Posted on 04/27/2012 6:57:39 AM PDT by EternalVigilance
April 27, 2012
I deal on a regular daily basis with self-identified conservatives all across America who are addicted to the Republican Party. And when it comes to the impending nomination by their party of the most liberal governor in U.S. history, Mitt Romney, their reactions are overwhelmingly in line with the classic symptoms described below. We can't make them face reality, of course. All we can do is to keep pointing it out to them, in the sincere hope that they will recover in time to help save the country.
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From Wikipedia :
Denial (also called abnegation) is a defense mechanism postulated by Sigmund Freud, in which a person is faced with a fact that is too uncomfortable to accept and rejects it instead, insisting that it is not true despite what may be overwhelming evidence. The subject may use:
The concept of denial is particularly important to the study of addiction. The theory of denial was first researched seriously by Anna Freud. She classified denial as a mechanism of the immature mind, because it conflicts with the ability to learn from and cope with reality. Where denial occurs in mature minds, it is most often associated with death, dying and rape.
In this form of denial, someone avoids a fact by lying. This lying can take the form of an outright falsehood (commission), leaving out certain details to tailor a story (omission), or by falsely agreeing to something (assent, also referred to as "yessing" behavior). Someone who is in denial of fact is typically using lies to avoid facts they think may be painful to themselves or others.
This form of denial involves avoiding personal responsibility by:
Someone using denial of responsibility is usually attempting to avoid potential harm or pain by shifting attention away from themselves.
For example: Troy breaks up with his girlfriend because he is unable to control his anger, and then blames her for everything that ever happened.
Denial of impact involves a person's avoiding thinking about or understanding the harms of his or her behavior has caused to self or others, i.e. denial of the consequences. Doing this enables that person to avoid feeling a sense of guilt and it can prevent him or her from developing remorse or empathy for others. Denial of impact reduces or eliminates a sense of pain or harm from poor decisions.
This type of denial is best discussed by looking at the concept of state dependent learning. People using this type of denial will avoid pain and harm by stating they were in a different state of awareness (such as alcohol or drug intoxication or on occasion mental health related). This type of denial often overlaps with denial of responsibility.
Many who use this type of denial will say things such as, "it just happened". Denial of cycle is where a person avoids looking at their decisions leading up to an event or does not consider their pattern of decision making and how harmful behavior is repeated. The pain and harm being avoided by this type of denial is more of the effort needed to change the focus from a singular event to looking at preceding events. It can also serve as a way to blame or justify behavior (see above).
This can be a difficult concept for many people to identify with in themselves, but is a major barrier to changing hurtful behaviors. Denial of denial involves thoughts, actions and behaviors which bolster confidence that nothing needs to be changed in one's personal behavior. This form of denial typically overlaps with all of the other forms of denial, but involves more self-delusion. Denial at this level can have significant consequences both personally and at a societal level.
Harassment covers a wide range of offensive behaviour. It is commonly understood as behaviour intended to disturb or upset. In the legal sense, it is behaviour which is found threatening or disturbing.
DARVO is an acronym to describe a common strategy of abusers: Deny the abuse, then Attack the victim for attempting to make them accountable for their offense, thereby Reversing Victim and Offender.
Psychologist Jennifer Freyd writes:
...I have observed that actual abusers threaten, bully and make a nightmare for anyone who holds them accountable or asks them to change their abusive behavior. This attack, intended to chill and terrify, typically includes threats of law suits, overt and covert attacks on the whistle-blower's credibility, and so on. The attack will often take the form of focusing on ridiculing the person who attempts to hold the offender accountable. [...] [T]he offender rapidly creates the impression that the abuser is the wronged one, while the victim or concerned observer is the offender. Figure and ground are completely reversed. [...] The offender is on the offense and the person attempting to hold the offender accountable is put on the defense.
I could not. I don’t even know anything about you except a name....and I don’t even know for a fact that that’s real.
What year were you born?
Where?
Which is your state of residence?
Are you married?
Which schools did you attend?
Where do you work?
Do you have military experience?
Are you a US citizen?
Are you a natural born citizen?
etc, etc, etc,
This stuff should be out there.
FWIW, Romney says he’s pro-life. Why do I not believe him?
I never thought I would see conservatives come to this. This primary season has been very illuminating, but not always in a good way.
