But I have to point out the irony that taking it personally seems to be an indicator of extremist psychology. It's not about analyzing your mind, TB, get off the ego trip. You're a member of the set Conservatives, and thus an object of study, but hardly the only one around. Not everything's about you. (Damn that Ayn Rand and her Cult of the Rampant Ego.)

It's foolish to pretend that anybody argues politics without an agenda. VDH isn't a disinterested observer, and to pretend he isn't and take his words at face value is foolish gullibility. What I'm looking for is the meaning behind his words; his agenda, and most importantly, what he hopes people will do if he can successfully infect them with his memes. Where I'm looking is far from irrelevant to the subject; it's the heart of the matter.

Politics is a powerful manifestation of human nature and psychology. It runs deep and wide, affecting everyone across the scale from the individual to the entire society; it's about individual psychology and mass psychology. Politics infects many people as a deep compulsion, and colors their view of everything. For many it's a lifestyle. A superficial and gullible reading of political propaganda ignores an ocean of meaning and significance.

If you want to skim along superficially on the surface of this great ocean of human affairs, go for it. Be a pawn in the game, and never look beneath the surface. Never question the agenda behind the pretty words, and what the demagogues who speak them really want. Pretend you're invulnerable to advertising and psychological manipulation through propaganda. Sure, all those words identical to the words of millions of other Conservatives came from within your own head. Sure they did. You're a totally free agent, and the 100% agreement is only a coincidence. It's only a coincidence you're heading the same direction as the lemmings. They have no choice, but you choose to go along, and that's completely different.

Right?