Supposedly, at some point in Liddy's government career, he proved what a tough guy he was by holding his arm over a lit candle for some time. Maybe it really did happen, but I've always thought that was a BS story invented by the left to portray him as a psycho.
I remember that now.
A little crazy, okay, but the fact is, Liddy is a tough guy and has proven it many times and not just by holding his arm over a flame.
He's an anachronism and the sort of person that someone like Kerry, Dean, Reid or any demo you can name simply cannot understand or relate to.
Therefore, they assume he's crazy.