This I understand and endorse.
> That goes with my general theory that conservatism is a form of mental
> disorder http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/11/28/308/98527
This I am not sure about. The DailyKos piece, despite the claims at the top (that it is not about "Limbaugh is a jerk") caricatures conservati[ves|ism]. For instance, the guy writes that global warming, terrorism, etc, would all be solved (or he implies they will be) if humanity was "90% liberal". This he asserts and challenges us to disagree with. I do disagree with that. For instance, I work in an organisation that is 90% liberal but individuals exhibit some of the same pettiness, competition, lack of empathy, etc. In fact, the "netroots", the very DailyKos and Co are good examples of how vicious the "liberals" can be -- and I do not mean towards conservatives. I don't have the link handy, but searching through Bitch|Lab will yield a post from Markos that shrugs away the lack of diversity in the "left blogosphere" as inconsequential/insignificant.
In fact, Woj, I am nonplussed by someone of your intelligence forwarding a link such as the above.
Conservatives theorists will claim that there is a complex interaction of personalities/attitudes/instincts built into us (that we are not going to overcome overnight by holding hands) and that "common good" can only be achieved with this in mind. They may be wrong, but they are all not psychotic. To some extent, I believe that the conservatives have the [more] correct story on "what is". In fact, I am somewhat certain that a serious (yet popular) thinker from their side will easily embarrass any visible personalities on "our" side, such as the "netroots" crowd, since the latter have no theory (or avoid having one) underwriting their prescriptions: either because the "feel good" factor is found sufficient, or because to seek such a theory would compel certain conclusions and positions that: (a) run counter to their primary goals (winning elections, "supporting troops", etc) or (b) commit them to opposite ideologies such as libertarianism.
And I write this as someone who is typically greatly irritated by left theorising and its own tall claims.
--ravi