#577: Chip Coffey & Lisa Miller

Chip Coffey is a psychic from Elmira, New York, who has appeared as a medium on various television programs dealing with the paranormal, primarily “Paranormal State” and the revolting “Psychic Kids”. The latter show, among the most cynically exploitative ever aired on television, is discussed here and here. Coffey’s role is to be a mentor for children who have allegedly experienced psychic abilities (primarily seeing ghosts), which strongly suggests that he is not a particularly good person. Coffey is, among other things, also the proud recipient of a JREF Pigasus Award for 2009 for being “the psychic who tricked the most people with the least effort.” There is some background for the award here, and some rather stunning examples of why Coffey heartily deserved it.

Lisa J. Miller is the co-host of Psychic Kids. She is in fact Associate Professor of Psychology and Education at Teachers College, Columbia University, and she justifies the show thusly: “this is an opportunity to share more broadly with our culture the psychic experiences of children and to understand what their experience says about our own daily lived reality.” More sanity-oriented people may reasonably ask some questions about how on earth someone notionally related to anything having to do with science could end up where Miller does without compromising one’s personal integrity, but we’ll leave that question open here (it’s discussed here). “What I’m concerned about is that clients who come in with psychic experiences are wrongly diagnosed as being psychotic,” says Miller. She does seem to think that we (Westerners) are deficient as a culture because we don't follow the example of advanced spiritual societies like China and Mexico, where psychic experiences are apparently more widely accepted.

Here’s a discussion of Examiner.com’s Elizabeth Costanza’s endorsement of the show.

Diagnosis: Coffey is a creepy skeevo; Miller a staunchly deluded (POMO seems to feature prominently) scientific alibi. Together they form a not insignificant threat to sanity, truth, civilization, and the well-being of real people. Appalling.

#63: Kristia Cavere

Kristia Cavere was the Tea Party and a Republican candidate for New York's 19th Congressional District seat held by John Hall (currently withdrawn). She firmly believes that the Democrats have co-opted Republican values and claims, and might in the end compete with Michele Bachmann for unadulterated lunacy. Among her claims you find this one:

"The Republicans are the ones who liberated Europe in World War II."

Apparently, she is convinced that the Republicans are the initiators of "every" advancement of freedom in our history, although:

"Unfortunately, today there are many Republicans in office who are cowards and who are bad communicators. […] We have the right ideas, the right principles, the right philosophy and history on our side. […]. We have to unify and become Americans together and not just identify with a political party. America and principles must come before our party. There is common ground that can be found."

She might be young, but her grasp of reality is apparently already missing beyond recall. Discussed here and here. Fortunately she quickly played herself out of the electorial campaign, citing “family reasons” for her withdrawal, although this suggests otherwise. She’s also a religious fundamentalist.

Diagnosis: Moron; presumably neutralized for now, but she was found sufficiently appealing to the Sarah Palin crowd that the danger of reemergence somewhere else is rather large.