But at least the GOP is engaged in a war over real policy choices. It is an emotional debate, often a hysterical and ill-informed one, but it is a fight among adults who know what they believe in and who have the guts to battle for it. By contrast the Democrats, ostensibly the party poised to exploit this GOP civil war, don't seem to remember what it is like to behave as adults. They resemble nothing so much as ill-adjusted adolescents, afraid of their own shadows, much less the presidency. What are they afraid of? Themselves, essentially: their past, their own left, the populist rhetoric of their leaders (Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, Howard Dean, Al Gore), the left-wing loony stigma represented by “Fahrenheit 9/11” filmmaker Michael Moore (every Dem’s favorite bugaboo). Above all they fear seeming and looking soft. They are all afflicted with varying degrees of megalophobia, a fear of assuming power. Even Dr. Melfi of “The Sopranos” wouldn’t take this case.
This psychological disability has been long in the making, of course. When it comes to national security, it has been eating at the heart of the Democratic Party since its biggest debacle, Vietnam, which destroyed the Dems' prideful self-image formed during World War II and the cold-war containment consensus. But never has this Democratic dysfunction been so apparent as now, the moment when the Dems should be striding confidently into the limelight to seize control of the national agenda. And none are more pathetically afflicted than those who purport to be the “new” Democrats, the “strong” ones, the ones who want to “resurrect” the gloried intestinal fortitude and moral fiber of FDR, Harry Truman and JFK. (emphasis mine)
Well, I'm sorry, but I don't concur with the diagnosis; nor the descriptions of the symptoms.
The Democrats are not "adolescents afraid of their own shadow"--they are adolescents who whine and sulk when they don't get their own way. They are not afraid of "seeming and looking soft"--they actually are soft when it comes to defending this country--and they are deathly afraid of taking a stand on any principle because it might cost them votes from their lunatic extremist base. They aren'e megalophobic--they are megalomanic, outraged just like any other megalomaniac at the idea that their precious power has been usurped by the evil interloping Republicans; and determined at all costs to regain it-- no matter how much they hurt this country in the process.
They seem incapable of generating any ideas or alternative strategies on their own; so the best they can do is to tear down those who do. Anyone who becomes suspect of behaving in a mature fashion by dealing with the real world, is automatically purged from their ranks and vilified.
I have said it before, and it bears repeating: the Democratic party and its leftist base have devolved into the party that represents nothing and stands for nothing.
It is no wonder that they have been unable to gain any traction in public support despite seemingly widespread unhappiness and discontent (mostly promulgated, highlighted and incessantly emphasized by their Party) about the present state of affairs in theis country.
Anything good that happens or that is achieved is automatically downplayed, distorted and undermined for fear that the evil Republicans might get credit. Many of the most desperate whose all-consuming goal is to climb the ladder of political power, flirt with-- at best the most outrageous, and at worse the frankly treasonous accusations and deliberate distortions --simply to gain attention and pander to the worse elements in society. This party has willingly incorporated the most extreme and lunatic paranoid fantasies and made them mainstream; and those who voice them are given heroic status.
While exposing an unbelievable psychological naivete, combined with the appropriately politically correct philosophy that encourages "self esteeem" even when the individual has done notheing to earn it; the author of this article suggests that the only thing wrong with the Democrats is that their self-esteem is low; and all they have to do is to "believe" in themselves and they can regain power.
This may work for todlers in kindergarden (actually, it doesn't work long for them either), but it leaves a lot to be desired when applied to supposedly mature adults who are expected to make decisions and lead this country in perilous times.
No, the symptoms of the psychologically disabled Democrats derive from a serious disorder of narcissism. They are focused only on reacquistion of their power; on self-aggrandizement, with concomitant denigration of their enemies--the Republicans. God knows that the Republicans are no saints, but they at least are trying to deal with reality, and the enemies that want to destroy this Republic; they at least are willing to argue ideas and stand up for principles.
The hysterically blind Democrats see no enemy beyond their political opponents. They see no country or Republic worth fighting for if they are not in charge. They abandon principle and what is right in pursuit of ultimate power--and then like delusional individuals everywhere, they project their own inadequacies on the object of their hatred.
Let us not be wishy-washy about the diagnosis: the Democratic Party is rampant with malignant narcissism; burdened with individuals of overweening arrogance and consumed with hatred and rage. This animosity toward their political rivals has colored almost all their activities in the last 6 years and blinded them to anything important. They are suffering from severe paranoia; delusions, and depressive symptoms brought on by believeing the bellicosity of their own rehtoric.
The author concludes with this tidbit:
Democrats must first have the courage to strip bare the GOP’s failures. They must believe they're every bit as good on national security as their rivals. This courage is frankly not in evidence.
While it is true that their courage is not in evidence; even more importantly, the assertion that they are "every bit as good on national security as their rivals" is, without making too much fuss about it, unbelievable and completely ludicrous. It is precisely because of this fantastical ability to delude themselves that their real problem is that they are "too virtuous", "too nice, "reality-based" and "not as mean as those horrible Republicans"-- that they have failed to convince the (laughing) American public that they could do any better than the Republicans; and have gone a long way to convincing them of exactly the opposite.
The Democrats need to do more than "believe" in themselves and wish very very hard with their fingers crossed that they could be as good as Republians on this issue. They actually have to do something to demonstrate it in the real world.
That requires that they cease their delusional thinking and psychotic hatred of the opposition. It requires maturity, rational behavior, and actual ideas that address the realities of the post-9/11 world in a constructive manner (instead of believing the kind of pervasive silliness fisked in this post). It requires putting the country ahead of the Party; and most importantly, it requires dumping the lunatic fringe that has infiltrated and whose ideas pervert everything they once stood for.
Until that time they will remain emotionally immature, psycholgoically disabled, and politically paranoid. And for very good reasons.
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