Friday, October 29, 2010

Tears to the right of me, spittle to the left...

Mental illness takes many forms...the DSM-IV (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders) is a book published by the American Psychiatric Association and includes all currently recognized mental disorders. It organizes each psychiatric diagnosis into five levels (axes) relating to different aspects of a disorder or disability and is used by clinicians to subjectively rate clients.

Speaking of mental illness, Tuesday is election day...and boy, is it a big one. The other night, MSNBC's Keith Olbermann spent 20 minutes (no, not 5 or even 10, but 20 FULL MINUTES) on his show, Chokedown with Keith Olbermann, obsessively and compulsively documenting each and every oddball statement, by each and every fringe element of the quote-unquote Tea Party/Republican Party/enter your choice of "not Democrat Party" here. Boy, the MSNBC staff must have been busy all day googling, or wikipedia-ing every statement by every "enemy" of the current administration. Too bad he didn't have his interns (also) do a little historical research. He could have saved himself (and his four viewers) a lot of grief.

Never mind that the majority of the out-of-context statements were omissions, innuendo, or outright lies...even the correct quotes were mostly from far, FAR out fringe candidates without a prayer of winning. Olbermann's time would have been better spent wondering how "his" administration strayed so far from normalcy to warrant these sorts of responses. This certainly isn't the first time that public opinion has been hijacked by the "anything but" element of the electorate. Ever hear of Jesse Ventura, S.I. Hayakawa, even Al Franken or Arnold Schwarzenegger? We've done it before...and we'll do it again.

However, the foam coming from the mouth of Olbermann looked strangely familiar. Oh yeah, it looked just like the faux-tear drops coming from the eyes of Fox News' Glenn Beck during the 2008 elections. I rarely watch Beck (a former "morning zoo" deejay and now darling of the right) and Olbermann for just this reason. Their programs are full of generalizations, half truths, and hyperbole...presented under the mantle of "analysis." Reminds me of the Billy Crystal/Robert DeNiro movie, "Analyze This," in which Crystal plays a psychiatrist who counsels a mob boss (DeNiro) with panic disorder. Yeah.

If only we could walk out on "this" movie...and return on Wednesday...when the world will be the same...Olbermann will still be frothing, Beck will still be bawling...and unfortunately, the President will still be looking to advance his agenda and the opposition will still be obstructing or praying for gridlock...and the rest of us will be stuck in the middle with you...

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