’t read it yet, I researched it on the internet.
It appears, though Dr. Rossiter definitely writes from a “conservative” perspective, this book talks alot about the general psychology of “affinity” … what makes a person identify with certain groups to the exclusion of factual knowledge which may disturb his/her sense of affinity.
Though he uses liberalism as a template, I read that in the book he rather fairly applies his findings to any affinity group, rather they be political (both left and right) or religious or ethnic.
In short, “Political Madness”, according to Dr. Rossiter, can/does exist equally across the political spectrum. You’ve chosen to selectively present only certain excerpts to support your contention of “Liberal Madness”.
Sep 3, 2008 - 10:55 pm 101. The Kael Syndrome Returns « The Tizona Group:[...] Why the Left is scared of Sarah Palin. [...]
Sep 3, 2008 - 11:13 pm 102. Rachel Peepers:Does Barack Obama realize the rate that the unborn in this country are slaughtered every year? If he did, how could he stand for it? How could he lobbey for it? How could he be a party to it? How could he
vote to fund it?
John McCain wants this wholesalew slaughter for conveneience stopped. He thinks adoption is a more humane solution.
I agree.
To fund abortion, you must value human life at a level you value an ant on the sidewalk. Or a worm on your lawn.
Unconscionnable.
1.3 healthy babies are killed each year out of convenience.
And Barack agrees with it. How can a Presidential contender put such a low value on human life? And if that’s not bad enough, Barack is now talking talking about denying lifesaving steps covered by insurance to men and women over 80 years old. You think Barack had a little German bood in his veins?
These are for the most part, gang, abortions of convenience. Not products of rape or incest. Just convenience. “Like, wow, I had my baby, I couldn’t date for three or four months. Wow, that’s a long time. Doctor, when it is convenient for you to poison my baby inside of me, please do it.”
This is what Barack is for.
Does it bother him that a lot of healthy babies are killed this way. Not in the slightest. “Except when the babies are black and future voters”, says Barack. That’s when he starts questioning abortions of convenience.
The right to kill babies isn’t in the constitution. If fact, the life, libety and happiness clause would seen to prevent it.
Sep 3, 2008 - 11:30 pm 103. ProgMeister:ProgMeister - Breath, breath… go take your medication and come back and post in 1 hour when the selective seratonin re-uptake inhibitors kick in.
Hey, Joshua …. do you know what the Republican position is on abortion or not? btw, how do you know so much about SSRIs, dude? My excuse is formal study of clinical psychopharmacology, so here’s something you should know: they are known to cause memory loss .. like forgetting policy positions … take another pill … maybe you’ll forget to post … AND vote
btw, it’s spelled serotonin, not seratonin … forget that too?
Sep 3, 2008 - 11:35 pm 104. nick:stunned? wtf are you talking about
we were laughing our asses off in this city!
at a lying stupid creationist book burner
Sep 3, 2008 - 11:46 pm 105. Waller:TOC,
Well, I do agree with you in a sense. I don’t think the media bias is a conspiracy in the classic sense like the JFK assassination or the 9/11 truthers. It’s what we used to call a “conspiracy of like minds”.
I’m just saying that the media has it’s own group think. Certain personalities are attracted to journalism, a sense of importance (this is a vital service after all), and the need to please superiors and acceptance by your peers, etc. all lead to group think. The media has it’s own ethos and it is decidely liberal.
No one can be perfectly objective. No matter what you do you will inject your bias in everything you do. If most of your colleagues have similar views you believe that this the norm. Then you feel you have no bias at all. This is true for every professional group. Why are most rock stars liberal?
Most journalists DON’T think they’re biased. But they are. They just feel that some issues are clear cut and their opinion is the normal one.
e.g. Abortion - name one newscaster that is isn’t pro-choice, yet half of America isn’t. I will guarantee that you will never see a piece favoring limits on abortion in the MSM. It’s a woman’s choice. Plain and simple. Any other opinion is just wrong. As they like to say, you don’t have to interview a holocaust denier every time you have a story about the holocaust.
The problem is that the MSM marginalizes any view that isn’t liberal. They don’t think the Conservative view is particularly relevant. They may even feel that people need educating. Why talk up a “backward” view when it’s not correct?
Abortion, gun control, affirmative action, socialized medicine, oil, hate speech, minimum wage, etc. The networks promote the liberal view and disparage the conservative on every single one of these issues. And I haven’t even got into selective reporting, loaded words, and amount of coverage yet.
As a conservative (and not a rabid one), I can tell you that I hear my views subtlely (and blatantly) mocked every night.
And the best example of the moment is the MSM at least commenting on every rumor concerning Sarah Palin. In contrast the media knew of John Edward’s affair and possible fatherhood clear back in 2007 but refused to report or investigate the rumors and justified it by saying they don’t repeat gossip (which they did with Palin).
