Palin Derangement Syndrome Spreads

2010 December 12 by Frank Monaldo.

In his book Up From Liberalism, the late and sainted William F. Buckley observed that most liberals were sane and nobel souls, unless one struck upon their mania. He wrote, “that in most respects the Liberal ideologists are, like Don Quixote, wholly normal, with fully developed powers of thought, that they see things as they are, and live their lives according to the Word; but that, like Don Quixote, whenever anything touches upon their mania, they become irresponsible. Don Quixote’s mania was knight errantry. The Liberals’ mania is their ideology.’’

In the last Administration, commentator and lapsed board-certified psychiatrist Charles Krauthammer coined the term “Bush Derangement Syndrome’’ (BDS). This new Liberal mania, as defined by Krauthammer, is “the acute onset of paranoia in otherwise normal people in reaction to the policies, the presidency — nay — the very existence of George W. Bush.’’ This condition is probably rooted in lingering anger over the perceived lack of legitimacy with regard to Bush’s presidency. Bush was never forgiven for winning the 2000 election with a majority in the Electoral College, but not in the popular vote. This anger and BDS persisted, indeed intensified, after Bush won the presidential election over Senator John Kerry, this time with a popular majority as well.

There now appears that some Liberals are suffering under an analogous “Palin Derangement Syndrome’’ (PDS). The best guess is that this mental condition is the result of the fact that Governor Sarah Palin is an attractive women, who has clearly managed to juggle successfully work and a family, is a Conservative Republican. This fools the internal barometer of Liberals who believe that such women are the natural constituency of Democrats. Their only explanation is that she must be an hick from the sticks. She had no right to run for vice-president.

One measure of the severity of this condition, is how normally clever and learned people make foolish mistakes whenever the subject of Sarah Palin comes up. For example, Richard Wolfe, MSNBC commentator and Oxford graduate made smug fun of the statement by Sarah Palin that she receives divine inspiration from reading C. S. Lewis. Perhaps Wolfe had forgotten that Lewis was a famous though deceased member of the Oxford faculty. Perhaps Wolfe had forgotten the Chronicles of Narnia was not just a series of children’s book made into modern moviesbut a religious allegory. Perhaps Wolfe had forgotten that C. S. Lewis had written Mere Christianity a classical work of Christian Apologetics. The only plausible explanation is that in his hurry to prejudge Palin as somehow shallow he reveal that he was only up to his ankles in the literary pool.

Not be out done, MSNBC’s Chris Matthews dissed Palin for reading Newsmax.com for the news. (He excused her for reading the Wall Street Journal.) Though Newmax has a clear, strong Right-ward tilt, it is no further Right than MSNBC is Left. Moreover, if Matthews ever ventured to the Newsmax site, he would realize that a large section is devoted to straight AP News releases. I dare say if one read only Newsmax daily, they would likely be better informed than if they only watched MSNBC.

One may like or dislike TLC’s television series Sarah Palin’s Alaska but the Huffington Post’s Aaron Sorkin, famous for his production of the Left-wing fantasy television series West Wing can’t distinguish Sarah Palin hunting a caribou from a “snuff film.’’

Now I am sure that Wolfe, Matthews, and Sorkin are smart likable people who even pet their dogs at night when they return home, but Palin has made them bananas. The irony in all this is that such symptoms of Palin Derangement Syndrome are likely to make Palin more popular. Nothing pleases Conservatives so much as see Liberals angry and befuddled and Palin seems the bring those qualities.

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