| COD: Compulsive Outrage Disorder | for everyone |
Below is from Bill McClellan (7/5/09). A kind of follow-up from my previously posted, "On Being Right," "Toxic Talk," "The Power of Repetition." Enjoy. Or not. Just avoid the outrage. Apologies for reprinting non-original material.
Not long ago I received an e-mail from an old and treasured friend. I started to read it with a sense of anticipation, but the message was heartbreaking. My friend has COD — Compulsive Outrage Disorder.
The e-mail was something from the Internet about Barack Obama, but it could have been about George W. Bush. COD strikes people on both sides of the ideological divide.
This compulsion to be outraged is a relatively new thing. If media outlets didn't create the disorder, they certainly feed it. With the likes of Rush Limbaugh and Bill O'Reilly on the right and Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow on the left, there is always something new to be outraged about. And if a sufferer cannot get enough from the radio or television, there is the Internet, which is, in some ways, worse.
While the stuff from the talkers is overdone to the point of parody — "The Worst Person in the World" is an award given nightly by Olbermann — somewhere under the hyperbole is generally a kernel of truth. It's twisted and distorted until nearly unrecognizable, but still, there is usually an element of truth somewhere in the rant.
Not so with the Internet. Much of that is sheer nonsense. One popular e-mail claims that before he led the Sept. 11 attack, Mohamed Atta was in an Israeli prison, but Bill Clinton forced the Israelis to let him out.
Another widely circulated e-mail claimed that Ollie North tried to warn the U.S. Senate about Osama bin Laden, but Al Gore ridiculed him. And, of course, there are plenty of Internet stories exposing "secret legislation" about which the media won't report.
One of the symptoms of COD is gullibility. If a sufferer hears something that is critical of the other side, he or she will believe it.
Of course, politics by its nature is a partisan endeavor, and always has been. But once upon a time, even its practitioners could see past the partisan divide. Ronald Reagan and Tip O'Neill famously played cards together. In other words, it was possible to like somebody on the other side.
And the rest of us? We didn't give much thought to politics. Back then, radio and television were about entertainment, not outrage.
Let me tell you about my old friend. I met him in 1971 when I first arrived in Arizona. I spent my first night in Arizona at a motel in downtown Phoenix. I told the clerk I was headed to Tempe to attend Arizona State University. The clerk was a young man about my age, and he said wistfully, "There is a neighborhood there called Sin City." I thought to myself, "This is working out."
The next day, I drove to Tempe and stopped to ask for directions. It turned out I had stopped at a graduate school dorm. I told the kid at the desk I was looking for a place called Sin City. A fellow overheard me and said, "Do you want a roommate?" He explained he had just arrived in town, too, and was going to attend law school.
I was short on money, so I did want a roommate. We talked for a few minutes. I told him I smoked pot. He said that didn't bother him. He said he had a gun. I said that didn't bother me. So we found Sin City and got an apartment. We became good friends. A pot smoker and a gun rights guy. A liberal and a conservative, you might be thinking, but truth is, politics never came up.
Of course, those were the days before cable television, and we never had to choose between Fox News and MSNBC, between Bill and Keith.
Now, years later, I get an e-mail with Internet nonsense about Obama. It's sad.
I have seen what COD can do to people. I was at a Christmas party last year. I was standing with three people. We were chatting. Pleasant small talk. Nothing serious. A man whom I know approached. He's a nice man. I started to wish him a merry Christmas when he suddenly launched into a tirade about Rod Blagojevich and the "drive-by media."
The three of us were taken aback and said nothing. Our silence seemed to fuel his outrage. "If Blagojevich were a Republican, the drive-bys would be all over this!" he said loudly.
How does one respond to something like that? The media was, in fact, all over the story. And far from being friendly with the media, Blagojevich wanted to get some Chicago Tribune editorial writers fired. But who wants to get into a loud political argument at a Christmas party?
COD sufferers, that's who.
Actually, I dodge these sorts of discussions all the time. COD sufferers are always bringing up the latest outrage. "Did you hear what Joe Biden said?" Or, "Did you hear what Sarah Palin said?" They seem disappointed — disturbed, actually — when I tell them I'm not much interested. Sometimes, I go farther. "I don't enjoy being outraged," I say.
They look at me like I'm sick.
I'm hoping my old friend gets better.
Not long ago I received an e-mail from an old and treasured friend. I started to read it with a sense of anticipation, but the message was heartbreaking. My friend has COD — Compulsive Outrage Disorder.
