One of my biggest problems with modern punditry is the way that commentators repeatedly accuse their opponents of being mentally ill. I’ve been writing about it since this piece on Spinsanity back in 2001. The worst offender is Charles Krauthammer, an actual psychiatrist who repeatedly accuses his opponents of mental illness, but there are many other examples.

That’s why I’m so annoyed when Bob Somerby, the author of The Daily Howler, constantly makes cavalier accusations of mental illness even as he admits that he shouldn’t:

Mental illness causes great suffering. Ideally, it shouldn’t be joked about. It shouldn’t be flippantly “diagnosed” as part of our public discourse.

But when the Times leaves Maureen Dowd in print, it’s hard to avoid such talk.

Somerby goes on to write that he thought of “mental disorder” and “mental illness” when reading her latest column. But back in 2003, Somerby complained about Krauthammer’s on-camera diagnoses.

I’ll repeat his words: Mental illness causes great suffering. It shouldn’t be joked about or flippantly “diagnosed” as part of our public discourse.