I’m sorry if you don’t see the bias either you’re in denial or don’t care because it fits your philosophy. But it exists and has been documented extensively.
Sep 3, 2008 - 11:57 pm 106. dragonfly:There is an old carny expression: you can’t hype a stiff.
And that’s exactly what the Obama organization is finding out. What we have been seeing is THE AUDACITY OF HYPE - the perfect parody of his slogan. But even the rubes soon catch on, and then the game is up. That’s where they are now.
The killer is going to be the Chicago Annenberg Challenge, into which Stanley Kurtz is doing a serious probe. Obama’s staff is going bananas, trying to put the lid on it, attempting to impose limitations on freedom of speech. Why? It can’t be because of the Ayers connection -everyone knows he has been lying about that.
It has to be something connected with his only record of experience in management, You’d think he’d welcome proof of his administrative skills and accomplishments on an educational project. NO! NO! NO! Apparently not.
We don’t need to know the truth. TheGOP just needs to ask he question, aggressively: hy are you so anxious to keep this subject secret?
As you say: they are acting so frenzied and crazy that they may self-destruct.
Sep 4, 2008 - 12:22 am 107. Dodgeblogium » Sarah Palin @ the RNC:[...] Others have been far more positive like Claudia and Roger Simon. [...]
Sep 4, 2008 - 5:22 am 108. hp:“It is about some very basic questions: what matters most in a society?”
freedom of speech.
it, or worse, the forced lack of it thereof, made one whopper of a difference to this voter.
Sep 4, 2008 - 6:03 am 109. Lefty Leftkowitz:Wow, the speech was not remarkable unless you were in St. Paul or wanted desperately to be in St. Paul. I am surprised at the desperate grab at power that McCain-Palin ticket is making so soon. Oh wait, that’s what they do. Tear people down, watch others respond in kind (an action we all should hold in the highest contempt) and then call them elitists. Is McCain-Palin more patriotic than Obama-Biden? I think not. Enough already with the Xenophobia. Red-Meat eating, gun-toting righties would ahve you believe the sword is the ONLY answer. However, violence begets violence. It has its place, no doubt, in our foreign policy (well, listen to me, in all soveriegn nation’s foreign policies, actually). But when the dust settles, it is thinking men and women, not neanderthals that MUST win the day. As for the comment on the further West you get the more American you get… when did Alaska become a state? Who were its principle inhabitants prior to migration? Answer those and place that Columbian Exposition theory in its proper perspective. Enjoy the day and THINK one original thought today… one that does not involve getting better or more, but one that moves you or the folks around you to positive action over accumulation.
Sep 4, 2008 - 7:06 am 110. James:Noonan quoters - have you noticed yet that apparently the open mic tape was EDITED - she repudiates the version going around.
Leftists trying again - anything to bring Palin down…
Sep 4, 2008 - 7:23 am 111. BOB:The hypocrisy and crazy, off-the-wall comments by some of the contributors from the “right” just shows me not much thought goes into these comments. Misrepresentations are freely made about Mr. Obama with crazed terms and use of the standard “liberal”, “elite” etc. Meaningless terms, because they don’t have actual facts to put forth, so they just shout out “liberal” and that is supposed to “explain everything”. Well it doesn’t. Being against abortion, but killing children in foolishly sought out wars seems to me to be hypocritical. McCain has no morals, having left his wife because she was no longer the beauty queen he married…or rich….though she stuck by him throughout his five years as a prisoner. So now he picks another “beauty queen”. She may be a great choice for PTA president, but not even having thought about the war in Iraq much (her words), that alone should eliminate her. And why is her daughter off limits, when Jamie Lynn Spears was clobbered by the “right”. Her parents were criticized and she was denigrated for low morals. Double standards. The “right” always claims foul for someone else doing EXACTLY the same things they do.
More importantly, she lied throughout her speech. What happened to that “straight talk”?
Sep 4, 2008 - 7:24 am 112. srlucado:Lefty: “Is McCain-Palin more patriotic than Obama-Biden? I think not.”
No argument there, but McCain-Palin’s patriotism is for the United States of America.
Palin’s speech last night was magnificent, though I think it was helped a lot by Rudy’s hilarious lead-in. A real joy to watch them both.
Scott
Sep 4, 2008 - 7:30 am 113. Lefty Leftkowitz:Lucado: Do tell where that patriotism is well-seated if not squarley in the bosom of the country that gave rise to this unlikely candidacy? More likely, though, would it be that of a citizen of the world, a feeling of unity as opposed to quasi-fascism Americana style? All sides frequently point out the globalism that is de facto in 2008. Let us act in accord with that, not undermining it with our own special brand of cowboy diplomacy. Drill here, Drill now… Drill baby drill… My SUV needs sustenance. I am sorry, that is honestly what came to mind last night as I watched (morbidly fascinated).
