On Car Concerns this week, we had a caller who continued their campaign to make us all fearful of the conspiracy theories she and others espouse. My reaction was to tell her what she was talking about was garbage and suggest she needed to find a psychiatrist to treat her paranoia problem.

Afterwards, I was a bit regretful about how I said what I said, but not the content. People like this need to be confronted. What I also thought was interesting was her reaction. As is typical, she called me a liberal. To many so called conservatives, if you disagree with their ideas, then you must be a liberal. It's so typical of the sort of warped thinking that says, "If you're not my friend, then you must be my enemy."

One of my frequent callers to Car Concerns sent me an email with a link to an article discussing the kind of mental attitude I just discussed. What follows is the content of Mike's email (along with the linked article you will need to read) and my reply.

Larry,

On Tues. you were talking about paranoia.

And I said I was worried about how that paranoia is and could be used.

Well check this out.

Mike

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/11/poll-gop-base-thinks-obama-didnt-actually-win-2008-election----acorn-stole-it.php?ref=fpblg

Mike,

Thanks for sending.

This is all about psychological manipulation and attempts by some to salvage their damaged self esteem.

In other words, surely I didn't vote for a loser. Surely I am not screwed up logically. If I can believe that Obama won through a conspiracy, then I do not have to question my own beliefs. If I have to question my own beliefs then that negatively impacts my self image of who I am, i.e., that I am superior to everyone else. For many people, that is very, very scary. Perhaps more scary than physical danger, even. Therefore, they resist that introspection and jump on anything that precludes them from having to engage in the exercise.

By the way, Mike, I came across the real reason (I think) for the demonization of ACORN. It's not their voter registration efforts. It's their successful efforts to make predatory lending practices illegal. It's taking money out of certain pockets and those parties want ACORN stopped.

Larry

Larry,

Very well put.

Mike