Brief Politico-Therapies: A Quick Tour of the Psych-Bloggers

This will be a new feature for GM's Corner, and full credit and praise goes to my very good friend Dr. Sanity. I've known Pat Santy, M.D., since I started blogging. She has given me lots of support, friendship and kindnesses un-looked for so very many times. I recently emailed her asking her permission to do this kind of post and she not only graciously agreed, but also said she'd link it. How much more gracious can you get than that?

This series will be short descriptions and quotes chosen by me of the Psychbloggers, an exclusive bunch of psychotherapists of various kinds, all interested in as much as the pathology of politics as we are in helping others. The list of psychbloggers includes well, me of course, but I'm probably fairly low on the totem pole of this august group of folk but the true heavy-weights are, in no particular order: Dr. Helen, Dr. Sanity of course, Shrinkwrapped, neo-neocon, Assistant Village Idiot (a regular commenter on this blog and one heck of a nice guy), One Cosmos (Gagdad Bob) titular head of the PUNdocracy, Sigmund, Carl and Alfred three shrinks in one, Psych Pundit, and bringing up the tail gunner position the inimitable Not Really A Cowboy

Each week, at around this time, or perhaps on the weekend (which ever is easier for me of course) I'll be sending you bits and pieces of some of the best of the psychbloggers. Love them or hate them, agree with them or not, you will always find them thought provoking and their positions different from other pundits; left or right!

So, our first stop absolutely must be from my heroine Dr. Sanity. Today I've picked "THE MYTHS THAT FUEL THE LEFT'S DENIAL" a wowser of a post that has many on the left frothing at the mouth. Read all of it, but here is a tidbit:

Psychological denial and the avoidance of an unpleasant reality are certainly not confined to one side of the political spectrum or the other. But what I find endlessly fascinating is how the political left has created and fully integrated specific ideological tools that facilitate ongoing psychological denial.

It reminds me of all the paranoid patients I have observed over the years, who effortlessly are able to dismiss or explain away those facts that don't fit in with their carefully constructed conspiracy theories. If you get too assertive in pointing out those uncomfortable facts, you find yourself in no time fully integrated into the theory. For the paranoid, the case is closed and the argument is finished.

Shrinkwrapped, another of my favorites, has an excellent post on Delegitimizing America:

In a war, there is no such thing as a disproportionate response. The efforts, not coordinated but certainly in parallel, to depict Islamic fascism as a nuisance rather than an existential threat to our way of life, in effect, are attempts to make America's aggressive response to the attacks of 9/11 into an illegitimate response. Only a suicidal person can stand to ignore a murderously hateful enemy simply because the hater doesn't yet have a gun. Only a suicidal nation could stand to ignore a murderously hateful enemy simply because they do not yet have a bomb.

Winging our way over (See Dr. Sanity, I tossed in some aeronautical stuff for you) to One Cosmos wherein Gagdad Bob waxes loquacious about creation in A Cosmos Beyond Our Wildest Dreams and Wackiest Puns:

Frankly, if I could have been less unigmatic I would have been, but the book would have unsold even more copies and shot up the worstseller list with a fatal bullet to the head. As it stands, many people will no doubt pluck it from the shelf, flip through the first few pages, return it next to Shakti Gawain, and back away slowly. But this burdensome overchore to my unsour cosmic suite attempts to undo the whole bitter pointlessness of what fallows, theologically speaking.

Yesterday, a toothless and slack-jawed monocosmatic yokel dropped a steaming prairie pie of a comment to the effect that he didn't appreciate all of Dear Leader's "made up words," apparently bland to the fact that all words are made-up. This mulch is oblivious. One might just as well say, "Duh, I like Thelonious Monk, but what's with all the made-up notes?"

Dr. Helen (Glenn Reynolds much kinder, lovlier and sweeter let alone better half) posts on why Men (and Women) Don't Want Sex

"Never forget: the single most revolting image, the nightmare that haunts women, is that of the happy, grinning, sexually satisfied male. They really hate that and the sooner we adjust our social expectation to that fact, the better." Truer words were never spoken--I think that some women really do feel this way.

My good and delightful friend AVI at Assistant Village Idiot has a Running Commentary up with lots of interesting links.

Some folks have recently gotten a lot of mileage over complaining that their patriotism is being challenged for dissenting from the president’s views. It is not mere dissent that is unpatriotic – neither dissent nor agreement is patriotic in itself – it is specific dissents that can be termed unpatriotic. Like this one. Don Surber summarizes the Arkin-Washington Post brouhaha. Arkin is unpatriotic. Has been for years.

Neo-neocon taks a swing at Outdated Political Definitions:

I think conservatives tend towards the following: especially interested in individual rights, identity, and especially responsibility over group rights, identity, and responsibility; and in general favoring smaller government over big, including a more laissez faire approach to capitalism (which they also favor over other economic systems). Liberals tend in the opposite direction, and Leftists even more so in the opposite direction--including a liking for socialism, and an increased dislike for the US and the West in general.

That's it, at least for now.

Oh yes--and bigotry, narrowmindedness, rigidity, self-interest, political wrangling, hypocrisy, lies, and inconsistency know no sides--they are equal opportunity characteristics.

Sigmund Carl and Alfred (the three in one mental fixer upper) posts on Politics, Religion and Dominoes looking at the genesis of freedom and rights and the functioning of communities:

What causes societies and communities to be be founded and succeed, is the abiding focus on the welfare of that society and community, as a whole. It is true that great emphasis in free societies is placed on the individual, but in the end, that focus is really about the place the individual has within society. Every individual is accorded certain rights and privileges and in exchange, certain contributions and obligations are expected. Drivers must be licensed and insurance must be had, for example. Those contributions and obligations to society as whole take precedence, as they must, if functioning societies are to succeed. A free society places those demands on it’s members. Those who do not wish to comply, are free to live in their cherished freedom- in isolation and as hermits.

Not Really A Cowboy wonders "What If I were Like them:"

I’ve been arguing with anti-gunnies for a few years now. And the one thing that strikes me about these people is they have no fear of being violently attacked. Whether or not this fear is rational is beside the point. The thing is that they are unable to understand why others don’t feel that way. But more importantly they see no need for others to have a means of self defense.

Last, but absolutely far from least Psych Pundit wonders about Social Isolation: A Modern Plague:

Remarkably, 25% of all Americans are now completely alone - without a single person they can confide in. And over half of all Americans report having no close confidants or friends outside their immediate family. The situation today is much worse today than it was when similar data were gathered in 1985 (when, for example, only 10% of Americans were completely alone).

Well, that's my first effort folks, hope you will read all of the above links. Whether you are left or right of center, you will find some amazing writing and thought provoking ideas. Leave a comment on the authors blog if you will, and leave one here and tell me if you liked my effort and want this feature to continue. And if you are wondering about the title of this series, it's a take off on one of the relatively newer approaches in psycho-therapy called Brief Psycho-Therapy.