The brain dead 43% - 47 %. How dense can a human being be?

[Cyrano]

I for one, am sick of the explanations offered by Bush backers. "I'm too busy working," "I don't read the papers," "I don't pay much attention," "I heard on FOX News...," "Kerry is the biggest liberal in the history of the universe," etc., etc., etc.

The Christian Coalition know exactly why they're voting for their chosen Jesus stand-in.

But those who are not part of the religious fringe, and who still insist that Bush is the "great leader," seem to have some kind of cognitive disorder. Whether it's called denial, partisanship, or gross stupidity, I find it utterly impossible to relate to these people. They are lemmings, rushing willfully toward their own self-destruction.

It's tempting to say, "fuck 'em, they deserve whatever they
get", but in reality, it is all of us that would be screwed were Bush to steal it again. (I say steal it, because there's no way in the world he can win it.)

If you have any idea what goes on in the heads of these people, please share it with us.

[LoZoccolo]

1. I think they just have reasons...

...they don't wanna talk about. Maybe it's contempt for the poor or a feeling of superiority or a desire to be part of what they see is the more self-reliant, responsible segment of society.

[LongTomH]

4. What's really sad...

.....and creepy at the same time, is that many of these people are the working poor! It's the "What's Wrong with Kansas?" problem. They're voting for him because Fox/Rush/Pat Robertson told them, and they can't connect the screwing they're getting with Bush's policies.

:scared:

[LoZoccolo]

8. I think part of it is they're convinced that they're an elite...

...at least over non-working poor. That's how people convince them to adopt elitist policies, by convincing them they're being taken advantage of by other people who are poorer than even them.

[Cyrano]

5. I think there's more there than just bigotry and a need for

a superior felling.

I know someone who is disabled, unemployed, and is totally reliant on social security disability insurance and his wife's income. Yet, he actually believes that Bush is "THE MAN."

Now come on. Talk about having your head up your ass. It's scary and inexplicable.

[sandnsea]

9. Only shred of self-respect

In his mind, he's not one of those blood-sucking liberal leaches if he votes Republican. It's a phony way to get a teensy bit of dignity since "liberals" and the poor have been demonized so horribly. I've known a few too and it is bizarre to listen to them.

[Warren DeMontague]

2. It's the same mentality that considers cheez whiz "food"

and considers stupid right-wing agitprop "information".

Intellectual laziness/defiant stupidity.

[RaleighNCDUer]

3. Talking to a freeper co-worker last night , I came to realize that

I, like all liberals, am not quite human to him. I am the embodiment of pure evil. I can't argue with him because, since I am an atheist, I am clearly in thrall to Satan, therefore nothing I say can be believed, and if he is tempted to believe it, it is Satan himself tempting him.

Stay away from religion or politics, and this is a friendly, nice guy. A friendly, nice guy who would happily operate a gas chamber, if that was what God wanted him to do.

I hope he is an extreme example.

[Cyrano]

7. I don't think so. I've known robots like him.

[ncgrits]

6. Here's "reasons" (and I use that word losely) from a lette

in our little paper just today. Smalltown NC paper--miniscule circulation. . . . This is what this one particular a-hole thinks.

Reasons to Vote for Bush.
To the Editor:
1. Kerry was unknown until the primaries.
2. Kerry has been in Congress many years but doesn't have an effective record.
3. Kerry is a Democrat, but Democrat is a misnomer--the Democrats are Socialists. Socialism is one step away from Communism.
4. Being a good debator does not guarantee that Kerry will make an able president.
5. Kerry can talk the talk, but he can't walk the walk as proven by his record.
6. Kerry waffles on every issue.
7. Kerry and Edwards have carried on a vicious and hate-filled campaign against President Bush, some of which has been personal.
8. President Bush reacted with intestinal fortitude and backbone ot the terrorist attacks of September 11.
9. The Democrat Congress over the years have use extreme welfare and social programs to get votes, which have killed the work ethic and brought on uncontrollable crime rate.

and on and on and on. . . . I can't stand to type anymore of this crap.

God I wish it were Nov. 3 already.

[sandnsea]

12. Hey, look at this one

There's at least one of these nutty letters in our paper every day, in liberal Eugene Oregon.



Don't be intimidated by liberals

Anyone ever notice? Liberal Democrats always accuse others of cheating, lying, stealing, vote fraud, whining, blaming, pandering to blacks and Hispanics - all the things that liberals do all the time. Being hyper-critical is second nature to liberals.

It is sad that many voters can't see how liberals constantly manipulate, intimidate and use fear and guilt to control in order to gain power over the very people they claim they want to help. Think about it.

