Reply #23: Decades of fighting for the underdog have embedded in the liberal mind

[RandomKoolzip]

a peculiar strain of thought that might be either conscious or unconscious: we can only imagine ourselves as underdogs, therefore when one of us starts winning, begins succeeding, or gains acceptance by those we don't consider "us," we scorn him/her and identify them as an alien, an "other."

It's a truism that humans are jealous of others' successes; American liberals are unique in that they're jealous of others' failures - failure, of course, is a mark of purity. If you've failed, if you're consistently losing elections, it's a sign that you're "ahead of your time," or "speaking truth to power," or some other tired cliche. It's why Dennis Kucinich, as ineffectual as he is, is a hero to almost all of us here (myself included - I am not immune to this shit, either).

This is part and parcel of the "sell-out accusation" syndrome common to ideologically pure political junkies; as soon as "one of us" begins to look like a winner, it seems our solemn duty is destroy him/her.

We need therapy, all of us.