Sep 4, 2008 - 7:37 am 114. Marnie:Do you honestly consider that being mayor of a hamlet, and managing it so horribly that she ran up $22M in debt is a positive qualification for VP/possible Pres?
Be honest, she can’t manage her own child.
She can’t manage to stay out of trouble.
She can’t manage to make a Christ like peace in her own heart with her ex-brother-in-law much less on a social level.
Her version of managing staff members that offer differing opinions and stances is to fire them. So she can’t really manage her own staff.
She can’t read a book she disagrees with and see disparate views and behaviors as opportunities to learn, mature and expand her mental processes. Instead she wants to destroy the book.
How can a person who is so intolerant and whose demonstrable instinct is to destroy what she cannot control, going to help govern, speak to and speak for a diverse nation on a national and international basis to a world that is even more diverse than the US is?
She has, however, managed to forget Christ’s words in the Beatitudes, and in the Ten Commandments.
She has managed to forget the most quoted verse of the Christian Bible - “God is Love.”
Instead she has “destroyed” the Christian Bible’s lessons and rewritten them to suit her opinnions and attitudes.
Sep 4, 2008 - 7:44 am 115. destardi:I want to be absolutely clear here: “the left” does NOT equal ALL liberals/progressives.
There are MANY moderate Dems, and many moderate Reps, and we have to join together to put the focus back on policy, and AMERICA for all of our sakes.
With that said, as a HillaryDem, I have divorced myself from the Democratic party, and am now open target for GOOD candidates of either party.
McCain/Palin
Sep 4, 2008 - 7:48 am 116. nlcatter:tired of the truth are you?
Bush Lied “we found the WMD”
speaking about mobile labs which were not labs!
Sep 4, 2008 - 7:51 am 117. John:This pick was a disaster for the GOP as even some conservative commentators have pointed out, on mike and off. The notion that Palin was going to bring many Clinton supporters over while madly exciting the pro choice, gun totin, odd church loving right is a paradox that has never been explained. McCain’s one hope, and it was a slim one to be honest, was that he could convince voters he was the safe pair of hands. He’s thrown that perception in the trash can. Obama has helped with the very effective display of gravitas last week. I’d say that the Palin pick is going to be on the front burner for weeks and is going to turn a probable narrow Obama win into a decisive one.
Sep 4, 2008 - 7:58 am 118. nick:name one newscaster that is isn’t pro-choice,
CNN red headed heidi collins
Sep 4, 2008 - 7:59 am 119. Andrew:Careful there, you’ll hurt your back lifting such a broad brush to paint the liberals with.
Sep 4, 2008 - 8:14 am 120. Len Frankel:Let them have their Palin Hysteria Syndrome - for at least four more years.
Sep 4, 2008 - 8:17 am 121. tanstaafl:Here we go again, Boris.
It could be like our discussion of the similarities between NAZI style socialism and Barack style socialism.
I’ll just take one of your egregious claims, if you don’t mind, since I don’t have all day.
“…arguing that the executive branch should be exempt from oversight by the legislative branch…”
The legislative branch doesn’t have oversight of the executive branch. Nothing in Article I, outlining the powers of the Legislative branch, grants such a power.
Are you referencing the Executive branch’s current contention that Congress doesn’t have the power to subpoena the President’s immediate advisers ?
I think that’s reasonable, that Presidential advisers should not be susceptible to Congressional witch hunts.
Sep 4, 2008 - 9:00 am 122. Raz Cue:To me, this election comes down to a choice between, The Audacity of Hard Work and Sacrifice, or The Simplicity of Hope!
Sep 4, 2008 - 9:22 am 123. tanstaafl:I know you won’t agree with me, but I really do not believe in your contention of an overwhelming left-wing bias of the mass media.
I’d be very hard pressed to believe that’s true, especially given the acknowledged political leanings of the vast majority of MSM’s “journalists”.
The NYTimes has been near criminal in its choice of stories, its choice of headlines its choice of spin. Even the Times’ own watchdog (whatever that title is) occasionally points it out.
Most recently, this week their writer Elizabeth Bumiller (the woman who asked John McCain on his plane “Why are you so angry ?”) claimed in a “piece” that Palin had belonged to Alaska’s Independence Party.
The Times has not yet retracted that blatant falsehood.
The recent cover of US magazine (Jann Wenner, Rolling Stone guy) should shock you. Newsweek is just barely more subtle in its reportage.
Magazine publishers using their journals to unabashedly promote a personal agenda (and candidate) is shocking to me.
I’d feel that way if their “political leanings” were on the other side, as well.
