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Monday, September 25, 2006
Raging Comebacks
IF.... Here's a question. You disgrace yourself in public because of deep, personal failings. Then you get an opportunity to put on your most winning face with the public. What's the best strategy for making people like you again? You're right if you guessed, Attacking Somebody Else Who Did Something You, In Your Infinite Wisdom, Don't Approve Of. At least, that's the right answer according to Mel Gibson, Bill Clinton, and George Michael. These are headlines (and links) from today's Drudge Report:
MEL GIBSON BLASTS IRAQ WAR, SAYS AMERICAN CIVILIZATION ON DECLINE
CLINTON TO FOXNEWS ANCHOR: 'YOU HAVE THAT SMIRK ON YOUR FACE'...
George Michael tour launches with Bush bash...
So Mel Gibson the anti-semite, Bill Clinton the Oval Office adulterer, and George Michael the drug-addled man's man of the restroom set all believe we'll find them more charming if they deride, mock, or intimidate other figures in the public eye.
Yes, it probably will work with most liberals, who have a long-ingrained habit of believing that public moralizing on social issues makes up for the kinds of personal weaknesses old-fashioned folk would view in moral terms. If this were not so, Teddy Kennedy's career would have ended with the death of Mary Jo Kopechne, and Robert Byrd would have retired from the Senate either shortly before or shortly after he resigned from the Ku Klux Klan. It's hardly a surprise that former President Clinton has now convinced himself that his tryst with Monica Lewinsky was a right-wing setup and Osama bin Laden was only a convenient political football for his enemies in Washington.
It's called denial, a classic symptom of narcissists in trouble, and that's why attacking others is a poor strategy for earning real redemption even if the preening narcissists of the left eat it up and ask for more. The path to personal happiness is not lubricated by the oily flattery of a Keith Olbermann. It begins with finding that calm place where it's possible to gain some distance from the moment, perceive the ephemeral but magical nature of life as we know it, and learn to laugh at something as big as the universe and as small as ourselves.
That's why we'll close with only positive suggestions. Here are two little doses of therapy we found on YouTube. The first might be soothing and freeing to the frustrated creative energies of Mel and Bill.
The second is somewhat more accessible to those of lesser intellect, which is why we specifically recommed it to George Michael.
Imagination, laughter, unexpected delight. Nothing better for blowing away the cobwebs of anger and resentment. And not a bad way to begin a new week no matter who you are.
