“We inherited a mess…”
How many times have we heard this tired mantra, usually offered as a rebuttal to suggestions that Obama and his party are responsible for our ongoing economic doldrums? It seems reflexive, almost unconscious. How else can one explain how liberals continue to defend themselves against the indefensible?
The explanation is both psychological and political.
Psychology has long sought to comprehend and explain these tendencies. One of the hallmarks of Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalytic theory is the concept of defense mechanisms. These are unconscious maneuvers that a person’s ego utilizes to protect one’s personal sense of integrity. Students who passed Psychology 101 likely recall some of the well-known defense mechanisms: denial (such as Jay Carney’s recent insistence that “The economy is vastly improved…”), regression (the infamous tantrums of Rahm Emanuel and Alan Grayson), and repression (Harry Reid conveniently “forgetting” that he had railed against raising the debt limit just a few years ago). But the most infantile— and therefore common— defense of the Left is projection.
Projection involves the unconscious or semi-conscious deposit of unacceptable impulses or feelings onto someone else. By projecting one’s unacceptable fantasies onto another, the other person can receive blame in place of the initiator of the projection. In the political sphere, this amounts to a “blame game,” where one’s weaknesses and inadequacies are projected onto one’s opponent. For example, instead of admitting that the Stimulus Plan did little to improve the economy and in fact worsened our nation’s debt, Obama insists that whatever economic problems that exist are Bush’s fault. This way, Obama, his policies, and his party are all protected from appearing incompetent or, even worse, destructive.
Democrat leaders like Nancy Pelosi often threaten elderly or poor populations with devastating scenarios should conservative policies be realized. For example, liberals aired a commercial challenging the Ryan budget plan depicted someone—a thinly veiled conservative—pushing Grandma over the cliff in her wheelchair. In fact, liberal policies hurt those they purport to help. Their purpose for pushing expansion of government is to expand their voting and power base, not to help Grandma. But as government grows, the elderly become more and more vulnerable to a nameless, faceless bureaucrat being paid by taxpayers to make decisions for Grandma. Most rational people know that Government does not (and cannot) empathize at all like a private church, family or charity would for Grandma. Democrats would have you believe that somehow government cares more, or at least that those who don’t want government caring for grandma simply don’t care, or worse. In other words, they accuse conservatives of precisely what they are trying to do—take advantage of Grandma.
Does the Liberal establishment recognize that they are accusing their enemies of the very crime they would commit? Likely not. Some truly believe that conservatives are evil Grandma-killers; the rest simply cannot see the irrationality of their policies.
Today’s voters are tiring of the “blame game.” They want transparency and humility in their leaders. They are drawn to politicians who are real people with faults, blemishes, and weaknesses, and who are humble about them as they work through them and around them to succeed.
In the current political landscape, Obama and the Liberal Left cannot survive without their precious defense mechanisms. If they did not have projection and others at their disposal, they would be forced to realize the unthinkable and admit that they and their policies have failed. This is simply unbearable to the Liberal, partly because they equate being correct with being valuable. This avoidance of personal responsibility and humility is endemic in Liberalism (it’s in both parties, to be sure, but in radically different quantities).
So, how should conservatives negotiate with such a well-defended group of egos? There are three plausible possibilities:
- Don’t negotiate at all. Plow through the defenses by shining the light on them, convincing the American people that politicians who need defenses like this don’t deserve leadership positions. Then defeat them in elections.
- Assuage their tender egos by teaching and modeling for them the counterintuitive “scandal of grace”: that admitting faults and weaknesses is in fact evidence of great strength.
- Out-defense them: deny, regress, project, and sublimate. Win the “blame game.”
Conservatives must show themselves, their political enemies, and the American people that they have this faith and courage. They need to understand that these are the basic traits that the American people are crying out for. It is time for bold leadership, and to the bold leadership goes the prize of heroic status amongst conservative leaders! Then and only then will they become the dominant political movement capable of winning elections and truly restoring our republic.
Co-authored with Dr. Gina Loudon
Big Government