The e-mail was something from the Internet about Barack Obama, but it could have been about George W. Bush. COD strikes people on both sides of the ideological divide.
This compulsion to be outraged is a relatively new thing. If media outlets didn't create the disorder, they certainly feed it. With the likes of Rush Limbaugh and Bill O'Reilly on the right and Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow on the left, there is always something new to be outraged about. And if a sufferer cannot get enough from the radio or television, there is the Internet, which is, in some ways, worse.
While the stuff from the talkers is overdone to the point of parody — "The Worst Person in the World" is an award given nightly by Olbermann — somewhere under the hyperbole is generally a kernel of truth. It's twisted and distorted until nearly unrecognizable, but still, there is usually an element of truth somewhere in the rant.
Not so with the Internet. Much of that is sheer nonsense. One popular e-mail claims that before he led the Sept. 11 attack, Mohamed Atta was in an Israeli prison, but Bill Clinton forced the Israelis to let him out.
Another widely circulated e-mail claimed that Ollie North tried to warn the U.S. Senate about Osama bin Laden, but Al Gore ridiculed him. And, of course, there are plenty of Internet stories exposing "secret legislation" about which the media won't report.
One of the symptoms of COD is gullibility. If a sufferer hears something that is critical of the other side, he or she will believe it.
Of course, politics by its nature is a partisan endeavor, and always has been. But once upon a time, even its practitioners could see past the partisan divide. Ronald Reagan and Tip O'Neill famously played cards together. In other words, it was possible to like somebody on the other side.
And the rest of us? We didn't give much thought to politics. Back then, radio and television were about entertainment, not outrage.
Let me tell you about my old friend. I met him in 1971 when I first arrived in Arizona. I spent my first night in Arizona at a motel in downtown Phoenix. I told the clerk I was headed to Tempe to attend Arizona State University. The clerk was a young man about my age, and he said wistfully, "There is a neighborhood there called Sin City." I thought to myself, "This is working out."
The next day, I drove to Tempe and stopped to ask for directions. It turned out I had stopped at a graduate school dorm. I told the kid at the desk I was looking for a place called Sin City. A fellow overheard me and said, "Do you want a roommate?" He explained he had just arrived in town, too, and was going to attend law school.
I was short on money, so I did want a roommate. We talked for a few minutes. I told him I smoked pot. He said that didn't bother him. He said he had a gun. I said that didn't bother me. So we found Sin City and got an apartment. We became good friends. A pot smoker and a gun rights guy. A liberal and a conservative, you might be thinking, but truth is, politics never came up.
Of course, those were the days before cable television, and we never had to choose between Fox News and MSNBC, between Bill and Keith.
Now, years later, I get an e-mail with Internet nonsense about Obama. It's sad.
I have seen what COD can do to people. I was at a Christmas party last year. I was standing with three people. We were chatting. Pleasant small talk. Nothing serious. A man whom I know approached. He's a nice man. I started to wish him a merry Christmas when he suddenly launched into a tirade about Rod Blagojevich and the "drive-by media."
The three of us were taken aback and said nothing. Our silence seemed to fuel his outrage. "If Blagojevich were a Republican, the drive-bys would be all over this!" he said loudly.
How does one respond to something like that? The media was, in fact, all over the story. And far from being friendly with the media, Blagojevich wanted to get some Chicago Tribune editorial writers fired. But who wants to get into a loud political argument at a Christmas party?
COD sufferers, that's who.
Actually, I dodge these sorts of discussions all the time. COD sufferers are always bringing up the latest outrage. "Did you hear what Joe Biden said?" Or, "Did you hear what Sarah Palin said?" They seem disappointed — disturbed, actually — when I tell them I'm not much interested. Sometimes, I go farther. "I don't enjoy being outraged," I say.
They look at me like I'm sick.
I'm hoping my old friend gets better.
Drmist1 wrote on Jul 10, '09
ReplyDeleteWow. The nerve of this guy! What is his problem? Can't a curmudgeon just have his view and his say so? I mean, this guy is so full of... oh, wait. Maybe I didn't read it right.
I do get some COD stuff from a couple old friends. Sometimes I worry they might be right and I am just naive. Then the next email is even more ridiculous and I say "Oh, yeah. That guy's a little angry at liberals. He's wrong."
Just a bit of ramble.
Gene Out (Yours sounds better)
Bob Berndt wrote on Jul 10, '09
DeleteI may have to change it now that I have a job; don't want to give the wrong impression before I even get started!
Added: 11/29/12 -- The Blog was previously titled "Berndt Out"