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05/02/2005: "Right Wing Attention Deficit Disorder"

I spent some time over the weekend going through psychological disorders to see how well they matched the various points of the American political spectrum, in response to the recent right wing rant of a book called “Liberalism is a Mental Disorder.” I also spent a good portion of the weekend laughing out loud! Reading the list of common mental dysfunctions was like reading the Republican Platform. It’s going to be a fun week! Let’s start with one of the more benign disorders: Attention Deficit Disorder. Here’s how one source listed the symptoms:
- often fails to give close attention to details or makes careless mistakes
- often has difficulty sustaining attention in tasks
- often fails to finish tasks
- often has difficulty organizing tasks and activities
- often avoids, dislikes, or is reluctant to engage in tasks that require sustained mental effort
What list could better describe Republican behavior since the election! I wrote the April 30 Irresistible Impulses journal entry before seeing this list, but look at it again and you’ll likely conclude, as I did, that it describes a party fully in the grip of ADD! If only that were their sole mental shortcoming! Alas, they also exhibit a number of syndromes increasingly less benign, as we’ll explore starting tomorrow.