What explains the obnoxious and childish behavior of right-wing activists? Pundits and talking heads of the right-wing explains the images of outbursts and screaming on TV as of self-righteous anger due to being fed up. Bloggers on the left point out that these protesters do no want to accept the change in direction from 8 years of Bush who coddled their every words and emotions.
Watching the videos of town hall meetings I asked myself, "I have seen thins before". No, its not complex code like the Da Vinci code or a reemergence of conservative political tactics to shout and scare ala Gore/Bush.
What if the explanation was simpler and something we can all relate too?
Childhood temper tantrums.
Dr. Ann Corwin, a renowned expert on family and child therapy makes keen observations on temper tantrums which can be applied to our rash of right-wing outbursts.
Temper tantrums are purposeful
Petulant children make these scenes to illicit a response (Happy Meal at McDonalds) while Conservatives scream to keep the status-quo of private health insurance. When content, children are pleased. After 8 years of Bush, conservatives have become spoiled and now demanding their toys (Congress, Whitehouse) are returned. Now that Obama is President and Congress in control of Democrats, they now want to break their toys and scream about nonsense like fake birth certificates and the elderly forced to die.
Exaggerating movement and emotion so a child can lose control in order to gain control.
The screaming and yelling. Flailing of arms. Throwing objects around the house. My niece has done this for chocolate chip cookies. Right wingers act disorderly at these meetings to get our attention just as much to get their point across. How should we respond?
Don't pick them up around your comfort zone. Turn your child around immediately and don't make eye contact and don't give them that cozy contact. Pick them up and remove them.
Much like feeding the trolls, take away their lunchables and kool-aid.
Coddling and acquiescing to temper tantrums reinforces the behavior and spoils the discourse and prevents adults from making grown-up decisions. Do not pay attention to them or approach these right-wing activists because they sadly think their tantrums is a win to their cause. If they continue to scream and holler in public, the police should escort them outside.
Thank you Dr. Ann Corwin. Now we know why unruly children (hollering wingnuts) have temper tantrums.