There’s been a bit of noise concerning Charles Krauthammer’s assertion that Clinton must have paid a hefty ransom for the release of the two imprisoned reporters, despite the fact that North Korea’s desire for attention explains their move more than suitably enough, and that there is absolutely no evidence whatsoever that anything aside from attention was paid.

Many are scratching their heads over Krauthammer’s accusation–where could this come from, how could he seriously suggest this?

What needs to be remembered is that a common neurosis among conservatives is projection: one frequently sees right-wingers assuming that liberals will act exactly the way conservatives act, especially when it’s a questionable or objectionable action. Conservatives would let their bias bleed all over their reporting, and so assume liberals do the same; many conservatives would decide their vote regarding a black man because of the color of his skin, and so they assume liberals would have the same motivations; conservatives easily use the ends to justify the means, as in election fraud, so they just assume liberals do so too; conservatives would object to a woman or Hispanic nominee on the basis of gender and race, and so believe that’s the only reason that liberals would object; conservatives rewrite history with abandon, and so have trouble believing that liberals don’t as well. Conservative projection is easily observed in all areas of political discourse.

Krauthammer believes that Clinton paid a high price simply because that’s how a conservative would approach the situation if a direct use of force were not available. Look at how Reagan handled hostages in Iran.

True, it’s possible that Krauthammer is just making this up so he can attack Clinton and claim that an accomplishment by a liberal was in fact a scandalous failure, but the same principle of projection applies with the story made up about how Clinton is supposed to have failed; a conservative’s mindset makes a straight line to that solution.

Projection amongst conservatives can be seen very clearly among conservative Christians, in many ways. Take moral behavior as one example. They act in a way they believe if ‘moral’ for the primary reason that they believe god will punish them horrifically if they do not; as a result, they assume that atheists must be utterly immoral, because they don’t fear divine punishment for misbehavior. They project their own mechanism for morality on those different from them and can’t understand why it doesn’t apply. The same goes for religious belief itself; such people will puzzle over atheists not believing in god, asking the question, “what do you believe in?”–not comprehending that it is possible to go through life without believing in some kind of supreme being in the universe.

When trying to understand the views of conservatives regarding liberals, if you keep this fact in mind, a lot becomes much clearer and easier to understand.