Wednesday, September 16, 2009

FANTASIES OF PERSECUTION

How low can our national discourse sink? Well, for some, to levels of severe paranoia and fantasies of persecution. Charles Krauthammer notes:


You know, the accusation of racism is a sign of desperation by people who know they are losing the national debate, and they want to hurl the ultimate charge in American politics.

This is dealing from the bottom of the deck, and I agree that it is a disgusting tactic. It's done as a way to end debate. The minute you call somebody a racist, the debate is over. You don't continue….

Accusations of racism are the last refuge of the liberal scoundrel.

As for Maureen Dowd, imagining a word [“boy”] that wasn't said: Well, in my previous profession, I saw a lot of people who heard words that weren't said. They were called patients. Many of them were actually helped with medication.

The reason she won't be — and others who are hurling the [racism] accusation — is because it is a deliberate attempt to change the subject and discredit the opposition with an unprovable — and unproven — ad hominem.[emphasis mine]


Victor Davis Hanson weighs in:


To prove their charge, those who allege racism would have to show empirically that the present angry rhetoric eclipses what was said about and done to Bush. It does not yet.

We don't see the word "hate" used in mainstream publications like The New Republic and the Guardian, as it was during the Bush years. (Even worse, really unspeakable things were done to Bush in novels and films.) "You lie" is about on par with the past statements of a Rep. Pete Stark or a Howard Dean ("I hate Republicans"), or the booing Democrats at the 2005 State of the Union. The extremists at the demonstrations are in smaller numbers so far than those who turned out against Bush and the Iraq War. A senior figure like John Glenn or Al Gore has not called the current president a Nazi or brownshirt.

A better explanation than right-wing racism for the Left's exasperation is that in the Bush wilderness years, the Left assumed permanent political marginalization, adopted an ends-justify-the-means strategy of street rhetoric against Bush, then found themselves unexpectedly as the establishment, and now are appalled that anyone might emulate their own past emotional outbursts....

...the larger question is why the Left is now nearly unhinged about criticism of a black liberal president, when it was silent (well, there was always Harry Belafonte . . .) about the racial implications of the constant and vicious anger directed at Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice, not to mention the rather personal, condescending attacks on Alberto Gonzales. For that matter, the ubiquitous Pete Stark once said some particularly unkind and racist things about former health and human services secretary Louis Sullivan (who is black).

Cast your memory back to last year's campaign; when everyone in the news media calmly and matter-of-factly discussed in detail things like "the black vote" or "the hispanic vote." In a way it is nothing short of incredible to witness the blatant racism and offhand stereotyping ("typical white") that now rolls off the tongues of news commentators, Democrats, and even the POTUS.

This is the "racial trancendence" we were promised by the Democrat's messiah last year. And, this is the typical legacy of leftist thought.

Not only are they paranoid about race and delusional, but they are completely obsessed with race and racial identity. What we are seeing is the end game maneuvers of the Democratic's multi-decade pimping of identity politics and victimhoodology. All who stand in opposition to their leader must, by definition be racist.

It seems as if we are well on the path to having the primary legacy of Barack Obama be one of racial polarization ; divisiveness; and identity politics taken to the nth degree. Amazingly, this could have been predicted at the very start of Obama's campaign in early 2008, as two key Democrat-approved victim groups lined up to do battle for the nomination, each believing they represented the purist victims of the evils of the white male capitalist oppressors.

If ever there was an example of how people regularly delude themselves into thinking they are doing "good", when in fact they are leaving the door open to the worse aspects of their own human nature, this descent into regular accusations of "Racism!" qualifies.

The do-gooder leftist in all the various ideological incarnations--the antiwar crowd, the environmental crowd, the communists, socialists, and assorted collectivists--offers the rationale that he does what he does for the "common good" and for "social justice", "peace" and "brotherhood". His high-minded, self-righteous rhetoric justifies (to him anyway) imposing his will and beliefs on others for their own good; and he will not hesitate to use whatever coercive capablity he has at hand to get others to do what he wants and what he says.

Using the "ultimate charge in American politics"--i.e., accusing someone of racism--is one of their favorite ploys; not only to end the discussion, but also to coerce the object of their accusation into doing what they want. In this case, they want all opposition to Obamacare to disappear.

The Democrats have framed the debate much the same way that Obama did during the campaign--i.e., if you don't vote for me, then it will be definitive proof of the latent racism of America. It will prove that Reverend Wright is absolutely correct in his assessment, don't you see? Are we the KKK of America, after all--or will we be redeemed by doing the right and proper thing--i.e., vote for a man or woman on the basis of his or her color or gender and not on the basis of his or her ideas?

This is only the latest escalation of the casual racism and sexism that is the legacy of the Democratic Party and do-gooder left. By manipulating the Blacks, the Women, the Gays, the [insert your favorite victim group here] they have fashioned for themselves a 'rainbow coalition'--or to put it another way, a' politically correct' path to power that actively promotes racism, sexism--and any other prejudice they can think of--all in the name of eliminating or opposing racism, sexism and prejudice. Wow.

In other words, they bring about and make worse the very thing they claim to be opposed to--whether it is racism, sexism or any other -ism-- but at least in the process of calling someone else a "racist" they transietly feel really really good about themselves. That dynamic is actually how paranoia and projection work in psychiatry. You feel good about yourself (or at least better) because you project your own unacceptable feeling onto others.

Think about it, Mr. Obama, Ms. Dowd et. al.; and maybe search your own soul for a change to discover the origin of your fantasies of persecution.

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