Siggy, did you go to the tea bag protest rally at the Capitol in St. Paul last week?
Nein, grasshopper, but Siggy saw za reports.
Vut did you tink; I mean what did you think?
Are ve making za fun of Siggy, grasshopper?
No, Siggy; it’s just that the accent is so, well, infectious.
Ja?
Seriously.
Okay zen. Siggy did think zat there was some psychosis at the rally which which indicates zat narcissistic personality disorder may be present in some members of za crowd.
What?
Vell, let’s go to za tape:
I see what you mean, Spotty.
No you don’t, grasshopper; you can’t fool za Siggy, so let him explain it to you.
Narcissism is characterized by “self-preoccupation, lack of empathy, and unconscious deficits in self-esteem.” Za crowd listening to za Chris Baker was reveling in the praise he heaped on it. How zis praise had anything to do with tax protests or tea bags is not immediately obvious, until one recognizes za it is all part of za wing nut’s investment in zinking of himself as za keeper of za flame; zat’s true whether we’re talking about taxes or za so-called moral values.
That’s seems like a little bit of a stretch, Siggy.
Vell, here’s “Glenallen Walken” talking about the gay marriage issue just yesterday in Salon:
Contrary to what many supporters of gay marriage seem to believe, the opposition to gay marriage is not motivated, as a general rule, in large part or small, by bigotry. I am aware there are many gay-marriage advocates who refuse to accept that there really can be a legitimate difference of viewpoint on the issue.
These are the same people who, let me suggest, are not so much concerned about how they live their own lives as they are with forcing other people to accept how they live, to validate the lives they have made for themselves. And that's what inspires the first conservative objection to gay marriage, the one born out of respect for society and those social traditions that, over time, have demonstrated that they exist for everyone's benefit. [italics are Siggy’s]
Siggy would quarrel about the bigotry issue, but the italicized language hits it on za head. Za author of that was talking about gay marriage advocates, but he’s got it exactly backwards. There are no gay marriage advocates, certainly as far as Siggy knows, who want to keep anyone from having a “traditional marriage.” But there are plenty of people who want to keep gays from making za same commitment that Chris Baker talked about at za rally; it’s about validation of their own choice by the exclusion of any other choice as moral.
Baker’s strokes the crowd with this giant non sequitur about commitment because he is playing to the crowd’s need for attention and validation. That is, in fact, largely what talk radio is about. It’s true on both sides of za aisle, but conservative talk radio is more popular because, vell, Liebschen, you figure it out.
Baker’s other giant non sequitur in the clip, that it’s okay to want lower taxes because “God put you on earth and you owe no man but yourself” is similarly constructed to simply validate the self-absorbed, narcissistic impulses of za crowd.
Which brings us finally to Sue Jeffers’ statement zat za rally was za start “of something big.” Self-aggrandizement is another trait of narcissism. Za crowd roared in approval, but za more sober and honest reaction comes from the fellow at za end of za clip.
Update: Ve vill talk about why zis is so important in a upcoming post. A longer clip of the rally in St. Paul can be seen in za post immediately preceding zis one.
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