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| So Who's Nuttier -- Democrats or Republicans? |
| 2005-05-18 |
| One summer day in the 1990s, along about the midpoint of the Clinton Interregnum, I had lunch with a writer well known for his conservative views and his wide, or at least widely displayed, learning. ``I've finally figured out what the problem is with liberals,'' he said, tipping a soupcon of vichyssoise to his lips. ``They're mentally ill.'' Given that our lunch occurred in the midst of what is easily the most successful Democratic presidency since Franklin Roosevelt's, I thought it was an odd remark -- until I understood that this was his extravagant way of saying something else: ``People who disagree with me must be nuts.'' |
| Posted by:phil_b |
| #12 Got to be republicans Look at dan dan the potato man and of course the star of the moment, NORM ! Hi Norm -Hi everybody ! |
| Posted by: Whomoting Omeaper1433 2005-05-18 17:58 |
| #11 [Off-topic or abusive comments deleted] |
| Posted by: Whomoting Omeaper1433 TROLL 2005-05-18 17:58 |
| #10 Dopey me. I didn't get much sleep last night, my dogs and the coyotes had a sing in all night so I'm a little slow this afternoon. |
| Posted by: Deacon Blues 2005-05-18 16:36 |
| #9 (Pssssttt - Deacon, I know. Just making a little joke. ;-p) |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2005-05-18 15:36 |
| #8 I don't mean to be crude but that wasn't the kind of "nuts" I was refering to. |
| Posted by: Deacon Blues 2005-05-18 15:15 |
| #7 Glad you spoke up when you did, Deacon. I was hungry and looking for a snack. Nuts would have hit the spot (though I'm not sure which side of the plate - the left or the right - has the better-tasing nuts). Thank goodness you told me in time that they're diseased. ;-p Guess I'll have to settle for a Diet Coke. |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2005-05-18 15:06 |
| #6 I think Right Wing Nuts and Left Wing Nuts must be social diseases. |
| Posted by: Deacon Blues 2005-05-18 12:26 |
| #5 The answer to the question is "both". And I can prove it. According to the Standard Distribution Curve (the "Bell Curve"), half of the population of the United States has below average "sanity" (less than average mental health of all varieties). So are these people who are less mentally healthy more attracted to politics than the more stable? Not necessarily, but at the same time, more normal people are less likely to advance within the political parties as fast as the highly motivated, enthusiatic and driven persons. People who are either so attracted to what their party does, or so strongly opposed to what the opposition party does, that they will put in a lot of extra time, personal and financial committment into winning. So, over time, the mentally less stable gravitate to leadership positions in both parties. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2005-05-18 10:29 |
| #4 +Are there Right wint NUTS and Left Wing NUTS? Yes there NUTS on each side. The difference is that Senator Frist is unlikely to use a Michael Savage quote on the floor of the senate. On the flip side NARAL, Move On, NOW, and NAACP seem to WRITE the speaches of the Democrats. The difference is called independant thought. |
| Posted by: Cyber Sarge 2005-05-18 10:28 |
| #3 I think both sides have extreamest, crazy, nuts. The republicans just have less of 'em and the party isn't run by 'em. Homer Simpson for president! |
| Posted by: mmurray821 2005-05-18 10:23 |
| #2 good comments...but I have a problem with this whole premise. What I see going on here is that all conservatives are being painted with the same brush as Michael Savage .. who in my opinion is a nut bag himself. Expect more of this type of branding. |
| Posted by: 2b 2005-05-18 09:54 |
| #1 I think anyone with any true logic and knowledge of history *has* to be an optimist. The quality of life in the western world has steadily improved for centuries. It started out very ugly; it has had to overcome some huge obstacles; but the quality of life today is at its historical best with no end in sight of improvement. |
| Posted by: Dar 2005-05-18 09:03 |