Actually, believing that Islam is a peaceful religion, as he does, IS inviting them in.
That's easy!
Get rid of the Executive!
Uh; we sure are NOT doing THAT very well; are we!!!
Come on. I've made no secret of who I am in over twelve years of posting here. Most regulars know exactly who I am.
What year were you born?
1960. I turned 51 on my last birthday.
Where?
Omaha, NE.
Which is your state of residence?
Iowa.
Are you married?
Yes. My wife is Siena.
Which schools did you attend?
Ralston, NE public schools.
Where do you work?
I'm the chairman of America's Party, and take in a tiny bit of consulting work to keep body and soul together.
Do you have military experience?
Nope.
Are you a US citizen?
Yes.
Are you a natural born citizen?
Yes.
etc, etc, etc,
I'll answer any question you have, as time permits.
This stuff should be out there.
Well, that's why we have a campaign.
FWIW, Romney says hes pro-life. Why do I not believe him?
Because he's not. His own words, on his own website, as of TODAY, prove that he is a pro-choice democrat.
O...
K...
Can we get an AMEN??
Are you still killing your unborn? -- GOD |
No. And why would anyone be surprised when “pro-lifers” keep supporting politicians who have no intention of stopping the American holocaust?
You’re quite welcome, though I should thank you for the stand you take. I consider it part of my ongoing education.
Outstanding.
No, not to my knowledge; it was the quoted part of a reply.
When the anti-mormon posters come in, I’m out.
Bye
Well it wasn't Texans. We were supposed to vote on Super Tuesday, but some Federal Court Shenanigans have delayed our primary until late May. I won't be voting for Romney, in the slim hope that we might get to a brokered convention. But I really would like to Follow The Money, on that court action.
>Funny how we as conservatives love talking about God, but when it comes down to a hard, unpopular decision, suddenly standing with Him becomes naive, a fantasy. Thats very interesting to me.
I notice this point reflected in “law” and, to be honest, it disturbs me. Hell, it doesn’t have to be Faith-based, just “unpopular.”
Something like, say, obeying the state constitution. I’ve lived in two states and both have clear, unambiguous language regarding firearms... which is then completely ignored at the statute level. (I’ve written about it, a bit.)
In terms of the spiritual, I think it is very telling. As states, and as the Union, we are not interested in truth and therefore logical consistency, at any level.
Absolutely, and thank you. Prior to the last Presidential election I recall hearing Freepers who were disgusted with Congressional Republican spending ("they came to Washington to do good and stayed to do well") saying that they wouldn't vote during the next election, and hoped a Democrat would become the next President "to teach those Republicans a lesson." They got their wish and we got Obama. But all that dissatisfaction resulted in the Tea Party. We took over the House and are poised to take the Senate as well. A Republican President, even one with many imperfections, would be infinitely better than a second Obama term. But instead of backing the current candidate, folks are fighting with each other and running off wildly in all directions. I can't see how that helps anyone.
“In his first term, Patrick oversaw the implementation of the state's 2006 health care reform program which had been enacted under Mitt Romney, increased funding to education and life sciences” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deval_Patrick. (Yes I'm using the evil wikipedia as a source. If the facts are wrong please refute them.)
Well not much difference there. Neither are opposed to socialized medicine, though Mitt thought of it first.
“His two legislative battles to implement casino gambling failed:”
That almost sounds like a conservative idea to fix the economy. I'm sure Mitt wouldn't like that.
“Some gay rights activists have criticized him for his tenure on the United Airlines (UAL) board. During this time, the company originally fought an ordinance requiring that it offer domestic partnership benefits but Patrick successfully encouraged UAL to offer such benefits to all employees, making it the first airline to do so”
Based on Mitt's court picks, I'm sure he approves of that.
“changing the state's customary car lease from a Ford Crown Victoria to a Cadillac”
We all know Mitt loves his Cadillacs.
I Don't know, looks like two sides of the same coin, except one has an R and the other a D behind the name. When your for socialism, gun control, gay marriage, and abortion, its hard to go farther to the left. New campaign strategy: Vote Mitt because he could be worse. After all, he's not Vlad the Impaler, Genghis Khan, or Hitler. Vote Mitt - he could always be worse.
Choose Goode, or choose evil.
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