Is 'Groupthink' infecting our leadership again?

Anyone who took political science classes in the early 1970s probably came across the book "Victims of Groupthink" by Irving L. Janis.

The 1972 book focused on the Kennedy administration's failures during the Bay of Pigs fiasco, as well as its effective and competent handling of the Cuban Missile Crisis that followed.

Borrowing style from George Orwell's "1984," Janis coined "groupthink" to describe "a deterioration of mental efficiency, reality testing and moral judgment that results from in-group pressures."

Among its symptoms:

* Invulnerability. Members of the group are so overly optimistic that they are willing to take extraordinary risks and unwilling to heed signs of danger.

* Rationale. They rationalize away negative feedback and warnings that might otherwise cause the group to change course.

* Morality. So convinced that they are on the right side of the issue, they ignore the ethical or moral consequences of their decisions.

* Stereotypes. The group sees opponents as so evil, weak or stupid that they are not worth negotiating.

* Pressure. Any member of the group who expresses doubts about any of the group's shared illusions is pressured to keep silent.

* Self-censorship. Members of the group avoid deviating from the group consensus, and even supress doubts in their own minds.

* Unanimity. Members share an illusion of unanimity, in part because those who have doubts keep them to themselves.

* Mindguards. Members sometimes appoint themselves as mindguards to protect their leader and fellow members from doubts about their decisions.

Does any of this sound familiar?

One could argue that the Bush administration fell victim to groupthink about the existence of weapons of mass destruction and the need to invade Iraq.

On a larger scale, the same goes for our current charismatic national leadership, rushing through massive "change" in health care and other issues while convinced of its own invulnerability on the strength of one election.

From the smallest local advisory board to the pinnacle of government, those in power are wise to listen to the opposition, both inside and outside the establishment.