Smirking Chimp: Paranoid Schizophrenia

THE BUSHIES ARE COMING!!

I've really gotten into Firefox and all the little extensions it provides. It really assists in reading all sorts of news, opinions and blogs as well as finding information through the net quickly. I use Wizz RSS 2.0.4 to link into RSS and XML feeds of news and blogs from both the left and the right. While my personal views are usually predictable in the "moderate" side, I tend to read as much opinion from all angles and make up my own mind about things. It's the Zen or KISS method using Ocums Razor methodology - the simpler way is usually the right way, just as the common sense is a very lacking trait in the American society. (But that's another story... ).

To provide a short list, I usually browse:

Instapundit
Hugh Hewitt
RealClear
BlogLoaded Mouth
Polipundit
Daily Kos
Michelle Malkin
Little Green Footballs
Eschaton
Wonkette
and...
Smirking Chimp

All of these with one exception has little queues and nuggets of goodness wrapped in lots of partisan wrapping.



Smirking Chimp stands out as a paranoid's delight with sprinkles of misinformation, skewed facts and contrived conspiracy theory which makes quite a powerful concoction of kool aid as ever I've read. Consistantly (at least they are that), they provide anarchist paranoid skitzo reporting at the highest level. I will illustrate this by summarizing the RSS titles for today, 12/30:

"The Beginning of the end of the Bush administration"
quote:"The scaremongering by the Bush administration for Social Security was approching bankruptcywas seen as being as trustworthy as the myriad of lies used to justify the invasion of Iraq."

"Doomsday for the greenback"
quote: A preemptive attack on Iran would "provoke other industrial nations to strategically abandon the dollar en masse"... "in an effort to thwart the neoconservatives from pursuing their desperate strategy of dominating the world's hydrocarbon energy supply." William R. Clark "Petrodollar Warfare; Dollars, Euros and the upcoming Iranian Oil Bourse"

"Fear and loathing in the USA"
quote: I am sick to death of hearing, "the world is a different place since 9/11". This simple little phrase is bandied about as a reason to support every un-American piece of legislation pushed by BushCo and as justification for their illegal activity.

"The coming year"
quote: Only fortunetellers, the simple minded and the politically naïve brave predictions on our political future. Nevertheless, the nation's newspapers and magazines will fill with predictions about politics: the coming elections, U.S. success at bringing capitalism to Iraq, the progress of the so-called war on terror, the effort of a Christian minority to usurp the nation's agenda, and measurements of President Bush's increasing or declining popularity.

"The Republican crack-up"

"Impeachment is now real"

"It has happened here"
quote: It has happened here, "it" being fascism, American-style.

"The return of Total Information Awareness: Bush asserts dictatorial 'inherent' powers"

"Anti-imperialists beware — Bush is reading again"

"Big Brother Bush"


Now I have no doubt that this group of bloggers really believes what they write. It does have passion and some intelligence behind it. However the conspiracy theories abound while the mish mash of facist finger pointing and epithets detract from the overall story: Bush and anyone who knows of, went to school with, has met, shook hands, peed next to, supports, or believes 0.00001% of any incoherent jingoism that comes out of his mouth MUST be a nazi facist warmongering baby killing Jesus freak. Let's take a moment to not hate the person, but hate the disease:

Schizophrenia (SKITS-oh-FREEN-ee-uh)---one of the most damaging of all mental disorders---causes its victims to lose touch with reality. They often begin to hear, see, or feel things that aren't really there (hallucinations) or become convinced of things that simply aren't true (delusions). In the paranoid form of this disorder, they develop delusions of persecution or personal grandeur. The first signs of paranoid schizophrenia usually surface between the ages of 15 and 34. There is no cure, but the disorder can be controlled with medications. Severe attacks may require hospitalization.



Now of course, I do run the risk of criticism for being a Republican Android, facist pig, and any other name that can be hurled through the internet - but I'm just making a simple observation: Smirking Chimp authors MAY have a psychological problem. I can only read their posts in small quantities as reading it projects me into the twilight zone of bodies hanging from bridges, rubble and devastation in the streets, mass graves, disease and concentration camps for Democrats with ash snow falling down all around, which, no doubt they truely believe is the case. I have on occasion posted on forums where some have written saying "Yes, well that (SC's opinion) is absolutely accurate. There's nothing wrong with what they post."

I don't have a serial number tatoo. No one's crashed into my house to confiscate my books and movies. I can still go between states without showing my "papers". I am not forced to listen to propaganda from any one group against my will. My family hasn't been shot in front of my eyes on the street. I'm not part of a pseudo military group nor have I been forced to join one. I'm not in fear of my life or the life of my family. The media (argueably) isn't run by the Government. I'm not starving. I can write this information without fear of reprisal (except from Smirking Chimp). Not only this - I know of NO ONE who is forced to do or be part of anything they don't willingly want to be a participant. To a non-paranoid person reading SC, it's difficult to understand. I ask myself questions like "Where do they get this stuff?" and "How did _____ come to this conclusion?" What must the thought process be to connect the dots in such a way to see "facism"? I relate the non psycosematic diseased reader to simple overload of paranoid information. Given, if you hear things enough, you will start to believe them. While my blog is no where near the readership of any of the one's I've listed, I have to ask the question - why do so many buy into the group psycosis of SC? The only reason I can come up with is desperation - I think that all the pundits, great and small, have underestimated the physical and emotional anguish the far left has had to endure the past 6 years. Denial and abandonment as well as the rejection of two elections of what the far left claims is an "idiot President" has left them flabberghasted and lashing out. No I'm not asking for a "pity party", but it sure is the only answer I can come up with.





While their normal political and philisophical arguments didn't gain steam for them, now outright wild antics and venomistic claims DO gain them attention, at least on the internet. (This goes back to the PR proverb "Any PR is good PR." So while I still can enjoy my reading, I must admit, Smirking Chimp can only be had in small doses. The negativity abounds through evil icons, graphics and mental imagery that will simply overwhelm the senses. I would suggest taking an asprin or similiar before delving into it too deeply.

Read more at www.smirkingchimp.com/