Sep 4, 2008 - 9:34 am 124. SL:the nazification of this country is almost complete, soon we’ll be shipped off in boxcars to china
Sep 4, 2008 - 9:42 am 125. Bill S.:I continue to be amazed at the neo-cons hysteria about “Big Government” when they are the ones who brought us warrentless wiretaps, renditions, suspension of habeus corpus, huge spending budgets and the resulting deficits. Someone will have to pay for all this in the form, someday. Maybe God will just take away the debt. I guess we could have faith based budgeting.
When one sees these same people consider pre-marital sex a sin unless you’re Mom is running for VP, I guess the hypocsrisy shouldn’t be too surprising.
Sep 4, 2008 - 9:43 am 126. Herb:“Most recently, this week their writer Elizabeth Bumiller (the woman who asked John McCain on his plane “Why are you so angry ?”) claimed in a “piece” that Palin had belonged to Alaska’s Independence Party.
The Times has not yet retracted that blatant falsehood.”
Blatant falsehood? It appears Palin’s husband indeed belonged to Alaska’s Independence Party. That seems like it would take it out of “blatant falsehood” territory and put it in “factual error” territory, no?
There is a slight difference. Are you willing to call the “WMD in Iraq” talk blatant falsehoods? Or factual errors?
Sep 4, 2008 - 9:50 am 127. Epidemic Of PHS On The Rise « The Spagnola Report:[...] Epidemic Of PHS On The Rise Posted on September 4, 2008 by Spag Rogers Rules: [...]
Sep 4, 2008 - 9:50 am 128. tanstaafl:It appears Palin’s husband indeed belonged to Alaska’s Independence Party.
I have no idea or knowledge about that, Herb.
But Bumiller’s claim was about Sarah Palin, not her husband.
Maybe you think Sarah’s husband’s DUI 22 years ago is more relevant than Barry’s MJ and “Blow” use ? You know, in the spirit of “investigative” journalism ? (one step away from Tabloid these days. Yes, the Enquirer is looking far more “truthful”)
There’s no relationship to this type of reporting crap and WMD claims.
But, if you like, I’ll trot out my litany of all the leading Democrats’ statements for years (preceding the 2003 invasion) as to the threat and awfulness of Saddam’s WMD’s.
Let’s Play.
Sep 4, 2008 - 10:05 am 129. Waller:Nick,
Ok you got me. I don’t know who this Heidi Collins is. But I’ll give that one to you.
Sep 4, 2008 - 10:15 am 130. Palin’s Fans In Alaska « Tai-Chi Policy:[...] Palin’s Fans In Alaska September 4, 2008 Posted by taoist in Politics, Republicans, Sarah Palin. trackback Are actually Democrats. Most of the Republican establishment doesn’t like the cleaning she performed. Of course, she’s also immensely popular with the entire populace. As she transforms this general election, and the attempts to shoot her down continue to fail, I wouldn’t be surprised if the left becomes increasingly unhinged. [...]
Sep 4, 2008 - 10:38 am 131. dragonfly:It is fun to watch the followers of THE ONE WE ARE ALL WAITING FOR foaming at the mouth about the “inexperience” of a smart woman who has actually accompanied important things, peeing their pants about a guy who has never done anything - as Rudy said -nothing! Zero! Zilch! NADA!
The best thing his wife can say about him is about his wonderful work as a Community Organizer, playing basketball with drop-out kids and driving old ladies to polling booths.
What exactly are the terrible lies that are being told about him? They never give us n example because there have been none by the GOP candidates.
The whole Obama campaign is a classic demonstration of THE AUDACITY OF HYPE. It’s like selling bottled tap water at $6,00 gallon. It is the like snake oil at the carnival. The Democrats have bought into the biggest scam in our political history, to their everlasting shame.
Now it appears that the Great I Can Icon did have a managerial job, with the Annenberg Challenge. Why he hysteria to hide it?
Sep 4, 2008 - 11:19 am 132. Palin, Women and the Left « Sooshi Soo:[...] “The Kael Syndrome Returns: Why Democrats are in for a Big Surprise come November” by Roger Kimball at Pajamas Media: “I am beginning to worry about the sanity of the Left. Bush Derangement Syndrome was bad enough. Could any human being so thoroughly epitomize the quintessence of evil that the Bush of the Left’s imagination conjured up? But watching BDS suddenly displaced by an epidemic of Palin Hysteria Syndrome has left me positively alarmed. Have these people taken leave of their senses?” Explore posts in the same categories: politics [...]
Sep 4, 2008 - 12:43 pm 133. Tired Old Cliche:Waller,
I’m neither in denial nor in sync with the media. Have you ever considered that you may just be comfortable playing the part of “victim” ?
