Let’s talk about empathy:
House Republican leaders sent a memo this week to the entire GOP conference with talking points designed to help rank-and-file Republicans show compassion for the unemployed and explain the Republican position on unemployment benefits. In the memo, which was obtained by The Washington Post, House Republicans are urged to be empathetic toward the unemployed and understand how unemployment is a “personal crisis” for individuals and families. The memo also asks Republicans to reiterate that the House will give “proper consideration” to an extension of long-term insurance as long as Democrats are willing to support spending or regulatory reforms.
I remember when “empathy” became a dirty word for the Republican Party. It happened after Justice David Souter announced his retirement and President Obama make the following remarks:
“Now, the process of selecting someone to replace Justice Souter is among my most serious responsibilities as president, so I will seek somebody with a sharp and independent mind and a record of excellence and integrity.
“I will seek someone who understands that justice isn’t about some abstract legal theory or footnote in a casebook; it is also about how our laws affect the daily realities of people’s lives, whether they can make a living and care for their families, whether they feel safe in their homes and welcome in their own nation.
“I view that quality of empathy, of understanding and identifying with people’s hopes and struggles, as an essential ingredient for arriving at just decisions and outcomes.
“I will seek somebody who is dedicated to the rule of law, who honors our constitutional traditions, who respects the integrity of the judicial process and the appropriate limits of the judicial role.
“I will seek somebody who shares my respect for constitutional values on which this nation was founded and who brings a thoughtful understanding of how to apply them in our time.
Republicans ignored most of what the president said and latched onto his idea that a judge should be able to identify with the hopes and struggles of folks who might not even feel welcome in their own country. When Obama selected Sonia Sotomayor (who is Puerto Rican), as his nominee, the Republicans began attacking her for having empathy.
“President Obama clearly believes that you measure up to his empathy standard,” Chuck Grassley ominously intoned. “That worries me.”
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“That is, of course, the logical flaw in the empathy standard,” Sen. Jeff Sessions warned. “Empathy for one party is always prejudice against another.”
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Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell stated that Obama wanted a judge with “perceived sympathy for certain groups or individuals.” Republican National Committee Chair Michael Steele argued that empathy gets in the way of justice, saying he does not want “some justice up there feeling bad for my opponent.”
The Wall Street Journal derisively referred to Sotomayor as “the empathy nominee.” Rush Limbaugh said, “Obama talks about we need people with empathy. It’s not even about empathy, folks, that’s just cover. He just wants one of his own on the court to do his dirty work from the highest court in the land, and she fits the bill.” Karl Rove said “”Empathy” is the latest code word for liberal activism, for treating the Constitution as malleable clay to be kneaded and molded in whatever form justices want.”
The spectacle of seeing someone be criticized for having empathy even puzzled psychologists who had never seen the word used pejoratively before.
Something about the idea of a judge having empathy deeply offended the right, and they didn’t care how strange and psychotic and anti-social it made them look. The whole Mighty Right-Wing Wurlitzer cranked up in unison to bash Ms. Sotomayor, despite the fact that she never used the word to describe herself.
Four years later, the House leadership is passing out memos to their members so that they will remember to at least pretend to have some empathy for people who have been out of work for six months or more.
Is this an about-face? Are they slow learners?
Nope.
They don’t have an ounce of empathy, and they prefer it that way.
The very fact that they have to issue talking points on the subject verifies their utter lack of empathy. I wonder how many of them had to Google the word to learn what it meant.
What does it say about a political party that has to teach empathy to its members? Seriously, having to remind their fellow Republicans to be decent, caring human beings.
Of course, party leaders would also need on-the-job training in empathy as well. None of them seem to understand how it works, either.
Boo:
I suppose you’ll have something to say about Governor Raging Asshole later today?
Calvin – since this is a national blog, my first thought was to wonder which governor you were referring to. It’s truly depressing how many possibilities there are.
Chris Christie. He’s all over the news today as you probably know by now.
Yep.
Psychiatrists have a word for people who not only don’t have an ounce of empathy, but don’t even understand the concept. “Psychopath.”
You said it so I don’t have to.
Furthermore: Do you know how most sociopaths and psychopaths learn to cope with and navigate society? By teaching themselves to fake empathy.
Conservatives have tons of empathy.
For themselves mostly, and maybe for their families and friends.
Remember, conservatives are just members of very small tribes trying to make their way in the big ol’ scary world of libruuuuls trying to destroy their tribe because FREEDOM.
A pure market society has neither empathy nor morality except for those rich enough to afford those luxuries.
And it has been a project of the conservative movement in the US to turn American civic life into a pure market society that knows the price of everything and the intrinsic value of nothing. Economic totalitarianism. By any means possible.
Learning Empathy?
I think you mean learning how to appear to be empathetic, without actually being so.
Yes and this is beginning to remind me of a domestic violence scenario where the beater apologizes for breaking his spouse/child/s nose, says the victim goaded him into violence but he really does love his family.
What is empathy without action?
Ah yes, Boehner’s crocodile tears.
Since there won’t be a dime raised for the RNC, empathy talk will be gone by end of day. Only one who likely gets a paycheck from Rep empathy will be Frank Luntz, because of course empathy is now the new humble pie.
I first read that as “mumble pie.” It works.
Yeah, does work. Can’t get past the correlation of a wife beater declaring that he only beats his wife and/ or kids because he loves them.
The attack on Sotomayor the empath was also an implicit defense of John Roberts’s idiotic statement at his confirmation hearing: “Judges are like umpires. Umpires don’t make the rules; they apply them. The role of an umpire and a judge is critical. They make sure everybody plays by the rules. But it is a limited role.” I’ve always been astonished that no one asked him, “Well, Mr. Roberts, it is a well-know fact that different umpires have different strike zones, no matter what they say. Can you define yours for us?”
That no one called him on that is a crime.
I’m not sure how you can tell everyone who will listen that you are as nasty as you wanna be, but then turn around and pretend you have empathy.
I don’t really know how you can lecture us on “dependency” but also say you have empathy. To me this smells very much like the supposed “reckoning” the party did after the 2012 election, which lasted about 10 days and was followed by a greatly renewed drive to show us all how much contempt they have for the average citizen.
I always think of Ryszard Kapuscinski’s The Emperor when the Republicans talk about empathy for the unemployed. In public Haile Selassie goes around expressing his deep, deep concern for the suffering of the people, but he obviously has no intention of doing anything about it.
Of course Paul Ryan goes him one better. He expresses empathy for the unemployed, but unlike Haile Selassie he announces that he’s actually going to help them–by cutting their benefits!