Psychological Nudity

Those of you who listen to Michael Savage (something that I can generally only do for short intervals before my revulsion overwhelms my morbid curiosity) are aware that his program opens with a "warning" that the show contains "psychological nudity."  I have never quite understood what he means by that, but it is somewhat startling of a phrase, and I am sure that are people who have stayed tuned just to find out what means.

A couple of days ago on the way to work, I just happened to have my little HP camera with me, and I saw a collection of bumper stickers that suddenly crystallized the concept of "psychological nudity" for me.

Let's start on the left side: "I like me."  This is right up there with wearing a T-shirt that says, "110% Heterosexual" or for that matter, social conservatives who get spectacularly focused on the sin of homosexuality, to the exclusion of adultery, gluttony, selfishness, racism, or any of the other evils that the Bible preaches against.  You have to ask yourself: Why do you feel the need to make such a big deal of this statement?  "I like me" makes me wonder if someone is trying very hard to persuade not others, but self.

I couldn't quite read the "Aim to Misbehave" sticker, but I am guessing this is a Serenity/Firefly fan.  (I like the series and the movie, although not to the level of identifying with the heroes.)

The third sticker is hard to read in the picture, but it says, "If only closed minds came with closed mouths."  I'm one of those weird people that believes that if someone holds stupid ideas, the more they talk, the better.  Hence I am slightly disappointed that San Francisco is preparing to ban genital displays in some public places (although by only a 6-5 vote of the Board of Supervisors).  If there is anything that better demonstrates what is wrong with that museum of two centuries worth of failed philosophical assumptions, it is the desperate need for gay men to engage in exhibitionism to prove how free they are.  Of course, my preference for more speech, not less, is because I have high confidence in the rightness of my positions: I can handle disagreement because I know that I am right.  If I lacked that confidence, I might share this person's desire to not hear differing opinions.

Of course, the period on this sentence of psychological nudity is the = bumper sticker -- the symbol of gay marriage.

"I like me" as an indicator that someone isn't so sure of that and the desire to see "closed minds" (see the = for what that means in this context) have "closed mouths."

As I said, I now know what "psychological nudity" means.