Like I have said before, I’m just tired of the lazy use of “tired old cliches” from both sides of the political spectrum. It appears you are tempted to fall into that too … yes, yes, because I do not automatically buy into your conservative victimhood ideology, I MUST be in denial !
Sep 4, 2008 - 2:01 pm 134. Waller:TOC,
Victim huh? That’s an interesting thought. I always thought that it was my sense of fairness. That the media should deliver the news without spin. That I am capable of assessing the ramifications of events without the talking heads making sure that I got the “correct” interpretation.
How insulting! Well, TOC I trot out another tired old cliche. “who you going to believe, me or your lying eyes?”. You seem to have resorted to a classic argument cliche, dismissing my argument by labeling me. I’m not even going to fall into the trap of defending myself from an ad hominen attack.
I was giving you the benefit of the doubt in your denial. I see it’s clear that you have no problem with the media bias because you like it.
I bet that you’ve never seen a ball game where the referees were obviously making one-sided calls against your team. Of course you wouldn’t complain because that would be playing the victim. One-sided refs are just part of the game. Can’t be helped so we shouldn’t make an issue about it, right?
Is that how you treat that scenario? Or do you play the victim and complain and file a protest? Just wondering?
Sep 4, 2008 - 2:58 pm 135. srlucado:“Lucado: Do tell where that patriotism is well-seated…”
That’s *Mister* Lucado to you, pinko.
As for the rest of your post, I have no idea what the hell you’re raving about. And don’t bother explaining; I don’t care, either.
I come to this site to read Roger’s posts, not yours. Why not try drawing an audience to your own weblog, instead of trolling here?
Scott
Sep 4, 2008 - 4:04 pm 136. Tired Old Cliche:Waller …
You went “ad-hominem” at first by declaring that I must be in “denial” since I have a different opinion than you.
Perhaps you’ll next be declaring me to be suffering from “Waller Derangement Syndrome”, ha ha.
As for “your own lying eyes” … well, if I was bound and determined to feel discriminated against, I’m sure I’d be seeing discrimination everywhere just like you.
Sep 4, 2008 - 4:22 pm 137. Mike Boyce:The Democrats and their liberal establishment supporters really have gone far out on this issue, and in the entire approach to America they’ve demonstrated. It is vicious. I’ve noticed, in comparison to the anti-Vietnam War left of the 1960’s that the hatred and attacks for and upon all things conservative or patriotic in the true sense of the word are remarkable. Protests at the funerals for fallen warriors, the City of Berkely/Code Pink action against the USMC Recruiting Station in Berkely and now the personal attacks upon Ms. Palin and her family. Political differences aside, I think this display of intolerance, anger, spite and personal attack against the people of this country who disagree with them have reached a somewhat disconcerting intensity. I use the term intolerance literally. They are not the promoters of free speech and liberalism as the word really means; they are the exact opposite. To many people this is obvious, it is only the left themselves who either fail to see it or simply don’t care.
Sep 4, 2008 - 4:43 pm 138. barrybarryquitecontrary.com:Tired Old Cliche - “In short, “Political Madness”, according to Dr. Rossiter, can/does exist equally across the political spectrum. You’ve chosen to selectively present only certain excerpts to support your contention of “Liberal Madness”.”
Your incorrect analysis of Dr. Rossiters work, in my opinion, is the problem with so many Americans. Like you, people don’t want to read and understand in a comprhensive manner. You want to Google all the answers to life’s most difficult questions, of which this is one.
Here is an example: If you were going to have hip replacement surgery and you read, out of context, that up to 20% of those who have the surgery die. You would incorrectly deduce that hip replacement surgery causes death. The fact is that patient age, co-morbidities, ambulatory status etc. combine to cause increased mortality.
Tired Old Cliche - “It appears, though Dr. Rossiter definitely writes from a “conservative” perspective, this book talks alot about the general psychology of “affinity” … what makes a person identify with certain groups to the exclusion of factual knowledge which may disturb his/her sense of affinity.
Dr. Rossiter is a board certified general and forensic psychiatrist with 40+ years experience. He is not writing from a “conservative” standpoint as you suggest, he is writing from a professional, expert opinion on mental health diagnosis of which he is qualified to do.
The book, if you read it, is based on the destructive behaviors of the liberal mind that have steadily undermined individual freedom and property rights in America. That’s it, nothing more, nothing less.
Your assessment is incorrect. The title of the book is: The Liberal Mind - The Psychological Causes of Political Madness. Those who support individual freedom and property rights are right thinking people, those who do not are wrong thinking people. Collectivism is not just an “affinity” it is a psychopatholgy as defined by Dr. Rossiter in his exhaustive writing on the subject. The issue is more complex than you make it out to be. Read the book.
