While listening to Ed Schultz today, I heard a remarkable call from a woman who very carefully and succinctly made the case that our Democratic leadership, and Congress in general, is suffering from Battered Person Syndrome.
If so, that explains a lot of things...
One of the main symptoms of Battered Person Syndrome is an irrational need to protect, support or help rescue the person committing the violence.
From Wikipedia:
The condition explains why abused people often do not seek assistance from others, fight their abuser, or leave the abusive situation. Sufferers have low self-esteem, and often believe that the abuse is their fault. Such persons usually refuse to press criminal charges against their abuser, and refuse all offers of help, often becoming aggressive or abusive to others who attempt to offer assistance. Often sufferers will even seek out their very abuser for comfort shortly after an incident of abuse.
That sure sounds like Congress these days, doesn't it? And while I'm certainly not a Doctor, nor do I play one on TV, and I didn't stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night, I still have a feeling that I'm onto something here.
A few days ago I argued -- I think successfully -- that Americans are suffering from Cognitive Dissonance over the malfeasance of our Administration. Again, from Wikipedia:
Cognitive dissonance is a psychological term which describes the uncomfortable tension that may result from having two conflicting thoughts at the same time, or from engaging in behavior that conflicts with one's beliefs. More precisely, it is the perception of incompatibility between two cognitions, where "cognition" is defined as any element of knowledge, including attitude, emotion, belief, or behavior. The theory of cognitive dissonance states that contradicting cognitions serve as a driving force that compels the mind to acquire or invent new thoughts or beliefs, or to modify existing beliefs, so as to reduce the amount of dissonance (conflict) between cognitions. Experiments have attempted to quantify this hypothetical drive. Some of these examined how beliefs often change to match behavior when beliefs and behavior are in conflict
In my comment, I said that Americans "can't believe that an administration could be so inept, so vile, so corrupt, that when they actually see it happening, their minds turn off and they look past it." to which rb608 replied:"Good Americans, people who truly love this country and the ideals for which they perceive it stands, simply cannot believe that the symbol of that nation, its leader, is a crook... If the President is wrong, then the country is wrong, they rationalize; and the country is never wrong. Ergo, the President is a great guy, because the country is great."
This further supports my theory that our Democrats, who were so badly bloodied for the prior 6 years in Congress, now flinch whenever Bush, Cheney, or even Boehner even raise an eyebrow. that's why, when Dems tried to block passage of bills in '05 and '06, they were castigated for filibustering, as if it were treasonous and traitorous, yet it's simply something that just happens when republicans have roadblocked every major piece of legislation to come down the pike this last session. It's why there's no outrage that Bush is treatening to veto more than 20 pieces of legislation after only using the veto pen twice prior to Jan. '07.
And it's why I fear that Dems will roll over when the bullets (and much larger munitions) begin flying at Iran.
My solution? Nancy, Harry, Rahm and the rest of the leadership need a good psychologist to help them get past the fear of being battered again, and get them to press charges against the evil spouse administration that's beaten and abused them so badly and so often.
UPDATE: Land of Enchantment suggests in the comments that it might be Stockholm Syndrome, which is also a possibility, especially if you agree that the Dems were taken hostage during the first six years of Bush's regime. The comparison falls short, though, when you consider that, aside from Joe Lieberman, there's been very little love for Bush, especially among Democrats.