Who was it who talked about the left's "paranoid style of thinking?" I forget the name, but I remember the concept. I don't know if you can chalk it up as as just a leftist thing, though.
After all, for eight years the left has been living with a president who they think is Hitler without the 'stache. Then you get down to the chicken-and-egg thing: Are leftists paranoid because they hate Bush, or do they hate Bush because they're paranoid?
It'll be interesting to see if the right develops the same attitude towards Obama. Right now, the general feeling seems to be one of "sullen dislike." Most--note I say most--on the right hate Obama more for his perceived extremism than out of any paranoid fantasies.
There are exceptions, of course, like all those people who whispered about Obama's birth certificate or religion. You can bet that those kind of people are only going to become more common over the next four years.
Which is a shame--there are plenty of legitimate reasons to dislike Obama. If the right gives in to the sort of paranoid fantasizing that so much of the left has indulged in for the past eight years, they're going to be marginalized, and they would deserve it.
One final note from the story itself. I love this anecdote:
Van Os recalled a delusional patient who was convinced that the French singer Charles Aznavour was in love with her, and had been whispering to her before she went to sleep every night for more than two decades.
What I'm wondering: did this come about gradually? Like, did she start out thinking Aznavour was in love with her, and only eventually move on to thinking he was whispering in her ear? Or did she wake up all of a sudden thinking this guy was talking to her? Inquiring minds want to know.
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