Veteran Psychiatrist: Liberalism Is A Mental Disorder

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."

WEBCommentary Contributor

Author: Andrew T. Durham
Date: March 2, 2008

Michael Savage is Right Again: Liberalism Really is a Mental Disorder

“The one mistake you made was in your head. Tell me, how do you sleep at night?” - John Lennon
Once again Independent radio talk show host Michael Savage is right: Liberalism is a mental disorder. A few years ago, Savage wrote a best selling book called “Liberalism is a Mental Disorder”. Now Dr. Lyle Rossiter, Jr. has written a book called “The Liberal Mind: The Psychological Causes of Political Madness”. Read more about this at WorldNetDaily.com

It would be simple for me to regurgitate the write-up about the book, but I am more interested in Michael Savage’s record of accuracy. Savage, who has literally a world of experience and has authored 26 books, pegged this particular topic years ago. But Dr. Savage, like me, is more interested in gaining a visceral response from people - aiming for the soul and the gut - than a mathematically intellectual reality check. This, I believe, is why Savage is so amazingly popular among his listeners and not merely a cult of personality. Savage caught me in 2002 when a coworker suggested I listen to the show, which I did. I hated it. But after I actually heard what he was saying over the course of a week or two I was hooked and I have literally listened to his show nightly for 6 years.

For example, I listened rapt on Friday night, February 29th, as Savage intentionally boycotted talking about politics and the election, instead opting to talk about cars, boats, food and other things from his vast experience. I could not take my ears off the radio. It’s not that I usually can, but it was his calm demeanor and his absolute command of numerous topics that was just so profound. It is rare that a true Renaissance man is recognized, and I rapidly realized that absolutely no one in talk radio could do what he did that night. No one. Savage draws you in and keeps you there and there is nothing fake about this man. Nothing. And he doesn’t have a spare rat’s ass to give about what anyone thinks about him. If only we all could achieve that level of ease with one’s self.

Savage’s record of prediction is astounding, to be sure. 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”.

People I have talked to have labeled Michael Savage as homophobic. No he’s not. You have to listen to the man. People have said he’s a racist. No he’s not. In fact, he spends more time with his callers of other racial backgrounds than others. Savage, like any sane man, hates people who live out stereotypes. He respects people as individuals, not the issues they pretend to portray. Michael Savage is the last - the very last - breath of hope against political correctness. And, make no mistake, we as a nation and culture are in mortal danger. This is not pessimism. This is not doom saying. This is not paranoia. This is pure observation based on sanity. Case closed.

Michael Savage knows that if we do not act, and act now, everything we hold as sacred and of value will be split asunder. I’m sick of people who say that polemics are useless compared to political analysis. Let me tell you something: political analysis is almost as useless as sports analysis. One irrelevancy as useless as another. Savage doesn’t waste time on political analysis. He takes things apart and puts them together based on one, continuous, ominous theme: Santayana’s quote “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”

So he’s right about Liberalism as a mental disorder now, as well. But he knew that already. He’s right about an ideology that refuses argument, fosters dependence and screws an entire nation without dinner first. He knows it’s a mental disorder when you believe that you can consciously disempower individuals so that you can spawn complete reliance upon an ineffectual, corrupt government. People like Michael Savage are a rarity in that their intuitive sense is coupled with a sharp, intellectual steel trap of a mind. Like ancient mariners who could navigate simply by looking at the stars, Savage sees the writing on the wall.

And then he says it’s crap. That’s all.

Andrew T. Durham

Biography - Andrew T. Durham

Andrew T.Durham is a graduate of State University at Albany, BA in Psychology/Philosophy. In the late 80’s to mid 90’s he was instrumental in creating ground-breaking outreach/prevention programs, as well as being a highly successful public speaker. A former acupuncturist and clinician (primarily to inner city adolescents), he has also been a consultant to the Massachusetts State Department of Public Health and several non-profit organizations. He is an accomplished musician, actor and playwright, 5 of which have been produced. Durham has been frequently featured on the website of the Savage Nation: Michael Savage.Com, and continues to follow the ominous problems threatening our borders, language and culture.

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