Sep 4, 2008 - 7:11 pm 139. Lefty:Mr. Lucado,
A thousand pardons. However, Pinko? Really? I do not have a blog, I thought this was a forum for opinion and expression. If you are not here to read these posts, please do not. I value differences in opinion, but shant trouble you with any more dialogue; not because you cannot understand it (sorry about that, anti-pinko) but becasue you asked. Good evening.
Sep 4, 2008 - 7:20 pm 140. sch:The struggle in the US is between decency and depravity. The Democratic Party is and has been for some time the standard bearer for depravity. Conservatives have rallied around the Republican Party as a standard bearer for decency, but it seems that the heart of the Republican Party doesn’t know what the fight is about–it just wants to make money. With McCain/Palin maybe we’re getting a duo that stands for decency. If so, the Democrats’ vitriol is understandable.
Sep 4, 2008 - 7:36 pm 141. Tired Old Cliche:BarryBarry-
At this point, I actually question if you have even read his book. Though he titles his book “The Liberal Mind …”, he simply refers to affinity issues in his case studies.
Never once does he make a direct connection between “liberalism” (a vague concept just like “conservatism”) and “Madness”. He just has written a rather dry college level essay on affinity psychology, and put “liberal” in the title to turn it into a political book, knowing the right wing blogosphere would hype it up as a “must have !” for conservatives.
Thats it, and nothing more.
Sep 4, 2008 - 7:54 pm 142. nick:creationist
liar - she supported the bridge to nowhere
book burner - wanted to know how to ban books at wasilla library
corrupt - using office to pressure officials about her brother in law
Sep 4, 2008 - 8:44 pm 143. barrybarryquitecontrary.com:Tired Old Cliche - “At this point, I actually question if you have even read his book.”
This coming from someone who admits: “Though I haven’t read it yet, I researched it on the internet.”
I rest my case. I work in medical science and unfortunately, I see this type of lazy intellect far too often. As I stated previously, this is a compelling analysis of the liberal mind. If you want to believe it is about something else you certainly can. I recommend you read the book and not just the Amazon review before you make your final judgement. I think reasonable people would agree with me.
P.S. I’m not a psychiatrist but you seem to be exhibiting symptoms of denial.
Sep 4, 2008 - 8:45 pm 144. Tired Old Cliche:BarryBarry,
I read enough of it to know I could just replace the word “conservative” where Dr. Lassiter uses the word “liberal” and make quick money from the same fringers on the left, as those on the fringe right who shelled out for his dry essay.
With the exception of, perhaps, you, none of them made it past the first five pages either. Lets face it, its a big snooze.
On the assumption that you are not actually Dr. Lassiter himself flogging his own book, I wonder how much you’re getting payed to flog his drek.
Sep 4, 2008 - 9:16 pm 145. Chuck Pelto:TO: All
RE: Who Knew….
….nick was SUCH a spammer?
He’s posting this material all over PJM and he’s NEVER answering any of the questions I’ve asked of him to back up his allegations with factual evidence.
Regards,
Chuck(le)
Sep 4, 2008 - 9:56 pm 146. barrybarryquitecontrary.com:[Spam! Spam! Spam! Spam!]
Tired Old Cliche - Good Luck!
Sep 4, 2008 - 10:02 pm 147. Self-hating boomer:.
It appears Obama’s close associate belonged to the weather underground, and his pastor belonged to a church organized around the principle of racism.
Ya really wanna play that game?
Sep 5, 2008 - 7:37 am 148. Roger’s Rules » The Boston Phone Book, “Harvard,” and Sarah Palin:[...] rage that Sarah Palin has provoked in purlieus of liberal self-satisfaction. I call it “Palin Hysteria Syndrome.” Just this morning, for example, I received this email from an acquaintance (I preserve the [...]
Sep 5, 2008 - 7:58 am 149. nick:we are talkign SPOUSES you moron. self hating boomer
Sep 5, 2008 - 6:55 pm 150. nick:i posted link after link
again
SLATE front page
Sep 5, 2008 - 6:56 pm 151. Herb:Sure, let’s play, boomer.
The “close associate” was a mere associate, and they weren’t all that close. I know that doesn’t fit in with the “Obama consorts with terrorists” meme, but that’s life.
Also, you’re distorting his church’s views because YOU think they’re racist. Everyone’s entitled to their opinion, of course, but I don’t think the church would characterize their views as such. Since I doubt you’ve ever stepped foot in that church, I’m willing to take their word over yours.
Very Fristian of you, however, to diagnose his church’s malady based on a short video clip.
And to tanstaafl, who wrote: “I have no idea or knowledge about that, Herb.”
That, my friend, is obvious. Bumiller got her facts wrong, yes, this is true, but she was barking up the right tree.
