AT's Recovering Liberal Responds to More Burning Questions
Dear Robin,
I've read all your articles and find them self indulgent, like you are doing some sort of personal therapy. It's not conservative at all.
L
Hi, L:
It's nice of you to take the time to read my articles since clearly they are not your cup of tea.
Let me explain: memoir writing is very popular, though only in liberal circles. It's deeply personal, and usually irreverent, witty, and wise. True masters of the genre include Anne Lamott, Elizabeth Gilbert, and Augusten Burroughs. Memoirs are one of my favorite types of writing because I enjoy being drawn into the author's life, and I admire the fierce honesty and vulnerability.
I know of no conservative authors who write this way. So I am making a stab at telling my story using this genre. My new conservative friends, especially my professional writer pal Virginia, have been urging me to write for some time. It's what I can do during these dark times.
I aim to share my experiences and psychological insights in as honest, entertaining and informative way as I can. I'm very grateful to my amazing editor at AT for thinking outside the box and publishing my work. Personally I think we need a big tent and should mix it up with all sorts of creative writing. Either I am filling a need out there for nonliberal memoir writing, or it won't work. To paraphrase Winston Churchill: if I fail, I'll do so with great enthusiasm.
Dear Robin:
Why don't you distinguish between liberals and leftists?
KD
Yo KD:
Good question. There used to be a real difference. Like your odd ball cousin twice removed, the hard Left was on the fringe. But the Left has implanted microchips in the brains of most liberals (metaphorically speaking), and now they sound as Left as can be. To test my theory, say the words "George Bush" and also "conservatives" to your local liberal and watch them foam at the mouth like a rabid dog. I can only speak of Blue State Liberals. Perhaps those in the Red States haven't lost their marbles yet.
Dear Robin:
Can you explain why liberals are so angry?
Jen
Hi, Jen:
Puzzling, isn't it? You'd think that since liberals have won big time, they'd be sitting pretty, chilling on the couch, all happy clappy. Instead, they're acting like angry victims of "the man."
Why is this? You don't have to read much further than Saul Alinsky, Obama's role model. Alinsky taught disciples to foster resentments, agitate people, and create paranoia. He preached ridiculing and intimidating all opponents, especially reasonable people. His mission -- and I think the goal of the Powers that Be -- was revolution so that the haves were on the bottom, and the have nots were in power.
By the way, did you know that the dedication on the first edition of Rules for Radicals read as follows, "To the very first radical, the first radical known to man who rebelled against the establishment and did so so effectively that he won his own kingdom -- Lucifer." How creepy crawly is this? Once the book was a hit, the dedication was expunged from later editions. It makes me think of a line from a Bob Dylan song, "You have to serve somebody. It might be the Devil or it may be the Lord but you're going to have to serve somebody."
For the average Joe to inflict cruelty on another, he has to trick himself psychologically into thinking he's doing good. There are defense mechanisms employed, rather primitive ones like dissociation. He dissociates from his humanity and the humanity of the other. He represses his human urge to empathize and protect. He projects his self hate and shame onto the other person. Just look at what's being done to good Christian women like Carrie Prejean and Sarah Palin. Most people know deep inside that making rape jokes and wishing decent folks harm is contemptible. So they turn it around, demonize the other. and delude themselves into thinking they're right.
Lastly, to control people, the power structure uses addiction. Our masses are fed addictive technology, media, highly sugared food, antidepressants, and illegal and psychotropic drugs. Anger itself is addictive. It feels powerful, and stimulates feel good chemicals like adrenaline.
Now liberals will balk, arguing that conservatives are being mean too. But the crucial point here is that liberals are in power. When underlings at a job gripe about the boss, they are letting off steam. When people who hold the power act like schoolyard bullies, that's dangerous. That's the slippery slope into sadism and fascism. We might already be there.
Dear Robin:
You are a fake. Obviously you have always been a conservative and are pretending to be an ex liberal.
RJ
Dear Robin:
You're a phony. Clearly you are still a liberal pretending to be a conservative.
Jim
Hey RJ and Jim:
Actually you're both right. I'm a liberal and a conservative. I'm also an actress, a neurosurgeon, and the oldest living exotic dancer. The truth is that I suffer from Multiple Personality Disorder.
Dear Robin:
Very good memoir writing. However, saying liberals "worship at the altar of Obama" is clearly a nonobjective exaggeration that is stated as a fact and not a personal perspective. . . "
Clarity
Hi there Clarity:
Thanks for the compliment.
You know I could have instead written, "Many liberals greatly admire Obama, and are extremely devoted to him, " but, my friend, that would be BORING! I'm trying to animate my readers, not put them to sleep.
Plus, let's be honest here. if I had McCain's smiling mug splashed all over my T-Shirts, car, walls, windows, and owned life size cardboard dolls (I've seen several of Big O out here), and if I said stuff like, "McCain is special. I think he's like Lincoln and FDR and maybe even God a little, and that he was freed from his POW camp because he has a special mission in this country and the world. When he speaks I get a chill up and down my legs," wouldn't you consider me "McCain-atized"?
Dear Robin:
Do you believe you are more, or less, compassionate as a conservative than you were as a liberal?
Bernie
Hey Bern:
Interesting question. My dictionary defines compassion as a feeling of sympathy and concern for all. So if that were the yardstick, I'd say I'm not as compassionate. I have little sympathy for the guy on the corner with his wee-wee out, screaming that I'm a stupid bitch. To me, people should earn compassion and respect through their behavior. I think that the Left confuses compassion with codependency, which I define as the three C's: Controlling, Caretaking, and Changing others. I always thought that conservatives were meanies and that liberals were the compassionate ones. Now I've realized that you do people no favors viewing them as helpless victims that require rescuing.
Dear Robin:
Just what we need, an ex cocky liberal turned neuvo cocky conservative.
Roy
Hey Roy:
Oh, my gosh, did you just call me "cocky"?! Be very careful, my friend. I am now a protected class. According to the Thought Police, the word cocky is an insult to womyn, and will be punished harshly. Remember, first they'll come for us. Then they'll come for you.
Later. . . .Robin
A frequent AT contributor, Robin is a recovering liberal and a psychotherapist shipwrecked in Berkeley.
