THEY WON- YOU'D THINK THEY'D BE HAPPY OR SUMTHIN'

But no. The left has become even MORE miserable and hateful. Why is this?

I think part of the reason is that they are miserable people deprived of the object of their projection- Bush. Without someone in power like him, they are left to deal with and face the unhappiness that their projection had allowed them to avoid seeing, which of course really pisses them off.

They have to go after TV show hosts and talk radio, but somehow, it just doesn't have the same kick.

Of course all of this is under cover of their deluded self-image as a completely kind, caring and generous person. Come to think of it, that may be another reason too- not only does it take a huge amount of constant effort to prop up that phony image 24/7, it takes even more energy now that they have won, but still feel like crap. They're just ragged out, poor things.

Someone asked Robin of Berkley, the reformed liberal, this same question. Some good points here:

You'd think that since liberals have won big time, they'd be sitting pretty, chilling on the couch, all happy clappy. Instead, they're acting like angry victims of "the man."

Why is this? You don't have to read much further than Saul Alinsky, Obama's role model. Alinsky taught disciples to foster resentments, agitate people, and create paranoia. He preached ridiculing and intimidating all opponents, especially reasonable people. His mission -- and I think the goal of the Powers that Be -- was revolution so that the haves were on the bottom, and the have nots were in power.

For the average Joe to inflict cruelty on another, he has to trick himself psychologically into thinking he's doing good. There are defense mechanisms employed, rather primitive ones like dissociation. He dissociates from his humanity and the humanity of the other. He represses his human urge to empathize and protect. He projects his self hate and shame onto the other person. Just look at what's being done to good Christian women like Carrie Prejean and Sarah Palin. Most people know deep inside that making rape jokes and wishing decent folks harm is contemptible. So they turn it around, demonize the other. and delude themselves into thinking they're right.

Lastly, to control people, the power structure uses addiction. Our masses are fed addictive technology, media, highly sugared food, antidepressants, and illegal and psychotropic drugs. Anger itself is addictive. It feels powerful, and stimulates feel good chemicals like adrenaline.

Now liberals will balk, arguing that conservatives are being mean too. But the crucial point here is that liberals are in power. When underlings at a job gripe about the boss, they are letting off steam. When people who hold the power act like schoolyard bullies, that's dangerous. That's the slippery slope into sadism and fascism. We might already be there.

Of course, as usual when dealing with psychology, I think Dr. Sanity has the best answers. From her excellent series, "Strategies for Dealing with Denial":

The insight that threatens to overwhelm them is that all of their political correctness; all of their multicultural BS; in fact, all of the shibboleths and platitudes of the the left that have been the glue holding together the house of cards of their ideology since the end of the last century, are no longer capable of preventing the collapse and disintegration of that ideology. If they think about it long and hard enough, they might even begin to realize the horrible truth: that in order for their ideology to survive, they must bet--all or nothing--on a win by the Islamic fanatics who want to destroy us all (including them). The unacceptable feelings are a combination of impotent rage and burning hatred that threaten a deluded self concept. For decades now, they have told themselves that they are peaceful, loving, compassionate and just; that they stand for freedom and the empowerment of the little guy-- and now they cannot avoid looking in the mirror to see what their delusions have wrought. The only way to avoid being submerged by all this reality is to embrace the denial ever more tightly and descend deeper into delusion and paranoia. We see that many people--particularly on the left-- are doing exactly all those things, rather than to face the truth; re-evaluate their premises and come to grips with an unpleasant reality that must be avoided at all costs. There are even those who have been willing to betray their own country and their fellow citizens for a few extra moments of supercilious self-righteousness and the ability to feel smug and superior. They appear to have no awareness of the extensive damage they are doing; the precedents they are setting; and the carnage they are enabling. The thing about denial is that it requires a considerable amount of self-delusion to be able to maintain it; and the longer it is maintained, the more hysterical and desperate become the attempts to preserve it. So, what is a rational person to do when faced with this kind of intractable denial on the part of their fellow citizens? How can one reach them? As one commenter stated, "If 9/11 doesn't shake them out of their complacency, then what will?"

That's one question I don't want to think about.