The problem of Conservatism

I've commented on this before . . . the Liberal tendency to view any disagreement with them as a character flaw or a moral deficiency or a criminal propensity or a psychological disorder (poor lil' Conservatives, they can't help themselves).

As best as I can recollect, I've only heard of Glenn Greenwald within the last week, but William, a faithful reader/commenter/combatant linked to a review at Greenwald's blog (here)
of a current book by John Dean, so I got me an earful. NOW, Liberal Democrats have a book to cite (based on sociological studies and Dean's personal experience from the inside!!!) that explains exactly why Conservatives are not just wrong, we're psychotic and MUST be stopped.

According to Greenwald, Dean posits that modern-day Conservatism amounts to either a character flaw/weakness or a psychological disorder. Greenwald writes,

And there is seemingly no limit -- literally -- on the willingness, even eagerness, of Bush supporters to defend and justify even the most morally repugnant abuses -- from constantly expanding spying on American citizens, to a President who claims and aggressively exercises the "right" to break the law, to torturing suspects, imprisoning journalists, and turning the United States into the most feared and hated country on the planet.

As I told William in a discussion yesterday regarding the purportedly near-cult status of GWB,

I am definitely a critic of him, but I also am inclined to defend him against--among other things, outrageous, illegitimate accusations such as he is "a divider not a uniter," or he is obscenely incompetent, or corrupt, or malevolent, etc.

You guys (sorry, I'm definitely lumping here) are so busy raising outrageous crap that there is little opportunity to agree on anything. Bush is much more Liberal than I am on NCLB, gov't spending, the role of gov't, compromising principle, pragmatism over principle, the First Amendment, immigration policy, etc., etc., etc. But, regrettably, I don't believe y'all want progress as much as you want power (back), so working together with Bush isn't an option.

Frankly, I do occasionally get the feeling that I'm like an exhibit at a zoo.

The last sentence was a perception I had from reading William's comments on this blog, but I can appreciate what William was thinking even more after reading more about John Dean's book. Dean and William and many other thinking folks have figured out the troubling phenomenon of . . . Conservatism.

But Dean's broad brush smear job of Conservatives is so off the mark, it is laughable. What Dean & Co. need to be worrying about (and appear to have devised a gimmick to address--e.g., Webb, Ford, Jr. and Shuler) is that the Republicans have successfully forged a consensus majority--most of whom do not fit into the pigeon-hole carved out by Dean. Ironically, as a member of the Democrat Party--a true coalition party with no other binding principles than (a) a strong dislike/fear/envy of Republicans and (b) a desire to obtain power as a bloc that they could not achieve alone.

We "authoritarian cultists" (as amateur psychiatrist John Dean has diagnosed us) sure don't have any trouble advocating for smaller government, less Federal control, local control of schools, a minimal welfare state, broader civil liberties, autonomy from international bodies like the UN, not being told for whom we should vote, separation of powers, owning small businesses, having our own guns, and on and on and on and on.

Yes, Dean says that this suspect group called "Conservatives" has only been held together, "through the power of negative thinking, and specifically, the ability to find common enemies. . . ."

As I told William, I have long acknowledged that Bush is flawed, but can people like William bring themselves to acknowledge that Bush is not the fount of evil/ignorance/greed/incompetence/malevolence in the world? That is negative thinking. That is the requisite "common enemy" to hold a "movement" together when there is little else to rally 'round.