Ritual Defamation (The Art of the Hissy Fit)

[phantom power]

I first noticed the right's successful use of phony sanctimony and faux outrage back in the 90's when well-known conservative players like Gingrich and Livingston pretended to be offended at the president's extramarital affair and were repeatedly and tiresomely "upset" about fund raising practices they all practiced themselves. The idea of these powerful and corrupt adulterers being personally upset by white house coffees and naughty sexual behavior was laughable. But they did it, oh how they did it, and it often succeeded in changing the dialog and tittilating the media into a frenzy of breathless tabloid coverage.

(...)

The power of ritual defamation lies entirely in its capacity to intimidate and terrorize. It embraces some elements of primitive superstitious belief, as in a "curse" or "hex." It plays into the subconscious fear most people have of being abandoned or rejected by the tribe or by society and being cut off from social and psychological support systems.

(...)

The political cost to progressives and liberals for their inability to properly deal with this tactic is greater than they realize. Just as Newt Gingrich was not truly offended by Bill Clinton's behavior (which mirrored his own) neither were conservative congressmen and Rush Limbaugh truly upset by the Move On ad --- and everyone knew it, which was the point. It is a potent demonstration of pure power to force others to insincerely condemn or apologize for something, particularly when the person who is forcing it is also insincerely outraged. For a political party that suffers from a reputation for weakness, it is extremely damaging to be so publicly cowed over and over again. It separates them from their most ardent supporters and makes them appear guilty and unprincipled to the public at large.

Ritual defamation and humiliation are designed to make the group feel contempt for the victim and over time it's extremely hard to resist feeling it when the victims fail to stand up for themselves.

http://commonsense.ourfuture.org/art_hissy_fit

[nightrider767]

1. Great Article, Thanks

I think it also boils down to an even more basic level. Gamesmanship.

It's an ongoing debate when words supersede actual issue values.

The REP"S Have simply been leading in that department

[phantom power]

2. GOP politics taps right into the brain stem.

The centers of fear and anger. Also, they leverage all of our tribal instincts. The instinct to scape-goat, the instinct to love the members of our own tribe and simultaneously hate outsiders. It's destructive, but very powerful. That part of our brains is way older and stronger than our neocortex. Watch any tribe of chimps make war on another tribe, and you can see how old that part of us is.

It's not impossible to compete with the lizard and the chimpanzee inside us, but you have to resist it. The Democratic strategy seems to be "wait passively for the human neocortex to triumph, and hope the chimpanzee bully goes away."

Na. Ga. Happen.

[nightrider767]

3. Humans have the capacity for logic

to help guide them away from their ancient instincts. So it's not a lost battle.

On the other hand, it does take a concerted effort to do this. Americans are so barraged by news, headlines and hyperbole that it creates distraction, stress and anxiety, so the human brain retreats and reacts at the most base level...