neocon Milt Rosenberg continues to diagnose Clinton as sociopath

[Cocoa]

Dr. Milt Rosenberg on WGN radio in Chicago is also a professor of psychology at the University of Chicago.

I use the word neocon because he loves inviting guests on who are actual neocons, and he promotes similar views. Kagan is one of his favorites.

During the impeachment of Clinton, he was very enthusiastic about it, he loathed Clinton in a very "how will we tell the children" way. And he also kept puffing up Henry Hyde, predicting that he would become an American hero, he would get credit by history for transforming American public life from the "coarse" Clinton era to a new more refined one.

Of course, the impeachment exposed that whole way of looking at it as a farce, as if it weren't obvious from the beginning, and old Milt has cooled it a bit the last few years.

But last night he had a discussion with the repulsive Robert Bork where he brought up the whole "Clinton is a sociopath" thing, and I had to remind him of a few things.


Dear Mr. M: It was Bork who brought it up by saying there was a diagnostic word (its in his book) but he would not use it. I then suggested that he meant "sociopath." The word "psychopath" was not used. I am sure you know the somewhat subtle but important distinction between the two; sociopath references public style and deportment rather than the inner psychodynamic process.

Thanks for your interest in the program.

Best wishes,

Milt


The original email



Dear Milt,

I wonder how you feel about the ethics of your diagnosing Bill Clinton as a psychopath?

Of course you can have your political opinions, but you are a psychological professional associated with a major university. To me, the idea of diagnosing someone one has never met is simply ridiculous, and I think a psychological professional should not endorse such an idea, let alone promote it.

Charles Krauthammer is doing the same thing with Howard Dean. He has a psychiatric background, and is diagonsing various mental illnesses in Dean.

On another note, I just saw a program on C-span, maybe you can catch the rerun. It was Bob Dole and Bill Clinton, and their wives, appearing together and being very friendly with one another. You know, civility as opposed to "coarseness," which is one of your themes.

They repeatedly made the very good point that politics does not have to be about destroying those on the other side.

I would also recommend to you a speech Richard Gephardt gave on the floor of the House five years ago last month, where he asked Bob Livingston not to step down. He was decrying the politics of personal destruction on both sides.

Maybe you can do a five year anniversary commemoration of the Clinton impeachment, where you can reassess the behavior of people like you, and maybe reassess your very favorable opinion of Henry Hyde. You predicted he would be seen by history as a great figure, maybe you could give some insights into what led you to that implausible judgement.

Like I said, I recommend it highly for you, and next time you see Robert Bork you can tell him about it as well.

[izzie]

1. Face it with the GOP only sex is a sin

Killing, stealing, greed and those things mean you are smart.

[grannylib]

4. and only when Democrats/Liberals engage in it; Repiglican scandals

are hushed, ignored, forgiven, whitewashed, lipsticked...

[madrchsod]

2. wgn is listened to by people

who have no reasoning power left in their geriatric bodies and minds. if i listen to milt for over a minute my brain numbs and i grow dumber. you have a much stronger resistance to these effects than i do. nice e`mail,but i doubt he gives a shit.

[PROGRESSIVE1]

3. Don't worry, there is a special place in....

hell for this P.O.S!

[KharmaTrain]

5. Cocoa...Very Well Done

I'm in the Chicago area and have had a long love/hate relationship with Dr. Milt. He's one of the few intelligent talk program left on radio...an NPR level show on a major 50,000 radio station. He's generally socially liberal and fiscially conservative (A Friedman boy)...and if you were to characterize him, it's not a Neo-Con as much as an "old-line Goldwater-type".

You're spot on for calling his hyprocrisy about his dealing with the Clinton inquisition. I absolutely fumed the night the revelations of Hyde's "youthful indiscretions" were revealed and Dr. Milt tapped danced around the definitions of age, position and so on. He also was a big promoter of another Chicagoan...Mr. Shippers...who he also hearlded as the Leon Jawarski of the Clintongate era.

It'd be interesting to see if Dr. Milt would engage you on the whole episode of the Clinton inquisition and the impact it's had on the political discourse of this nation since. I'd be especially interested in his "barometer" of what lying is in light of his uncomfort with both the Iraq invasion and the collapse of the economy. The man might put ideals over ration at times, but he's no mouthpiece of any specific agenda.

I like when I can hear people like Bork...who rarely gives interviews...and some of the other authors and reporters that Milt brings on...right, left and otherwise. It's a rare haven when one's driving to get some intellectual stimulation...especially since the rest of the dial is loaded with lock-step dittoheads.

Cheers & happy New Year.