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The Paranoid Style in American Politics
The Paranoid Style in American Politics | Harper's Magazine
American politics has often been an arena for angry minds. In recent years we have seen angry minds at work mainly among extreme right-wingers, who have now demonstrated in the Goldwater movement how much political leverage can be got out of the animosities and passions of a small minority. But behind this I believe there is a style of mind that is far from new and that is not necessarily right-wing.
I call it the paranoid style simply because no other word adequately evokes the sense of heated exaggeration, suspiciousness, and conspiratorial fantasy that I have in mind. In using the expression “paranoid style” I am not speaking in a clinical sense, but borrowing a clinical term for other purposes.
I have neither the competence nor the desire to classify any figures of the past or present as certifiable lunatics. In fact, the idea of the paranoid style as a force in politics would have little contemporary relevance or historical value if it were applied only to men with profoundly disturbed minds. It is the use of paranoid modes of expression by more or less normal people that makes the phenomenon significant.
Of course this term is pejorative, and it is meant to be; the paranoid style has a greater affinity for bad causes than good. But nothing really prevents a sound program or demand from being advocated in the paranoid style. Style has more to do with the way in which ideas are believed than with the truth or falsity of their content. I am interested here in getting at our political psychology through our political rhetoric. The paranoid style is an old and recurrent phenomenon in our public life which has been frequently linked with movements of suspicious discontent.
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The Paranoid Style in American Politics | Harper's Magazine
American politics has often been an arena for angry minds. In recent years we have seen angry minds at work mainly among extreme right-wingers, who have now demonstrated in the Goldwater movement how much political leverage can be got out of the animosities and passions of a small minority. But behind this I believe there is a style of mind that is far from new and that is not necessarily right-wing.
I call it the paranoid style simply because no other word adequately evokes the sense of heated exaggeration, suspiciousness, and conspiratorial fantasy that I have in mind. In using the expression “paranoid style” I am not speaking in a clinical sense, but borrowing a clinical term for other purposes.
I have neither the competence nor the desire to classify any figures of the past or present as certifiable lunatics. In fact, the idea of the paranoid style as a force in politics would have little contemporary relevance or historical value if it were applied only to men with profoundly disturbed minds. It is the use of paranoid modes of expression by more or less normal people that makes the phenomenon significant.
Of course this term is pejorative, and it is meant to be; the paranoid style has a greater affinity for bad causes than good. But nothing really prevents a sound program or demand from being advocated in the paranoid style. Style has more to do with the way in which ideas are believed than with the truth or falsity of their content. I am interested here in getting at our political psychology through our political rhetoric. The paranoid style is an old and recurrent phenomenon in our public life which has been frequently linked with movements of suspicious discontent.
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Jeremiahflex
Well-known Member
xy5jn0
New Member
Smart guy....
Jeremiahflex
Well-known Member
Have you seen the studies done on soda and illiteracy, no? Me neither
“Just like any other damn president,” sighed Theresa Remington, 44, a home-care worker and the mother of two active-duty Marines, scraping at an unlit cigarette. She had voted for Donald J. Trump because she expected him to improve conditions for veterans and overhaul the health care system. Now?
“Political bluster,” Ms. Remington said, before making another run at the quarter slots. She wondered aloud how Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont might have fared in the job.
Such is a view from this swing county of a swing region of a swing state that powered Mr. Trump’s improbable victory, an electoral thermometer for a president slogging toward the end of his first 100 days. Across the country, Republican officials have grown anxious at their standing on even ruby-red turf, sweating out a closer-than-expected victory last week in a House race in a Kansas congressional district that Mr. Trump had carried by 27 points. Another stress test arrives Tuesday, with a special election for a House seat in Georgia.
President Donald Trump's image among Americans as someone who keeps his promises has faded in the first two months of his presidency, falling from 62% in February to 45%. The public is also less likely to see him as a "strong and decisive leader," as someone who "can bring about the changes this country needs" or as "honest and trustworthy."
[It Is All About Timing ...]
I’m arrogant? Why, because I know and believe in facts? Unlike political radicals, which most Trump supporters most definitely are, I’m not in this to “be right.” I care about facts, truth, science, history, and what’s real — not what I want to be real because I ignore all of those things. I don’t just make comments for the sake of saying something. Every single day I deal with political radicals, both liberal and conservative, probably around 70 hours a week. While I’m not going to pretend like I know everything, I damn sure know a lot more than many and I’m not going to say anything unless I’ve put some time, thought, and research into it.
I’ve communicated with thousands of Trump supporters since he launched his campaign and almost none of them every know anything factual — including you. I see the nonsense you post, but I don’t comment on it because I know there’s no point. Any source I use to debunk something you think is real you’ll call “fake news,” ignore completely, or make an excuse for Trump because facts don’t matter to Trump supporters. I mean real facts don’t — you all love “alternative facts.”
