It’s become commonplace to conclude that those who disagree with us politically are out of their minds. How else could we explain the fact that – in our eyes – their positions are so catastrophically wrong?
überconservative Michael Savage has argued for years that liberalism is a form of mental illness. Georgetown law professor Rosa Brooks says President Bush should be committed. Others have called Mr. Bush a madman. “I seriously believe we have to start asking questions about his mental health,” said two-time presidential contender Dennis Kucinich recently. When Mr. Kucinich himself said he’d seen a flying saucer, Fox News commentator John Gibson wrote, “Now we know who’s really crazy.”As for the sanity of GOP candidates: Rolling Stone writer Matt Taibbi intimated that Mike Huckabee was “full-bore nuts.” In a Vanity Fair article, Michael Wolff concluded that Rudy Giuliani was “quite literally, nuts,” and “actually mad.”
Calling public figures crazy is not an entirely new phenomenon. During Franklin Roosevelt’s first years in office, whisper campaigns portrayed him making paper dolls, laughing hysterically at press conferences, tended by psychiatrists disguised as servants, and confined to a straitjacket for extended periods of time. What’s new is the application of modern tools to this public sport. Arguing that Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush all showed evidence of brain pathology while in office, neuropsychiatrist Daniel Amen has even suggested that anyone seeking the presidency should have their brain scanned.
I’d agree with him, but I’m poisoned by testosterone.
Comment by mgroves on 1/28 @ 10:03 am #
“anyone seeking the presidency should have their brain scanned”
I think there’s a good point there.
Comment by geoffb on 1/28 @ 10:18 am #
Most of what I see blogged on this subject is not so much about the “leaders” of either side being crazy as it is about the supporters/followers on one side or the other being nuts.
Comes from there being “reality” and “alternate reality”. Deciding reality by political means is crazy.
Comment by Bill D. Cat on 1/28 @ 10:19 am #
“anyone seeking the presidency should have their brain scannedâ€Â
So …. using this logic ….lobotomise any one running for VEEP ?
Comment by Jim in KC on 1/28 @ 10:22 am #
Masculinist.
Comment by mojo on 1/28 @ 10:24 am #
“When all you have is a hammer, everything starts to look like a nail.”
Comment by Enoch_Root on 1/28 @ 10:29 am #
I am convinced near everyone has some sort of severe miasm. I am further convinced that our ruling class is so inbred as to exascerbate the problem exponentially. But then I could just be a paranoid.
Comment by Jonathan on 1/28 @ 10:57 am #
They’d never agree to being scanned — the scans would reveal the alien brain implants. (Google it, people!)
Comment by The Sanity Inspector on 1/28 @ 11:08 am #
The notion that two opponents are intelligent, informed, and honest is just too radical to catch on anytime soon.
Comment by Sean M. on 1/28 @ 11:16 am #
RON PAUL!
(That was too easy.)
Comment by N. O'Brain on 1/28 @ 12:58 pm #
“So …. using this logic ….lobotomise any one running for VEEP ?”
One word: AlGore
Comment by Bill D. Cat on 1/28 @ 1:01 pm #
One word: AlGore
In his case I prefer euthanise , for the children , you know .
Comment by Christopher Taylor on 1/28 @ 1:20 pm #
Daniel Amen has even suggested that anyone seeking the presidency should have their brain scanned.
Hard to argue with that kind of logic
Comment by JHoward on 1/28 @ 1:30 pm #
Given that collectivized envy and theft are core components of authoritarian central policy, and that restrictions on social behavior and free speech are viable policy at least on leftist horizons these days (read: Clinton, and The Most Dysfunctional Administration in History, to paraphrase and exemplify The Slickmeister) I’d say collectivism ranks right up there with an assault on principle and with it, the truth of the human condition’s search for freedom.
Who leads in the collectivist sweepstakes?
On the inverse, freedom is proportional to self-accountability, and self-accountability is honesty — mental health exists in proportion to the degree of self-accountability.
Looks to me like the Left (and probably much of today’s Republican social ideology) are largely perpetuated by a belief in authoritarianism, and are therefore an inherently dishonest pathology.
Comment by Pablo on 1/28 @ 1:48 pm #
The esteemed Mr. Locke identified this phenomenon some time ago. His logic, while disturbing, is difficult to argue with.
Trackback by Stone Bush Hammer on 2/17 @ 9:46 pm #
Stone Bush Hammer
The pein end is intended for FS5-148 $16,500 new acquisition Louis XIV An early 18th c