If you're afraid of your own anger, it's hard to stand up to political bullies

"Dr. Mark Goulston on why Democrats keep losing: They're afraid of their own anger. Psychiatrist Mark Goulston says Democrats are traumatized and eager to hide their rage. To win, they will need it." Chauncey DeVega. Salon. July 11, 2022.

Here's an excerpt from the introduction to the interview:

"In a recent essay at Medium, Dr. Mark Goulston, a leading psychiatrist, former FBI hostage negotiation trainer and the author of the bestsellers "Just Listen" and "Talking to 'Crazy,'" offers a provocative explanation for the Democratic Party's weakness. He argues that Democrats are "highly conflict avoidant" and that such a temperament has made them "mincemeat to the vast majority of the GOP who is allegiant to Donald Trump."

In my recent conversation with Goulston, he expanded on this analysis, arguing that Democrats keep losing to the Republicans because they refuse to speak passionately, clearly and in declarative terms to the American people. He warns that Republicans, especially Trump loyalists, are bullies who embrace and welcome conflict, and that Democrats do not fight back effectively because they refuse to acknowledge the reality that bullies must be confronted and cannot be negotiated with or defeated with rational arguments. Goulston further explains that Trump's followers remain loyal to him precisely because of his antisocial and anti-human behavior, not despite it.

Goulston also explains that many members of America's political class and the news media are naive or in denial about the nature of human evil, and therefore continue to express shock and surprise at each new revelation about the obvious crimes of the Trump regime. At the end of this conversation Goulston shares the advice he would give to Biden and other Democratic leaders about how to break their pattern of self-defeating behavior and formulate a winning plan to defeat the Republicans and preserve American democracy."

You can check out the article at Salon.

Also:

Professor @esglaude warns that American society is mired in death and grieving from the covid pandemic and neofascism but is profoundly immature and unable to grapple with reality because of white racial innocence and other delusions.https://t.co/T5bYPL0f9E

— chauncey devega (@chaunceydevega) July 18, 2022

Also, telling extremist people that their ideas are within normal and acceptable bounds may just embolden them to become more extreme. It's as if you're giving them permission.