By Peter Wolson

Why are Republicans so hateful toward Bill Clinton when he is more like them than virtually any

other Democrat? He has pushed through many of their favorite policies, such as cutting welfare,

promoting the North American Free Trade Agreement and proposing that portions of Social

Security reserves be privatized. You would think Republicans would regard him among their

favorite Democratic presidents. Instead, the opposite is true. They seem determined to kill him

politically through character assassination fueled by a hatred that is hard to understand. Sigmund

Freud had a brilliant explanation for this type of animosity: "the narcissism of minor differences."

The psychoanalyst contended that human beings express their most virulent hatred toward those

who are just slightly different from themselves. This is because slight differences pose a greater

psychological threat to one's core sense of self (ergo: "narcissism") than those who are extremely

different from ourselves. Freud used this concept as an explanation for the most heinous forms of

aggression.

Thus, German Jews were supposed to have identified more with being German than non-Jewish

Germans. The genocidal displacement of aggression toward German Jews in the Holocaust may

have been partly attributable to the narcissism of minor differences, since the slight difference,

the "Jewishness" of the German Jews, threatened the core identity of the German people. The

same can be said of the genocide in Bosnia, the fratricidal conflict between Irish Catholics and

Protestants, the hostilities between ' Arabs and Israelis, and the genocide between the Hutus and

Tutsis in Rwanda.

Of course, the impeachment and trial of Clinton pale by comparison with genocide and religious

wars, but the same psychological principle seems to be operating. Clinton, as a "Republicrat,"

may threaten the fundamental identity of Republicans significantly more than a flagrantly liberal

Democrat.

Bv co-opting the Republicans' political agenda while clothed in Democratic attire, Clinton has

committed the psychological crime of shattering the Republican self-structure, usurping the

principles that provide them with a sense of meaning and purpose.

It is not surprising that the Republican political agenda is reportedly in shambles. From the

beginning of Clinton's presidency, the Republicans' unrelenting determination to kill him politically

seems to have been motivated by the need to keep the party uncontaminated by any Democratic

pestilence that may resemble them in this instance Clinton.

What better way to preserve one's distinctive identity than to show that CIinton is a sleazy,

conniving, lying, cheating criminal who in no way resembles the high moral authority of the 13

Republican congressmen who are prosecuting him. In this way, the Republicans can call

attention to the superiority of their party and differentiate themselves from the morally inferior

threat to their political existence.

By persecuting Clinton in the name of morality, law and order, the Republicans are discharging

the hatred triggered by the narcissism of minor differences. This illustrates another Freudian

principle: using the superego  (i.e., principles of morality, conscience, law and order) in the service

of the id (i.e., sexual and aggressive impulses).

Despite a relentless "inquisition," independent counsel Kenneth W. Starr failed to expose any

criminal wrongdoing on Clinton's part in Whitewater, Travelgate and Filegate. He then wired

Linda R. Tripp to entrap Monica S. Lewinsky into revealing her sexual liaison with Clinton. Like a

deer caught in the headlights, Clinton tried to squirm out of harm's way by denying that he had

sex with "that woman. He evaded being pinned down.The public understood this. If Clinton lied, he was lying about sex under the pressure of an

aggressive Republican assault in the name of morality to weaken his presidency. Calling Clinton's

efforts to avoid being caught "perjury" and "obstruction of justice" is a prime example of using the

superego in the service of aggression. First, you shoot at the deer, and when the deer tries to

elude its hunters, you crucify it on moral grounds for an illegitimate evasion.

The American people have intuitively understood that the Republicans are out to destroy Clinton,

giving him consistently high approval ratings while the Republicans' approval ratings sank to a

new low.

Many pundits are puzzled about why the Republicans would so zealously continue to shoot

themselves in the feet. The answer appears to be that their hatred toward Clinton continues to be

fueled by the narcissism of minor differences and expressed through the superego in the service

of the id. The fact that Republicans are not heeding the warnings of the polls and are pursuing a

full impeachment trial with witnesses suggests that their political judgment has become impaired

by the intensity of their unconscious aggressive impulses.

Peter Wolson, a clinical psychologist, is director of training at the Los Angeles

Institute and Society for Psyc