Saturday, December 17, 2011

Bizarro World.

It is amusing to read the comments sections of sites that are, if not diametrically opposed, then at least entirely orthogonal to my worldview.

For instance, check this commenter at Talking Points Memo:
Isn't it called projection when a person suffering from delusions tries to pin his delusion on others? I wonder if this "man" when he claims threats to his life, harbors the delusion that he is the righteous TPartier who will rid the world of the one person the right blames for all of the problems in this country or in the world, now and back to the days of Adam and Eve.
Yeah, those kooky tea-bagging right-wingers are obsessing over one guy, blaming all the problems in the world on him. Next thing you know, they'll probably make a movie about assassinating him or something.

I believe you were saying something about "projection"? Sister, if you look up irony in the dictionary, you'll find that they use your comment as an exemplar.

This is what it's come to: All politics in America is reduced to a pair of six-foot-tall third graders standing in a sandbox and chanting "I know you are but what am I?"

14 comments:

Chris said...

There's a lot of projection from each (all?) of the extremes of the political spectrum. We've all seen that. I'm more frustrated with the idea so many people have, that one person, usually to be elected to the presidency, can make everything OK. Or the converse, that removing the current president will right all wrongs.

Heck, even if (for a true fantasy example) hard-core libertarians were elected to the White House and a majority of both houses of Congress, the unelected and entrenched bureaucracy would move along with hardly a blip.

As has been said before, and by more than one or two, we're not going to vote our way out of this mess.

Unknown said...

{This is what it's come to: All politics in America is reduced to a pair of six-foot-tall third graders standing in a sandbox and chanting "I know you are but what am I?"}

For ever and ever A-frickin'-MEN!

perlhaqr said...

Heck, even if (for a true fantasy example) hard-core libertarians were elected to the White House and a majority of both houses of Congress, the unelected and entrenched bureaucracy would move along with hardly a blip.

Y'know, they may be unelected and entrenched, but I refuse to believe they are unfireable.

Bubblehead Les. said...

"Isn't it called Projection when a person suffering from delusions tries to pin his delusions on others;.......blames all of the problems in this country or in the world, now and back to the days of Adam and Eve?

So it isn't Bush's Fault?

Borepatch said...

What's so very tiresome is the assumption that she's smarter than everyone else.

I think her comment is use as an example under "Irony" as well.

Ambrose Bierce said it best:

HYPOCRITE, n. One who, professing virtues that he does not respect, secures the advantage of seeming to be what he despises.

WV: grating. Sure is. Boy, I'm grumpy today.

Jay G said...

I have to take exception to what you've written, Tam. I find it highly offensive that you would make such a scurrilous and unfair comparison.

My daughter's in third grade. She uses much more logic and reasoning than any of these people...

RL said...

Yup. Two six foot tall third graders with billion dollar megaphones.

Buzz said...

I feel dirty after having been there, kinda like passing by an "occupy" slum.
Is TPM another one of those Soros ventures?

Justthisguy said...

I'm more likely to say, "I know I am, but what are you?" I think I've learned a little humility, after all these years.

Jenny said...

"I believe this government cannot endure, permanently half slave and half free."

Justthisguy said...

Borepatch, one of the things about the 'net I like is that it affords me the opportunity to correspond with people who are smarter than I am and/or know more than I do. A lot of them are quite indulgent of me, too.

WV: awbelted. "Aw, another stupid belted-rim cartridge!"

Joe in PNG said...

Government is a symptom, not a cause. The reason we have tax and spend Big Government is because a lot of people want to get lots of stuff, and want other people to pay for it. They see something that bothers them (usually by someone else), and Want Something To Be Done Now!

So, if we were to happen that "hard-core libertarians were elected to the White House and a majority of both houses of Congress", as Chris said, it is likely that the people voting that way would themselves be asking for less. If only!

Justthisguy said...

Oh, yeah, Buzz. I could only take about a page and a half of the comments.

Some people do not seem to understand the concept of "fightin' words", use lots of them, and then accuse the polite, reasonable people of harboring evil violent thoughts. Makes my brain hurt a bit, it does.

Joe, fortunately for me, I am so poor and socially disconnected that I cannot be said to have any interests in the system. Therefore, I am free to vote my conscience.

the pawnbroker said...

"...the idea...that one person...elected to the presidency, can make everything OK. Or the converse, that removing the current president will right all wrongs."

It does seem absurd on the face of it, that a gov of, by, and for hinges on some individual piper.

But the parallels from more than thirty years ago are striking, and that simplistic phrasing ignores the lessons of history and the exponential power and promise of perception.

But did I say piper? I meant gipper, and I don't see one among the six-foot children in this round. So yeah, Chris, the vote ain't bailing us out of this one.