"...the left seems to be escalating their paranoia instead of containing it."

Bullseye. That saidm the escalation is necessary, as the deconstruction of the paranoid's world accurs. In order to maintain the disconnect, escalation becomes the order of the day.

Outta the park, doc- outta the park.

Your remark that "Today, conservatives are actually more representative of true "progressive" thought; and will continue to be as long as the rhetoric and behavior of the liberal left is mired in the paranoid style" will no doubt generate some controversy, but in fact, deconstructing conservatism can only prove those remarks true.
sigmund, carl and alfred | Email | Homepage | 01.26.06 - 3:33 pm | #

Wow! A tour de force, doctor. This explains so much about what is going on now. If only there is someone on the left who can be reasonable (not Dean; not Kerry; not the opportunistic Hillary) and who can take their party away from the paranoia and delusions and the mindless no's--and give them a positive platform instead of the worn old platitudes from 50 years ago.
Junior | Email | Homepage | 01.26.06 - 3:56 pm | #

Isn't paranoia sometimes rooted in anality?

If so, perhaps you could call this the "Left's Behind" series.
Gagdad Bob | Email | Homepage | 01.26.06 - 4:01 pm | #

Seems to me the Left is competing amongst themselves to see who can be more irrational, paranoid and delusional. As that happens, however, we lose.
simplertimes | Email | Homepage | 01.26.06 - 4:14 pm | #

I remember the John Birch Society and the KKK and all the paranoia they had about blacks. They represented the worst part of the right and the knuckleheads of the Democratic party (Pelosi, Boxer, Dean, Kennedy, Kerry etc. etc.) represent the worst of the left. They are mired in the 60's and without any new ideas. They haven't a clue how to deal with Islamic terror and hide that behind their negativity and conspiracy theories. It is sad really. I used to be a democrat when John Kennedy was president. I switched about the time of Reagan after the disaster that Carter presided over. Since then the dems have only gone through the motions. They have no real ideas that I can see --certainly no new ones that don't date back to the 60's. As my granddaughter would say, "They are sooooo 20th century."
anonymous | Email | Homepage | 01.26.06 - 4:31 pm | #

I remember all the old right-wing bigots in SoCal in the Sixties. My family's Republican friends could pretty well be counted on to be both racist and anti-Semitic. But then, a lot of them were right about Commies in the antiwar movement weren't they.

This last year I've been hanging close with the local Republicans and I can tell you the old bigots have died off or been purged. The Left needs to purge its old Commies.
cassandra | Email | Homepage | 01.26.06 - 4:51 pm | #

MoveOn etc. is the John Birch Society of the left.
Michael Andreyakovich | Email | Homepage | 01.26.06 - 5:09 pm | #

Great Job. I think you're spot on!
js | Email | Homepage | 01.26.06 - 5:28 pm | #

Great continuation. And I agree with your assessment regarding the necessary impetus for change on the left. The extremists will move when the pain becomes sufficient. Even if they could be convinced (forced at gunpoint) to read this material, it wouldn't make a dent in the paranoia. I sure appreciate it though, because it helps to structure and explain all the crazy behavior. Thanks.
Auld Pharte | Email | Homepage | 01.26.06 - 6:05 pm | #

GK Chesterton -- a writer currently neglected and worth rediscovering -- commented about a paranoiac's reasoning that "One doesn't so much want to give it refutation as to give it air."

This was interesting for me to relook at paranoid reasoning in terms of its defensive aspect -- collecting data not so much to prove the point to others as to insulate the self.

This essay also touches curiously on the question of "what is evidence?" There is some sort of evidence for nearly any proposition. The questions must eventually become, "Is the evidence at all convincing? Are there alternative explanations which fit the facts? If this were true, what else would have to be true as well?" It is these questions which get left out of paranoid reasoning.
Assistant Village Idiot | Email | Homepage | 01.26.06 - 9:00 pm | #

Excellent post, brilliant diagnosis and a pretty good 'treatment' plan.