And you just plead ignorance…
Sep 5, 2008 - 7:54 pm 152. G Farmer:Oh goody another brownie point for the pro life movement. AS i heard on the radio the other day: “Bristol chose life! She obviously got that value from her mother.”
Too bad her mother never told her about biological responses in the back seat of the car and the ‘value’ of keeping ones clothes on…..
BUT..can’t do that…then the pro life movement has nothing to be pro life about.
Sep 6, 2008 - 6:40 am 153. nick:g farmer that is a great last line
Sep 6, 2008 - 11:19 am 154. Chuck Pelto:TO: All
RE: G Farmer
Another prime example of Palin Derangment Syndrome.
Regards,
Chuck(le)
[The object of life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane. -- Marcus Aurelius]
P.S. The likes of G Farmer and nick obviously have failed….to date…..
Sep 6, 2008 - 4:32 pm 155. Jeff:shhhhhhhhhhhh
Sep 6, 2008 - 8:22 pm 156. nick:http://voices.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/09/05/plane_not_sold_on_ebay.html
plane sold at a loss - such a great business deal -NOT!
Sep 6, 2008 - 10:34 pm 157. Waller:Nick,
I think I’ve got this right. The state got $2.1M for a used plane that they bought for $2.7M. That’s 78% of purchased price for resale. I think that’s damn good business sense.
Let’s see you get 78% of YOUR purchased price for a used piece of equipment. Ever trade-in your car? You lose 25% of your new car’s value the SECOND you leave the lot.
You Palin haters just keep exposing how desperate you are. Typical attack mode too. Try to make an issue out of nothing. She got 78% return on a used plane. You try to make that sound bad, when in fact it’s good.
She put the plane on ebay but took it off before it sold. What part of that makes her a liar when see says that she put the plane “up on ebay”?
You must be a liberal because that is liberal modus operandi — gotcha argument. Can’t rely on the overall argument because your position sucks defensively. You have to split hairs and hope the opposition takes the bait.
Sep 7, 2008 - 10:12 am 158. Chuck Pelto:TO: All
RE: nick the _____________ (fill in the blank) & Spam! Spam! Spam! Spam…..ad nauseum!
nick trotted this bogus claim out on another thread. I attempted to disabuse him about trying to sell used vehicles, e.g., cars, there. But apparently he doesn’t read English very well.
Regards,
Chuck(le)
Sep 7, 2008 - 11:13 am 159. Nicholas:[Stupid, adj., Ignorant and proud of it.]
Divide and conquer.
Sep 7, 2008 - 12:30 pm 160. Herb:While you guys fight each other, you have been taken for a ride by the US Govt.
Waller, you’re a piece of work. You ask: What part of that makes her a liar when see says that she put the plane “up on ebay”?
The McCain-Palin camp didn’t say they put it “up on ebay.” They said they SOLD it on ebay and made a profit.
So let’s review…As you say, “The state got $2.1M for a used plane that they bought for $2.7M.” That is not a profit.
And the plane wasn’t sold on ebay.
So when John McCain says, “You know what I enjoyed the most? She took the luxury jet that was acquired by her predecessor and sold it on eBay — and made a profit!”
Sep 7, 2008 - 1:07 pm 161. Waller:the dude is lying. Got it? Good.
No Herb, you the piece of work. First it was McCain (himself) that said she sold it on ebay for profit, not Palin. Ok he didn’t tell the story quite right.
BFD, making a mountain out of a molehill. Not quite in the same league as spending 20 years listening to a man preach, and claiming that you didn’t realize he was radical. Or not having to explain how you bought a house from a convicted felon for $300K under the original asking price. Or claiming that a man that you had many dealings with over 20 years is just an acquaintance.
Get a f***ing grip on perspective! This is a thimble compared to the buckets of lies Obamasama has made.
Sep 7, 2008 - 3:21 pm 162. C. Bensing:I didn’t read all the posts but will put in my two cents worth anyway.
Sep 7, 2008 - 6:38 pm 163. Trooplover:1. As much as I would like to think being a liberal in this day and time is a mental degrangement…it isn’t.
2. Liberals are socialists and as such want the teachings and policies of Socialism to be how the U.S. is governed.
3. This is a battle for the minds of the people and has been played out all over the world in many countries and even though Socialism has been proven to be a false help to the citizens it is the way to control a countries citizenry by handing out help until the citizens can’t exist without that help.
4. Just because the liberals have some ideas that appear not to be Socialistic doesn’t mean that Socialism for the U.S. isn’t their goal.
5. If JFK or Truman were alive today they would repudiate everything the Democratic party stands for today.
6. For this reason some liberals and Democrats are unamerican and hate anyone who wants to preserve America as we have known it.
