Co-Dependent News Network
In my 20s I read some of those adult children of alcoholics books, for the usual reasons. One of the core concepts was “Guessing at Normal.” Children raised in alcoholic households lack first-hand experience in any number of standard social rituals and passage rights – in our family’s case, for example, we never entertained when I was a kid; having guests to dinner or hosting a party was as foreign as muezzin calls. A trivial example, but you get the idea.
The thing with Chris Matthews and most of the rest of our political journalists is that they’re in the same position as an addict’s kids – alienated from “normal” society, but keenly feeling the need to guess what normal people will think and do. So they guess that Mike Huckabee’s stunt with the negative ad will kill his campaign and they guess that a momentary rise in Hillary Clinton’s volume level will destroy hers, but they’re operating from a stance of desperate ignorance. They have far less excuse, though. When the addict’s kid grows up, she really has to get a job and date and find roomates and pay bills and interact with other human beings – it’s what people do. The Chris Matthews folks could just shut up and wait to find out what actually happens, or they could forthrightly advocate for their favored outcome. Failing that, we might wish they would skip to ACOA characteristic number four: “Judging themselves without mercy.”
Comment by Mona —
January 12, 2008 @ 7:54 pm
Far too well, unfortunately.
Comment by Barry —
January 12, 2008 @ 7:59 pm
“They have far less excuse, though. When the addict’s kid grows up, she really has to get a job and date and find roomates and pay bills and interact with other human beings – it’s what people do. ”
That’s the point – if these people were judged on being able to figure out what’s happening any better than normal people, they’d be asking ‘do you want fries with that?’.
Comment by John O —
January 12, 2008 @ 9:37 pm
Perfect. Thank you.
I too am a libertarian, Golden Rule kind of blogger.
Chris Matthews is one weird dude. Best classified, I think, as a bilarteral extremist.
Comment by John O —
January 12, 2008 @ 9:39 pm
Sorry, I meant, “politically correct” bilateral extremist.
Which is a big part of why the Village Idiots think Chris is so “cool.”
“He’s so UNPREDICTABE, man.”
*looking for barf bag quick*
Comment by bystander —
January 12, 2008 @ 9:42 pm
I’d argue that everything you see them doing now … the endless guessing and refusing to shut up … has everything to do with avoiding Judging themselves without mercy.
Comment by The Modesto Kid —
January 13, 2008 @ 1:29 pm
keenly feeling the need to guess what normal people will think and do
Fantastic image.
Comment by diana —
January 13, 2008 @ 1:33 pm
Are you saying that, in order to keep our sanity, we should ignore these assholes (i.e., not “enable” them)?
Why, I think you are!
Comment by abb1 —
January 13, 2008 @ 1:53 pm
Ha-ha, this is very good as far as it goes – psychobabble-wise; though I suspect what Chris Matthews&Co say has no more significance than, say, lyrics of a Britney Spears’ song.
Comment by Roach —
January 13, 2008 @ 2:57 pm
Good post. I’ve always thought real government was much like student government: a handful of intensely interested participants and observers, and everyone else wondering what the big deal is. The latter group is occasionally castigated without much effect to care more.