"In the latter case, one must also treat the underlying problem, but in this case, it is not medication or other physical treatments that will do the job. The treatment for political paranoia is insight and self-awareness."

The left certainly has self-awareness, although completely misguided and ill-informed, as they seem to have the ideal root cause diagnosis to every problem (It's Bushes fault) but never ever really state any viable alternative solution. The real problem for the left is going to be that 'insight' thing. I believe their delusion has caused permanent mental damage. Great blog Dr. Sanity!
Mark | Email | Homepage | 01.26.06 - 10:07 pm | #

Sanity, I hope you are right. But I have doubts. I don't think the Left can leave its paranoia. Facing reality threatens their whole ideology. They will bring US down first.
jng | Email | Homepage | 01.26.06 - 11:10 pm | #

Overcoming the problems of paranoia might be so difficult after all; look how quickly Sen. Byrd became reasonable about Judge Alito. All it took was a threat to his reelection!
Greg G | Email | Homepage | 01.26.06 - 11:32 pm | #

Q: How many psychologists does it take to change an angry leftist?

A: THAT'S NOT FUNNY!

But, please, keep trying, Doc.
Scott Crawford | Email | Homepage | 01.27.06 - 12:22 am | #

Doc:

The Left cannot change until the structure it has constructed for itself is changed.

The "piggy-bank" of the Left is the AFL-CIO and it's member union PACS, this despite the fact that union workers have been voting conservative since Reagan's '80 campaign.

The reason? Labor union elections are as democratic as Soviet elections.

The Labor Bosses are disconnected from their own rank and file, but the closed-shop system and the automatic contribution mechanisms keep the money roling in.

Have you noticed any uptick in prosecutions of crooked union officials over the past 6 years?

Neither have I.

The "Brains" of the Left lies in academia, and academia is heavily subsidized by the Federal government, not just through grants and research projects, but also via student loans.

This latest hubbub about military recruiters on college campuses...imagine how hard it would "bump their jukebox" if the Congress or the DoEd shut the tap on Federal funds to those schools that barred military recruiters?
That hasn't happenned in this Republican regime either.

For all their lip=service about "Equality", the Left is four-square behind programs like Affirmative Action, which is racist on its' face, as well as Title 11, which is "addressing" a "crisis" that doesn't seem to exist,(judging by the disparity in HS graduation rates between males and females, also college attendance).
In no case has the GOP raised a finger to dismantle or circumscribe either of these programs.

And here's why:
It is not in the conservatives' strategic political interest to "improve" the Left.

It IS within the GOP's interest to keep crooked Union bosses shackled around the Democrats' necks.

It IS within the GOP's interest to maintain, largely at public expense, a cadre of Marxists, Maoists, Islamists and other assorted oddballs who must, by virtue of their tenure/life subsidy, be the "offensive songbirds" of Liberalism

And it IS in the GOP's interest to allow the Left to carry on its' utter hypocrisy in matters of tace and gender and soon,(no doubt), sexual preference, simply because it insults and alienates the white Christian working-class.

There's an old adage in warfare that says, in effect:

Do not disturb your opponent when he is busy destroying himself.

When the Democrats figure out that they are being allowed to self-destruct, they'll have turned the corner.

If they ever decide, truly, to seek governance again, it should make for some very interesting political campaigns...for those with an eye to history.

Regards;
Bilgeman | Email | Homepage | 01.27.06 - 12:56 am | #

I doubt the Dems will ever realize they're ruining themselves. The special interests are paying them very big amounts of money to avoid that realization at all costs.

I remember a Stephen Colbert piece he did for THE DAILY SHOW, where he wen tto the DNC in '04 and sat representatives of EVERY social group at the convention down in one room - black, Asian, single parents, gay & lesbian... A lot of the questions he asked were designed to either drive the Democrats in the room monolithically together, or to split them chaotically apart - like his last question, "What is the most important plank in the Democratic platform?" Not ONE person could agree with another on that one, and a debate actually broke out.

