Addicting Info has an interesting piece of writing about the Republican party and how it might be perceived in the wake of the debt ceiling debate by Driscoll titled, “Republicans: A Profile Of The Classic Abuser.” My response, below, is not what you might expect. But first, here’s a taste of the article:
As a former victim of domestic violence, in another lifetime, I learned a lot about the abusive personality. When it was over, and I was out, I became a domestic violence hotline counselor. The classes I took to train me for this job taught me two things. One, that abusers aren’t psychotic but instead have character disorders. And two, the abusive behavior isn’t uncontrollable; it is a learned social behavior.
Enter stage left, the Republicans and their fringe faction that is really no longer fringe, the Teabaggers.
The behavior of the Republicans most recently around the debt ceiling debate, and just in general, reminds me vividly of the abusive personality that I engaged with daily, for years, until my divorce. No compromise was ever allowed, it was his way or his other way. He never talked about the many ways in which he was wrong, it was “look what you made me do.” In his mind, the only one whose behavior needed changing was mine. Any abusive behavior of his was justified because, in his warped thinking, I provoked him. He used bullying, fear tactics, threats and intimidation to get his way. In the end, although never abusive to them directly, he used my kids as pawns in his abusive game. He refused to share responsibility in any part of our relationship breakdown. I owned it, lock, stock and barrel.
If you break it down, how different is the behavior of a classic abuser than the behavior we’ve seen within the Republican Party, most notably, the Teabaggers?
You have to realize that, at the political level, these two parties are just playing a game, and more alike in terms of motivation than we want to realize or admit. I think one reason why the Democrats are in a “victim’s” position of abuse is that they want to be; to exert any more in the debate might tip us off as to who controls them, as well. The Republicans have never cared to hide the fact, and the Tea Party is full of people who don’t care, either, or not smart enough to realize. if two thieves committed a robbery together, the first one on the finger-pointing offensive usually gets the deal from the DA. “Yeah, I robbed the place, but he was the lookout… and he’s a child molester, too.” Hard to argue your complete innocence in a courtroom with that sort of statement levied against you; better to just point out that the other guy is just plain crazy and don’t get on the witness stand. On the street level, yes, the Republicans have been doing an excellent job of not only appealing to the most loathsome of our collective natures, but feeding and promoting the fear, anger and ignorance among us. This is a great, cult-like mentality of a power that we have not seen the likes of in many decades; what’s so truly amazing about it is that the multitude of figureheads involved seem to act fairly separately, but somehow, coincidentally they all contribute to the cause without any of them being a detriment – no matter how outrageous their comments or outrageously false their assertions may be. Teflon tossers of books on the bonfire.
The insanity of all this boggles my mind. Sheer insanity. And the Dems are as complicit as any; they truly have a high-wire act to maintain. Front for big business while trying to secure some “reach arounds” for their constituents. That their bosses don’t want to give, and their opponents characterize as evil socialism. No-win situation for anyone. Norway, anyone? Sweden? Bags are getting packed.
