Sociopathy

          What is it about extreme political viewpoints that attracts so many sociopaths? Somebody is always comparing a political enemy to Hitler in a pathetic display of anger or fear, and demanding punishment based on his or her own thinly veiled hatred. Or it’s another sociopath throwing huge sums of money into the ring to sway actions on threat of election challenges. Or somebody tough-talking about America’s greatness while proposing a course of bigotry, greed and selfishness.

Extremism is hardly conservative politics. It is radical, in some cases relentless, and almost always remorseless. It occurs all the way from the ‘lobster and caviar’ set to the ‘beer and burger’ crowd. And it is amazing that extremists seem to have an endless supply of money!

Still, a lot of people recognize political extremism for what it is—poison. If you look you will find them—the rich and the poor alike who oppose the hostage-taking extremists that want to eviscerate safety net programs or grind America to a halt regardless of the damage to our country.

Extremists want to seem tough on crime and drugs, but are unable to acknowledge the truth about crime and drugs, and honestly propose a humane course of action to mitigate them. Oh, and they’re tough on illegal immigration. They take a stance that fits perfectly the “Bully the weak” paradigm—and they energetically coach Americans to be stupid and hateful about immigrants…and almost everything else.

What toughness. Around here we just call them sociopaths.