Colbert's last words were to the effect of: "It's no wonder the Democratic party is clueless about which direction to go, with so many voices speaking different points of view. Thank God for the Republican convention next month, where we won't have to listen to any of them."
Michael Andreyakovich | Email | Homepage | 01.27.06 - 12:08 pm | #

As my granddaughter would say, "They are sooooo 20th century."

The same 20th century dominated by the political paranoia cults of Naziism & Communism?
Ken | Email | Homepage | 01.27.06 - 1:23 pm | #

A great post! (as always)
The left will not move forward until they truly experience a catastrophic event (they may think 2004 was it, but it wasn't). A another major loss in 2006/2008 may be the wakeup call they need.....
Bill | Email | Homepage | 01.27.06 - 1:38 pm | #

> Or, you take the position that wealth is evil or all talent is undeserved and extol mediocrity or poverty as morally superior in order to compensate for your guilt. [snip] For examples of this you can pretty much pick all of the Hollywood elite or many successful businessmen (George Soros comes to mind).

This is not a recent historical development, either. The absurdity of Rousseau's "Noble Savage" is historically indicative of the same faulty reasoning. The reality is, as another philosopher put it: "Nasty, Brutish, and Short".
Oh Bloedige Hel | Email | Homepage | 01.27.06 - 6:25 pm | #

> Isn't paranoia sometimes rooted in anality? If so, perhaps you could call this the "Left's Behind" series.

Ow. That pun deifies assification.
Oh Bloedige Hel | Email | Homepage | 01.27.06 - 6:26 pm | #

Being a member of your much-exaggerated and maligned “left-wing”, allow me to speak on my own behest. You people honestly think you are truly PROGRESSIVE? Do you all agree with whatever the Republican Party tells you (much like “Stepford Wives”)? Are you all completely out of your F-ing minds?! It’s no wonder that such a divide exists between the left and the right (or the “wrong”, as I believe most of them to be). It’s ever-growing and deepening. Either side views the other as being immoral, stupid, out-of-touch, valueless, vapid, selfish, off-base. While much of this truth can be identified in both parties (usually at the furthest extremes of the “left” and the “right”), I’m not so sure the same can be said for that dying breed called “moderates” (of whom I am one). And frankly, I won’t allow you all to psychoanalyze me or my patriotism. You may agree with the Bush administration in many respects. You may agree that laying down your liberty for the promise of security is the best option in the fight against terrorism. You may agree that most of George W’s views and proposals (either rhetorically, or in practice) are healthy for America’s, or the world’s long-term prognosis. You may sit around, stroking your own egos, feeling morally righteous and superior to everyone else on the ‘left’. So be it. I think you’re all fools, if you do. History will not be so kind to the Bush Republicans and their ‘climate of corruption’. Bill Clinton lied about sex with Monica Lewinsky... OH NO, THE SKY IS FALLING! And you mean to tell me that Bush hasn’t made monstrously egregious ‘fibs’ along the way? At least Clinton’s lie didn’t send America on a path of self-destruction, or erode our liberties. At least Clinton left this nation in good shape... with a surplus... with much of our international respect intact... with the terrorism issue mostly under control (and well-monitored). He was the last truly elected official to occupy the White House. Don’t believe me... look into it! Click off your FOX News propaganda for once and open your eyes! Or will it take a ‘mushroom cloud’ to snap you all to attention? If that were to happen on Bush’s watch, I bet you would still find a way to blame Clinton or “liberals” for it.

I would like nothing better than to work with the right side. But that day will never come until the arrogance, animosity, bitterness, and misunderstanding can be set aside by either party (I am guilty of those things as well... but at least I can admit to it).

Hoping for better in the future (and for renewed friendships among the moderates near the center of the isle).
D.G.B. | Email | Homepage | 02.02.06 - 11:02 am | #