Liberal Pathology

Is the childlike behavior characteristic of liberals a mental disorder biological in nature such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, borderline personality disorder, and narcissism? Joan Swirsky’s article provides some interesting food for thought as we approach the 2008 presidential election.

From New Media, an excerpt:

In what he calls the psychopathology of the liberal mind, Lyle H. Rossiter, Jr., M.D., a psychiatrist and the author of The Liberal Mind: The Psychological Causes of Political Madness,” says:
“In his determination to control the world, [the liberal] 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.”

And what does this domination and manipulation lead to? Rossiter says it is nothing less than the “liberal agenda’s principles of coercive collectivism [in which] the citizen’s choices will be influenced by ideals of entitlement, welfare dependency, state regulation [and] moral relativism.”

The liberal, Rossiter adds, is “not called to maturity but is instead invited to begin a second childhood. Like the child at play, he is given, or at least promised, ultimate economic, social and political security without having to assume responsibility for himself.”

Rossiter’s “diagnoses” complement those found in the diagnostic and statistical manual (DSM-IV) of the American Psychiatric Association.

In narcissistic personality disorder, people feel they are special and therefore entitled to the things they want at the exact moment they want them. When denied, narcissists become irrationally angry and lash out with personal attacks. But because they crave adulation, they can become irresistibly charming in the very next minute.

Sound familiar? For eight long years, President “I feel your pain” Clinton failed to pass a law to provide senior citizens with prescription drug relief, failed to muster up the morality to pass a law banning third-trimester abortions that kill fully formed babies on the very verge of birth, failed to free the black people in this country from the slavery of welfare until a Republican Congress accomplished this sea change in America’s landscape. But he did not fail cut and run from Somalia, bomb an aspirin factory or wage an air war against people who were no threat to the United States, or to ignore numerous Al Qaeda attacks on our country and throughout the world, effectively setting the stage for the devastation of September 11.

Narcissism, in fact, is at the root of liberals’ embrace of abortion. While “power to the powerless” is their anthem, no legislation has ever been more passionately embraced than the abortion-on-demand law of 1973 that allows all “caring” liberals to kill the most powerless among us. Of course, this does not conflict with their horror at the deaths of minks, because in their minds these rodents are already here while developing embryos – with heartbeats and nervous systems, eyes and ears – are simply “tissue.” Nor does it conflict with their horror at “civilian” deaths, even when they result inadvertently from American military forces.

Borderline personality disorder is characterized by a complete inability to tolerate the gray complexion of life – or politics. Liberals always cast those who disagree with them in stark shades of black and white and often resort to “scorched earth” retaliation. They also go out of their way to conceal the fact that, like other sociopaths, they have no consciences and no remorse – except for the likes of minks, of course.

Such is the nature of liberals, whose identification with and empathy for our enemies is a hopeless muddle of self-congratulatory “understanding” and hatred of authority. Instead of seeing the epic struggle we are now engaged in as an opportunity to stand with America for the spread of freedom and for defeating our enemies, liberals choose to stand against everything that is good and great and exceptional about our country.

To most people, this is self-defeating, irrational, even dangerous behavior. But remember, that’s how some children are! However, when fully grown adults act this way, in spite of the fact that they’re fixated between the ages of 6 and 12, such behavior is not only treasonous, it’s also pathological.

So the next time you’re watching or listening to a liberal, observe the symptoms I’ve mentioned. Note the anger, the pessimism, the negativity, the name-calling, the bursts of rage, the gratuitous insults, the desire to present an image of “goodness,” the transparent attempt to be liked, the willingness to change an opinion if the old one isn’t polling well, and the eagerness to placate our enemies, the better to avoid a fight so that those enemies will “like” us.

Ask yourself: Is this behavior different in any way from a child’s behavior? Then ask yourself: Do I want a child to be the President of the United States and the Commander in Chief in a time of war?

Read Joan Swirsky’s The Pathology of Liberalism here.