For a prime example of what I mean, look at this health care bullshit. For years Republicans said they would “repeal and replace Obamacare.” SEVEN YEARS! Now they have all the power they need to do exactly what they promised their voters they would do — yet they haven’t. Why? Because in all of those years promising a “better health care plan,” they clearly never came up with a damn thing. They had to call off their first vote because in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives they couldn’t get “Trumpcare” passed.
This is the party that shut down the government trying to get rid of Obamacare — that never had a plan to replace it with had they been successful. They just said and did all of that to manipulate and fear-monger because as long as President Obama was in office they knew they would never have to actually back up their bold, yet ultimately empty, promises. However, they could manipulate people using that anti-Obamacare propaganda to work them up enough into an irrational frenzy that any and all common sense would fly right out of the window.
Same thing with that stupid damn wall. Mexico will never pay for it, and Trump knew that from the very beginning. But he kept pushing that idiocy because he knew his supporters were dumb enough to believe him. See, you call people like myself “arrogant,” while ignoring the glaring fact that the guy who you voted for last November blatantly treats the people who supported him like mindless sheep who’ll believe anything he says. And I don’t blame him, because that’s a fairly accurate assessment for most.
Oh, and remember when he was going to prosecute Hillary Clinton? Funny, practically right after he was declared the “winner” he said he wasn’t going to. Even though he knew all those times he said she belonged in jail, and if elected he would be about “law and order” by appointing a special prosecutor to go after her, much like his promise to make Mexico pay for his wall, he knew all he had to do was mention her name and like a shepherd leading his flock of sheep — they’d respond exactly how he wanted.
Lock her up! Lock her up! Lock her.. oh, never mind.
Question: What happened to bashing Clinton because he claimed she was a shill for Wall Street because she gave a couple of paid speeches for Goldman Sachs? You remember that? I certainly know I do.
Fun Fact: He has seven members of his administration who have ties to Goldman Sachs. The top two people at the U.S. Department of the Treasury are former Goldman Sachs executives. And those are just the people from Goldman Sachs, not the rest of the millionaires and billionaires he brought on board. If Clinton was unethical and a Wall Street sellout as Trump claimed she was for giving a couple of paid speeches to Goldman Sachs, then what do you call the person who stacks his cabinet with several individuals who’ve worked for Goldman Sachs?
His tax returns? Not only did he criticize Mitt Romney for being rather shady about releasing his in 2012, he spent months promising to release his — yet never will. Though it’s not just that he’s clearly never going to release his tax returns, but that he’s continually lied about why he won’t.
Meanwhile, Trump supporters like yourself would be losing your damn minds if Clinton had been elected without releasing hers. Though you all will gladly make excuses for him, even though the IRS has said there’s no reason he couldn’t release his returns even while being audited because, well, TRUMP!
Then there was all those times he called the monthly jobs reports “fake” and the unemployment rate “phony.” Funny, for two-straight months now, his administration has bragged about those numbers — even though his policies have had absolutely nothing to do with them. It’s interesting how suddenly they’re not so fake and phony, isn’t it? Yeah, you might actually chuckle at that, but he was dead serious when he called these numbers under Obama “fake.” It’s like I say, you can tell how much respect someone has for you by how often they lie and how blatant those lies are.
A few weeks ago he literally said, “Nobody knew health care could be so complicated.” Are you kidding me? Every Democrat and rational person in this country knew how difficult fixing our health care system would be. They knew how complicated it was and how full of crap his and the rest of the GOP’s promises were for a “law that provides cheaper, better coverage.”
Another question, whatever happened to that whole “millions of people who voted illegally” nonsense? Here we are, months later, yet he still hasn’t provided a shred of proof that the biggest voting scandal in our nation’s history took place. Isn’t it odd for a president, especially one who declared himself a man of “law and order,” to claim there was unprecedented voter fraud in the country of which he’s the leader, yet he doesn’t seem too concerned about investigating it? One would think that the president, and congressional Republicans who’ve spent years saying voter ID laws are crucial to address the “problem of voter fraud,” would want to know how millions of people voted illegally and just how many currently “elected” officials “won” because of what would be one of the biggest scandals in American political history. Wouldn’t you think? You know, if it were true?
I’m sorry, are my facts, direct quotes from Trump, and simple common sense being a little “too arrogant”? Maybe I should just brag about how everything I do is the best, how nobody will ever be as good for (fill in the group/demographic) as I will be, never take the blame for anything wrong I do, and personally attack others who criticize me. Would that make me more humble?
https://forwardprogressives.com/trumpster-friend-attacked-criticizing-really-didnt-like-response/.
I’ve communicated with thousands of Trump supporters since he launched his campaign and almost none of them every know anything factual — including you. I see the nonsense you post, but I don’t comment on it because I know there’s no point. Any source I use to debunk something you think is real you’ll call “fake news,” ignore completely, or make an excuse for Trump because facts don’t matter to Trump supporters. I mean real facts don’t — you all love “alternative facts.”
