As the Czar points out infra, Professor W.R. Mead makes a very good point about how the media’s uncritical adulation of whatever their heroes on the left side of the aisle do keeps those pols from actually encountering the facts on the ground, political and otherwise. Confucius dimly recalls a psychological name for this: “reality testing.” In certain mental disorders, as a person withdraws from normal interactions—or an increasing set of symptoms blind him to it—his behavior will become increasingly aberrant, in that the increased inability to distinguish internal (often fantasy) and external stimuli creates a spiraling series of delusional justifications and trains of thought as the mind tries to synthesize all the information (real and false) it has at hand.

One rather suspects a parallel political-psychological phenomenon is at work here (and elsewhere, though usually confined to the more fringy, self-reinforcing, rejectionist ideologies). The media’s simply telling the Democrats that, no matter what fool thing they come up with, they’re right and good and doggone it, people like them. And the Democrats get increasingly ideological and furious as a result when their correct, good plans don’t pan out the way they obviously should. Clearly villains are behind this…and off we go.

Just a thought.

Confucius, Œc. Vol.

Don’t ask impertinent questions like that jackass Adept Lu.