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Veteran Psychiatrist: Liberalism Is A Mental Disorder
NA | NA | Dr. Lyle Rossiter

Posted on 03/31/2008 9:21:35 AM PDT by dvan

WASHINGTON - Just when liberals thought it was safe to start identifying themselves as such, an acclaimed, veteran psychiatrist is making the case that the ideology motivating them is actually a mental disorder.

"Based on strikingly irrational beliefs and emotions, modern liberals relentlessly undermine the most important principles on which our freedoms were founded," says Dr. Lyle Rossiter, author of the new book, "The Liberal Mind: The Psychological Causes of Political Madness."

"Like spoiled, angry children, they rebel against the normal responsibilities of adulthood and demand that a parental government meet their needs from cradle to grave."

While political activists on the other side of the spectrum have made similar observations, Rossiter boasts professional credentials and a life virtually free of activism and links to "the vast right-wing conspiracy."

For more than 35 years he has diagnosed and treated more than 1,500 patients as a board-certified clinical psychiatrist and examined more than 2,700 civil and criminal cases as a board-certified forensic psychiatrist.

He received his medical and psychiatric training at the University of Chicago. Rossiter says the kind of liberalism being displayed by the two major candidates for the Democratic Party presidential nomination can only be understood as a psychological disorder.

"A social scientist who understands human nature will not dismiss the vital roles of free choice, voluntary cooperation and moral integrity -as liberals do," he says.

"A political leader who understands human nature will not ignore individual differences in talent, drive, personal appeal and work ethic, and then try to impose economic and social equality on the population - as liberals do. And a legislator who understands human nature will not create an environment of rules which over-regulates and over-taxes the nation's citizens, corrupts their character and reduces them to wards of the state - as liberals do."

Dr. Rossiter says the liberal agenda preys on weakness and feelings of inferiority in the population by:

a.. creating and reinforcing perceptions of victimization;
b.. satisfying infantile claims to entitlement, indulgence and compensation;
c.. augmenting primitive feelings of envy;
d.. rejecting the sovereignty of the individual, subordinating him to the will of the government.

"The roots of liberalism - and its associated madness - can be clearly identified by understanding how children develop from infancy to adulthood and how distorted development produces the irrational beliefs of the liberal mind," he says.

"When the modern liberal mind whines about imaginary victims, rages against imaginary villains and seeks above all else to run the lives of persons competent to run their own lives, the neurosis of the liberal mind becomes painfully obvious."


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Culture/Society; Philosophy
KEYWORDS: culture; disorders; liberalism; libs; mentalillness; psychology; pyschosis
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To: dvan

Must be retiring, and actually fears for his country enough to pop up above the PC radar. Good, but way late. Adult child, cognitive dissonance, Marxist, neoliberal...same game, different name, all bad.


21 posted on 03/31/2008 9:47:18 AM PDT by polymuser (Those who believe in something eventually prevail over those who believe in nothing.)
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To: Resolute Conservative

It’s a sickness. They can’t help it. Therefore we should form some sort of government program to deal with it./sarc


22 posted on 03/31/2008 9:47:52 AM PDT by lakeman
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To: EarthBound

Our good friend Mr. James needs a handle on this forum so we can share information with him.


23 posted on 03/31/2008 9:47:56 AM PDT by MacDorcha (Arm yourself!)
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To: lakeman

Lobotomies and electroshock all around! :)


24 posted on 03/31/2008 9:49:04 AM PDT by Resolute Conservative
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To: dvan
Seeing as how liberals already trotted out their psycho-babbling quack to declare that conservatives are mentally ill, I think this is fair.

I think of liberal left-wingism as more of a cult than a mental illness. Even relatively sane people can get sucked into it, because it plays on one of the most basic human needs: to feel important, or even superior. Liberals get together and praise each other on how smart and morally righteous they are. They don't actually have to do anything to earn that status; a liberal thinks that other liberals are geniuses merely by the fact that they are liberal. Conservatives, however, are quite capable of viewing each other as idiots. That's because conservatism is a truism like "the sky is blue". It doesn't take a genius to see that the sky is blue and it doesn't take a genius to see that abortion kills a child, for instance. So you get no credit for seeing what is considered a basic truth.

Imagine the choice that a young person has: 1) be a conservative and have to pull your own weight and make it on your own merit, getting only praise that you earn (not to mention being vilified by your teachers, the press, etc.) OR 2) be a liberal and get showered with praise and respect by the other members of the cult, members of the media, and all academia merely by kissing the ring of liberalism. It's very seductive. But then, the devil always is.
25 posted on 03/31/2008 9:49:12 AM PDT by fr_freak (So foul a sky clears not without a storm)
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To: dvan

Don’t you just love it?

To bad there is no cure.

Maturing and accepting fact, context, and history as relevant to the issues of our day basically blows liberalism out of the water. I find most Liberal ideology is based on feelings and emotions, and not the aforementioned parameters.


