Tuesday, October 9, 2012

We Read, You Deride

The only paragraph you need to read from Jonathan Chait reviewing a couple books at The New Republic, essential sentenceclause bolded:
Already the extremism of the party has advanced to such a point that its most fervent elements are identified less by their ideology—which is nearly impossible to distinguish any more from that of the mainstream—than by the degree to which their detachment from reality departs from paranoia as a mere figure of speech and approaches actual, clinical paranoia. “Radical” Republicans believe that Obama has created death panels, may have been secretly born overseas, and is plotting a United Nations invasion. The “mainstream” Republicans believe in goldbuggery and a massive plot by climate scientists, and deny the dramatic rise in income inequality in America.
It hasn't been a question of politics, ideology or even the theocratic lunacy displayed in the item immediately below for some time w/ these people; as Chait suggests, this is psychological. Once being dropped on the head (accidentally or intentionally) at an early age is ruled out, the 10¢ diagnosis would be childhood abuse; home schooling or worse.

4 comments:

Big Bad Bald Bastard said...

The Birchers have gone mainstream, and have taken over the party.

ifthethunderdontgetya™³²®© said...

Formerly sane Republican positions (i.e. merely greedy and cynical warmongering, for instance) have been adopted by Democrats.

So the pukes went over the cliff, because they could. And they're taking the rest of us with them.
~

Weird Dave said...

The overton window is now the overton trap-door

M. Bouffant said...

Astronomy Editor:
Where are the meteors?