Portnoy's Mom's Complaint

In Portnoy's Complaint, the mother says "my problem is I'm too nice," which author Philip Roth notes is a claim even a child can see through. (I don't have a copy of the book around, so I'm counting on years-old memory.) But this doesn't stop losing political parties from saying the same thing.

Look at the latest by Michael Moore, where he agrees with the bizarre essay by Mel Giles that compares Democrats to abused wives. They have to learn to stop blaming themselves when they get hit. The Republicans are cruel and the Democrats keep making the mistake of being too nice about it.

Or look at Tom Tomorrow. A recent cartoon shows Democrats who want to have a fair debate being crushed by crazed Republicans. The problem, boiled down, even taking satirical exaggeration into account? Democrats are just too darned nice.

Can anyone be so removed from reality that they believe this? Can they have missed all the vicious insults and nasty tactics their side employed in the recent election? Philip Roth should do his fellow Democrats a favor and remind them that a child can see through this claim no matter who it comes from.

I'm not saying Republicans are any better. They're just not in recrimination mode right now. I guarantee if they lost big they'd be complaining that they believe in fair play while their opponents stop at nothing.

(I'll have more on fooling yourself in the near future. Or I may be fooling myself.)