Several decades ago I worked at a psychiatric hospital. My job as a counselor was to help our clients adjust to life outside the institution. This meant that I had many long-term relationships with individuals suffering from schizophrenia and bipolar disorders.
Many of these folks were deeply disturbed. They had hallucinations, delusions, and/or periods of manic frenzy. Still and all, despite the fact that they often lost touch with reality, the vast majority recognized that something was amiss. To put this in the vernacular, they realized they were crazy.
Only a tiny fraction were in such denial that they believed themselves sane. Today as I look out at the political scene, a much larger proportion of liberals seem unaware that they have gone crazy. They refuse to admit that they have become completely detached from basic facts.
The polite way of expressing this is that they have become “unhinged.” Their hysteria is such that they say and do things they never would have entertained a few short years ago. Irrespective of their assurances to the contrary, they routinely undermine the democratic values they are pledged to uphold.
Let me begin with the recent epidemic of incivility. Although Chuck Schumer called upon folks like Maxine Waters to pull in their horns, mobs continue to surround and intimidate opposing politicians. They call them vile names and insinuate “we know where you live.”
This is worse than an outrage. It is a dagger to the heart of our body politic. Tragically, if it continues, our tradition of representative government will be imperiled. There will, in fact, be generalized violence on our streets and carnage in the halls of congress.
As of now, conservatives have done little more than complain about the growing incivility. They haven’t even identified it as the illegal intimidation, which it is. Meanwhile, millions of liberals regard this contemptible conduct as evidence of patriotism. They insanely believe that it defends our shared values.
Yet where is this leading? If conservative officials are routinely assaulted when they are in public, can it be long before there is pushback? Will right wing mobs soon be accosting isolated liberals? Will they too chant nasty epithets at their helpless victims?
But wouldn’t this provoke an escalation from the left? And then a counter-escalation from the right? Obviously this kind of tit for tat can get out of hand. It did in pre-Hitler Germany. One of the reasons that the Austrian paperhanger became its chancellor was that Nazi and Communist hooligans were literally battling each other in the streets.
If liberals were the intellectuals they pretend to be, they would be aware of this danger. They would not be making mealy-mouthed criticisms of Waters, but full-throated denunciations of her tactics. To do less is a form of madness that cannot be left to pass unnoticed.
Equally senseless are the political maneuvers being perpetrated in congress and the media. One would have thought that the consequences of Harry Reid eviscerating the filibuster would have opened some eyes. Although it allowed Democrats to confirm controversial judicial candidates, it later permitted Republicans to do the same.
Rational people discern such things. They peer into the future to avoid imminent pitfalls. So why aren’t Schumer’s band of merry obstructionists mindful that in delaying approval of Trump officials they are inviting Republicans to do likewise under a Democratic administration?
If a violent political stalemate is possible in our restaurants and theaters, why isn’t it conceivable in the legislature? A straw in the wind is that many of our representatives are no longer on speaking terms. So what happens if they begin using actual weapons to silence the opposition?
As for the media, many mainstream reporters have long since abandoned journalism. They have become political flacks who distort any fact and promote any fiction if it advances liberal causes. This involves such shameful efforts as quashing the recent DOJ IG report.
What will be the conclusion when the public realizes it is being duped? Will voters pay attention to these journalists? And if not, won’t this place many jobs in jeopardy? In other words, reporters are apparently committing professional suicide—which is at least a touch crazy.
I have previously argued that liberals are in a state of panic. As their worldview crumbles, their heads fill with undigested mush. So I say, if this isn’t a form of insanity, it surely comes close.
Melvyn L. Fein, Ph.D.
Professor of Sociology
Kennesaw State University
No comments:
Post a Comment