February 17, 2008
Liberalism is a mental disorder

He's certainly not the first to suggest it, but Dr. Lyle Rossiter, author of the new book, "The Liberal Mind: The Psychological Causes of Political Madness," argues that liberalism is not just a belief, but something much more pathological. "Based on strikingly irrational beliefs and emotions, modern liberals relentlessly undermine the most important principles on which our freedoms were founded," "Like spoiled, angry children, they rebel against the normal responsibilities of adulthood and demand that a parental government meet their needs from cradle to grave."

Yup, that just about sums it up. Irrational beliefs and emotions, spoiled, angry and begging for government to babysit them from cradle to grave. Sounds dead on to me.

Top psychiatrist concludes liberals clinically nuts - Makes case ideology is mental disorder

Posted by mjcostello at February 17, 2008 09:58 PM | Email This
Comments
1. Sounds like hyberbole and name called backed up by pseudoscience to me.

If you can not just rationally argue against your opponents position and instead must resort to name calling then you are intelectually weak.

Posted by: ysander on February 18, 2008 08:36 AM
2. There's the Catch-22? Since when is it possible to debate a liberal without them resorting to distortion, invented facts, emotion, and ultimately, name calling and false accusations?

Your rebuttal might carry some weight if you argued against the analysis, and not simply dismiss it by alleging what Liberals do every single day.

Posted by: MJC on February 18, 2008 11:12 AM
3. How do you argue against people that resort to distortions? Explain to everyone how they are distorting.

How do you argue against people that resort to invented facts? By explaining to people the real facts.

How do you argue against people that resort to emotion? By explaining to the facts.

How do you argue against people that resort to name calling? By asking them not to call you names and stick to the facts of the debate.

How do you argue against people that resort to false accusations? By asking for facts to back up such an accusation and then returning to the actual debate.

Or I suppose you could instead resort to saying that your opponent has a mental disease. I prefer to take the road less travelled and stick with the facts.

Posted by: Lysander on February 18, 2008 02:23 PM
4. Lys, perhaps you should read the book and research how he came up with the data to back up his claims.

For more than 35 years he has diagnosed and treated more than 1,500 patients as a board-certified clinical psychiatrist and examined more than 2,700 civil and criminal cases as a board-certified forensic psychiatrist. He received his medical and psychiatric training at the University of Chicago.

Dr. Rossiter says the liberal agenda preys on weakness and feelings of inferiority in the population by:

-creating and reinforcing perceptions of victimization;
-satisfying infantile claims to entitlement, indulgence and compensation;
-augmenting primitive feelings of envy;
-rejecting the sovereignty of the individual, subordinating him to the will of the government.

"When the modern liberal mind whines about imaginary victims, rages against imaginary villains and seeks above all else to run the lives of persons competent to run their own lives, the neurosis of the liberal mind becomes painfully obvious."


FACTS are certainly inconvenient, aren't they?... just ask AltheEcogod.

Posted by: Ragnar Danneskjold on February 18, 2008 10:08 PM
5. He's certainly not the first to suggest it, but Dr. Lyle Rossiter, author of the new book, "The [Conservative] Mind: The Psychological Causes of Political Madness," argues that [conservatism]is not just a belief, but something much more pathological. "Based on strikingly irrational beliefs and emotions, modern [conservatives] relentlessly undermine the most important principles on which our freedoms were founded," "Like spoiled, angry children, they rebel against the normal responsibilities of adulthood and demand that a parental government meet their needs from cradle to grave."

Yup, that just about sums it up. Irrational beliefs and emotions, spoiled, angry and begging for government to [placate their fears of everything and everyone]-- from cradle to grave. It's what happens after the grave that's really going to shake their shit up.

Posted by: Michael Hart on February 19, 2008 10:07 AM
6. There you go, another liberal altering someone else's words to counter an argument they can't argue against otherwise. Taken right from the Clinton and Obama campaign of "words mean everything, actions mean nothing".

Posted by: MJC on February 19, 2008 03:59 PM
7. MJC @5:

Who are you refering to?

Posted by: Lysander on February 19, 2008 04:03 PM
8. Politics is in the process of replacing religion as the prism through which many view the world. The same strange behaviors that have historically been linked to religion (e.g. self-flagellation, witchhunts) now appear in connection with politics.

This will only increase as time goes on.

Posted by: russell garrard on February 19, 2008 11:33 PM
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