26 posted on 03/31/2008 9:51:28 AM PDT by scottdeus12 (Jesus is real, whether you believe in Him or not.)
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To: dvan

Late to the game. Savage has been doing this schtick for many years. Psychology is not a scinece.


27 posted on 03/31/2008 9:53:05 AM PDT by RightWhale (Clam down! avoid ataque de nervosa)
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To: dvan
I was hoping to go to B&N and see what dirty looks I could get from ordering this. Their website shows no inventory.

It also shows published in October 2006. What the heck took so long for this to be recognized? Are there 12 copies and one of them finally made it into someone's hands that could trumpet it?

28 posted on 03/31/2008 9:56:36 AM PDT by Chipper
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To: All

Liberals are always looking for another illness to get them off the responsibility rollercoaster - just think how many would love to cash in on this lifetime disability?


29 posted on 03/31/2008 9:56:48 AM PDT by imintrouble
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To: fella
You mean to say they were born that way? Where have we heard that argument before?

Cure: Lobotomy

30 posted on 03/31/2008 9:57:41 AM PDT by Bitsy
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To: KeyLargo

Thanks


31 posted on 03/31/2008 9:59:35 AM PDT by P8riot (I carry a gun because I can't carry a cop.)
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To: Bitsy

they could go to one of the states that still allows the barbaric practice of electroshock therapy.....


32 posted on 03/31/2008 10:02:06 AM PDT by bpjam (Drill For Oil or Lose Your Job!! Vote Nov 3, 2008)
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To: lakeman
It’s a sickness. They can’t help it. Therefore we should form some sort of government program to deal with it.

Of course we should establish a free government program for these unfortunates. We can offer free Lobotomies with the united health care plan and then they would never have to worry their little sick minds with global warming, pollution, black holes, hate crime, the great right wing conspirators, Rush, religious right, abortion, work ethics, or ethics of any kind. Gosh, what a relief!

33 posted on 03/31/2008 10:07:25 AM PDT by Bitsy
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To: dvan

Great link on the subject

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eaE98w1KZ-c


34 posted on 03/31/2008 10:16:53 AM PDT by Blind Eye Jones
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To: dvan

This is dangerous. The Communists used to call dissenters mentally “imbalanced” and sent them to “re education” camps.

Let not do this to the political left or start down this road.


35 posted on 03/31/2008 10:33:48 AM PDT by Finalapproach29er (Dems will impeach Bush in 2008, they have nothing else. Mark my words.)
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To: dvan

This is dangerous. The Communists used to call dissenters mentally “imbalanced” and sent them to “re education” camps.

Let not do this to the political left or start down this road.


36 posted on 03/31/2008 10:34:13 AM PDT by Finalapproach29er (Dems will impeach Bush in 2008, they have nothing else. Mark my words.)
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To: dvan

I have often wondered what the results would be if liberals were given a pysch eval test.


37 posted on 03/31/2008 10:43:10 AM PDT by stockpirate (McCain, Hillery with a war record. Time to run a 3rd party conservative for POTUS!)
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To: Resolute Conservative
Lobotomies and electroshock all around!

I'd rather have a bottle in front of me, than a frontal lobotomy.

38 posted on 03/31/2008 10:45:50 AM PDT by ASA Vet (Do we want Huma answering the White House phone at 3:00 AM?)
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To: dvan

No source... I sense this thread will get pulled.


39 posted on 03/31/2008 10:48:33 AM PDT by bolobaby
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To: KeyLargo
If previous Savage comments/posts are any indication, prepare yourself for a massive onslaught of angry responses. There two things many on this otherwise conservative site seem to despise: Evangelical Christianity and its necessary implications, and Michael Savage. Moving on to your comments...

It seems the same thing that "grabbed" you about Savage grabbed me also. He often hits the bullseye others seemingly don't even know is there. Example: Marijuana. He's the only one in the media I've heard spell out the neuropsychotic dangers of Marijuana. Let's go over your list again:

He was right on the Dubai Ports debacle.

He was right on Immigration Reform.

He was right on the Nifong/Duke Lacrosse case, particularly now that the creature that falsely reported a crime is still free and not behind bars.

And, most recently, he was right about the 3Com Corporation sale to China that just fell through due to “political pressure from Washington”.

As you say, he's got the ability to hold your attention on the mundane everyday stuff as well. I love listening to him EXCEPT...

When he himself gets psychotic and abusive with callers. I find no excuse for mistreating others the way he does. I just turn the channel. It's a big problem for him. FYI, although he's accurate on many things, he's off the mark on many economic/free market issues and I think his grasp of the nonpolitical role of the Judicial Branch of government is weak.

Enjoyed your comments.

40 posted on 03/31/2008 10:52:08 AM PDT by Jim W N
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