There is a common psychological principle known as projection. Projection is a defensive mechanism by which people attribute their own undesirable traits and impulses to other people; they perceive motives in others that they deny having themselves. The liar, for example, is sure everyone else is lying. The aggressive person accuses others of being belligerent. When Cheney recently called anti-war voices "dishonest," "irresponsible," "corrupt," "shameless" and "dangerous," it sounded like a classic case of projection at work. Our administration appears to suffer from mass-projection—they attribute countless evils not only to Saddam and terrorists (who are of course guilty of heinous acts) but to the peace movement and anyone else who dares to question their motives. All the while, they are unwilling and unable to look at themselves in the same mirror.
The paragraph is from White House Snow Globe by Gayle Brandeis.
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