For a prime example of what I mean, look at this health care bullshit. For years Republicans said they would “repeal and replace Obamacare.” SEVEN YEARS! Now they have all the power they need to do exactly what they promised their voters they would do — yet they haven’t. Why? Because in all of those years promising a “better health care plan,” they clearly never came up with a damn thing. They had to call off their first vote because in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives they couldn’t get “Trumpcare” passed.
This is the party that shut down the government trying to get rid of Obamacare — that never had a plan to replace it with had they been successful. They just said and did all of that to manipulate and fear-monger because as long as President Obama was in office they knew they would never have to actually back up their bold, yet ultimately empty, promises. However, they could manipulate people using that anti-Obamacare propaganda to work them up enough into an irrational frenzy that any and all common sense would fly right out of the window.
Same thing with that stupid damn wall. Mexico will never pay for it, and Trump knew that from the very beginning. But he kept pushing that idiocy because he knew his supporters were dumb enough to believe him. See, you call people like myself “arrogant,” while ignoring the glaring fact that the guy who you voted for last November blatantly treats the people who supported him like mindless sheep who’ll believe anything he says. And I don’t blame him, because that’s a fairly accurate assessment for most.
Oh, and remember when he was going to prosecute Hillary Clinton? Funny, practically right after he was declared the “winner” he said he wasn’t going to. Even though he knew all those times he said she belonged in jail, and if elected he would be about “law and order” by appointing a special prosecutor to go after her, much like his promise to make Mexico pay for his wall, he knew all he had to do was mention her name and like a shepherd leading his flock of sheep — they’d respond exactly how he wanted.
Lock her up! Lock her up! Lock her.. oh, never mind.
Question: What happened to bashing Clinton because he claimed she was a shill for Wall Street because she gave a couple of paid speeches for Goldman Sachs? You remember that? I certainly know I do.
Fun Fact: He has seven members of his administration who have ties to Goldman Sachs. The top two people at the U.S. Department of the Treasury are former Goldman Sachs executives. And those are just the people from Goldman Sachs, not the rest of the millionaires and billionaires he brought on board. If Clinton was unethical and a Wall Street sellout as Trump claimed she was for giving a couple of paid speeches to Goldman Sachs, then what do you call the person who stacks his cabinet with several individuals who’ve worked for Goldman Sachs?
His tax returns? Not only did he criticize Mitt Romney for being rather shady about releasing his in 2012, he spent months promising to release his — yet never will. Though it’s not just that he’s clearly never going to release his tax returns, but that he’s continually lied about why he won’t.
Meanwhile, Trump supporters like yourself would be losing your damn minds if Clinton had been elected without releasing hers. Though you all will gladly make excuses for him, even though the IRS has said there’s no reason he couldn’t release his returns even while being audited because, well, TRUMP!
Then there was all those times he called the monthly jobs reports “fake” and the unemployment rate “phony.” Funny, for two-straight months now, his administration has bragged about those numbers — even though his policies have had absolutely nothing to do with them. It’s interesting how suddenly they’re not so fake and phony, isn’t it? Yeah, you might actually chuckle at that, but he was dead serious when he called these numbers under Obama “fake.” It’s like I say, you can tell how much respect someone has for you by how often they lie and how blatant those lies are.
A few weeks ago he literally said, “Nobody knew health care could be so complicated.” Are you kidding me? Every Democrat and rational person in this country knew how difficult fixing our health care system would be. They knew how complicated it was and how full of crap his and the rest of the GOP’s promises were for a “law that provides cheaper, better coverage.”
Another question, whatever happened to that whole “millions of people who voted illegally” nonsense? Here we are, months later, yet he still hasn’t provided a shred of proof that the biggest voting scandal in our nation’s history took place. Isn’t it odd for a president, especially one who declared himself a man of “law and order,” to claim there was unprecedented voter fraud in the country of which he’s the leader, yet he doesn’t seem too concerned about investigating it? One would think that the president, and congressional Republicans who’ve spent years saying voter ID laws are crucial to address the “problem of voter fraud,” would want to know how millions of people voted illegally and just how many currently “elected” officials “won” because of what would be one of the biggest scandals in American political history. Wouldn’t you think? You know, if it were true?
I’m sorry, are my facts, direct quotes from Trump, and simple common sense being a little “too arrogant”? Maybe I should just brag about how everything I do is the best, how nobody will ever be as good for (fill in the group/demographic) as I will be, never take the blame for anything wrong I do, and personally attack others who criticize me. Would that make me more humble?
https://forwardprogressives.com/trumpster-friend-attacked-criticizing-really-didnt-like-response/.
Jeremiahflex
Well-known Member
Welcome to the real world kid lol