7. Republicans are not perfect but on the whole do at least want to preserve America as a free country…they do not want to be Russia or any other country under the control of its government.
8. So its not insanity its power lust by some helped by a few who love to spread confusion, dissention and hate.
C. Bensing
As I read the comments from both sides, it is clear to me that there is a higher power at work here…and it AINT Sarah (Pitbull) Palin!…though she is one of His soldiers!
McCAIN/PALIN
Sep 8, 2008 - 6:39 am 164. Trooplover:RIGHT Choice/RIGHT Leaders
…and BTW- “I PUT it on e-bay” were the exact words from Palin, in regard to the sale of the airplane. It’s common knowledge that McCain is not computer savvy, so it’s quite understandable that he would have used the word “sold” on e-bay instead of “put”. Either way, the outcome was the same. Palin SOLD the plane & GAVE THE MONEY BACK TO THE PEOPLE!… And what are the dems complaining about?
As a pro-lifer & AND a single woman who chose life her first child, I am appalled that anyone could vote to refuse medical care to a LIVE baby that has been aborted, yet survived. THAT is exactly what Obama voted for. Refusing medical attention to a living innocent baby. SHAME, SHAME, SHAME!
Sep 8, 2008 - 6:55 am 165. Chuck Pelto:If I cannot trust a person to protect an innocent baby, HOW can I trust him to protect a corrupt nation?
TO: Herb
RE: Show Me….
….where they said they made a profit, and I might believe you.
Regards,
Chuck(le)
Sep 8, 2008 - 7:48 am 166. Jeff:For a more compelling look at Sarah Palin, please take a look at this link below—
http://howinsaneisjohnmccain.blogspot.com/2008/09/sarah-palin-scandals-complete-list.html
Sep 8, 2008 - 8:31 pm 167. Roger’s Rules » A Public Health Announcement:[...] also: Palin Hysteria Syndrome. Read | [...]
Sep 16, 2008 - 6:40 am 168. mattababy.com » Blog Archive » Anti-Intellectualism, the “Real America,” and Sarah Palin:[...] Kimbell, a bizarrely conservative but interesting art/media critic I come across from time to time, wrote this earlier in the month, and it feels deeply true to me–and thus, completely terrifying. I am terrified, more than I [...]
Oct 3, 2008 - 5:12 pm 169. Roger’s Rules » The recalcitrance of facts, or Barney Frank as Doctor Who:[...] do you explain it? Bush Derangement Syndrome (exacerbated by Palin Hysteria Syndrome)? In part. There is also a large quantum of liberal guilt operating, an emotion that Team Obama has [...]
Oct 5, 2008 - 10:43 am 170. Zorro for the Common Good:Sigh. The Kael quote has been repeatedly debunked as being apocryphal. Here’s the Wikipedia entry (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pauline_Kael#Nixon_.22quote.22):
Kael is frequently quoted as having said, in the wake of Richard Nixon’s landslide victory in the 1972 presidential election, that she “couldn’t believe Nixon had won,” since no one she knew had voted for him. The quote is sometimes cited by conservatives (such as Bernard Goldberg, in his book Bias), as an example of allegedly clueless New York liberal insularity. There are variations as to the exact wording, the speaker (it has variously been attributed to other liberal women, including Katharine Graham, Susan Sontag, and Joan Didion), and the timing (in addition to Nixon’s victory, it has been claimed to have been uttered after Ronald Reagan’s re-election in 1984.)
There is, in fact, no record of Kael making such a remark. The story may have originated in a December 28, 1972 New York Times article on a lecture Kael gave at the Modern Language Association, in which the newspaper quoted her as saying, “I live in a rather special world. I only know one person who voted for Nixon. Where they are I don’t know. They’re outside my ken. But sometimes when I’m in a theater I can feel them.”
Oct 14, 2008 - 9:39 am 171. Mike Toreno:“What worries me is how the Left is going cope come the election.”
We’re managing OK.
Roger Kimball:
EPIC FAIL
Nov 5, 2008 - 3:38 pm 172. Roger’s Rules » “For this relief, much thanks . . .”:[...] result I predicted here–before the evaporation of three or four trillion dollars, in August, here). But I am certainly glad it is over. A brief perusal of the comments elicited by some of those [...]
Nov 6, 2008 - 7:03 am 173. MovieMan0283:Actually, a bewildered Kael never said any such thing. She was once quoted as saying that she lived in a strange corner of the world, because no one she knew voted for Nixon. Kind of the opposite meaning from what you implied. (In fact, Kael had little use for dogmatists and sentimentalists of either the left-wing or right-wing type, but given that she liked to bite the hand which fed her, it was usually the former she went after).
Of course, that inaccuracy is the least of your problems at this point. How’s that egg on your face treating you?
Jun 19, 2009 - 12:52 pm