For those who still have some personal integrity left and are not totally brainwashed, take an honest look at how liberals use you, the voters, to further their agenda for power. If you are tired of the pessimistic attitude of liberals, of living the victim role, and you are tired of being taken advantage of, then research issues thoroughly and use your common sense to determine truth before voting.

[ncgrits]

14. God, it makes my head spin!

They are projecting onto _us_ what they think we are projecting onto _them_! (Now I'm getting dizzy.)

I'm glad to hear you have this crap in your paper too. This is actually a very liberal area here in the Research Triangle. . . . Is it Nov. 3 YET?! (I'm living in a fantasy that all this bull will completely evaporate once Kerry has won!) :crazy:

[Pathwalker]

10. 150 million below average people can do a LOT of damage.

n/t

[tanyev]

11. Careful, that's some of my family & friends.

I don't get it, either. None of the people I'm thinking of are stupid or wingnut freaks. They are, however, intensely caught up in the whirl and activity of their own lives. Their involvement with the news is the 2 minute headlines on their radio station and maybe the local news in the evenings. I think they believe much of the image Bushco has created. I suspect they think Kerry's not as likable, but if he did win, the country would go on much the same either way.

I guess if I had discovered my inner activist earlier and had been working on them longer, I could have converted a few. But my overtures in recent weeks have been politely rebuffed. I don't really know what to do.

[Cyrano]

13. It's too late for them this time around.

There's nothing you can say or do that will accomplish anything other than to piss them off and cause them to hate your guts.

Helping people "get it" takes time, patience and the recognition that there are those who you'll never get through to.

For right now, the best thing I can tell you to do is, leave it alone. You can't change anything between now and Tuesday.

[maxsolomon]

15. according to the "recent graduate" dumbass on NPR this a.m.

he's voting for bush because Al Quaeda wants Kerry.

Al Quaeda's endorsement of Bush aside, you're voting just to spite our enemies 6000 miles away?

What a GIANT DOUCHE.

[DaveSZ]

16. "As long as them thar homos and n*** is in thar place, I'ma votin' fer * "

[PerfectSage]

17. What's going on in the heads of these people.

I'm most familiar with attitude formation theory and cognitive dissonance in the context of investor psychology, but imo it also applies here. From the shock of 911 most Americans would have suffered a kind of biochemical core explosion. People under that strain, observing Bush's 911 "heroic" response on TV would easily change their attitudes to pro Bush. An analogy from invstor psychology is the 1987 crash where an investor attitude like the stock market is going up changes extremely fast from the enormous stress and fear of watching the market freefall and therfoe triggers panic selling.

Normally attitudes are "hard" and don't change rapidly, but 911 rapidly changed people's attitudes about Bush and therefore Bush's approval ratings soared to 90%.

As a person acquires new information that doesn't fit with with a pro Bush attitude, cognitive dissononace arises and when the dissonance gets too high they changed their attitudes about Bush to negative and that's why Bush's approval numbers have fallen.

The most informed people have changed to negative Bush attitudes.

The people your refering to:
a) Haven't acquired enough negative Bush/ positive Kerry information to change their attitudes. IMO Kerry was clearly the dominant alpha male (body language, tone of voice, height, etc)in the debates. On an unconscious level, every pro Bush supporter knows Kerry is the alpha male. So, I think the end result is a Kerry win.

b)adding more positive Bush beliefs that outweigh dissonant negative beliefs. For example, people now believing the story that Bush healed that girl Ashley? with his embrace, whose mother died in the WTC.

Just remember, people are irrational and as a direct consequence the process of attitude formation and change is also irrational.

http://tip.psychology.org/festinge.html

B/C No Mo' Years :party::toast:

[Moonbeam_Starlight]

18. I think they like him

because he has caused the deaths of thousands of Muslims and they are racist and so that appeals to them on a deep level.

Seriously.

[Shadow30]

19. This is a tough one...

...there are a few different Bush types.I have two older sisters one is a Bush zombie the other is voting for Kerry.The sister voting for Bush has money,more than most anyone in my family my other sister is like me and most of the people I know struggling,now its not just that she is well off,my brother does well from himself and loathes Bush.Its the combo of a certain attitude and money,to be blunt my sister that favors Bush is pushy,arrogant,and ignorant.She sees Bush as being good for her thus she buys the whole Bush agenda and slams anyone that does not,she is a close minded person but if it were just the sort like her we would be on easy street.

There are those I call knee jerk Republicans,working class people that think voting Dem isn't American.The decades of repugs savagely assaulting the image of what a liberal is has taken a terrible toll and will take a very long time to repair.This idea that Dems raise everyones taxes,fight for the rights of criminals instead of victims and in general dislike so called "American values" is one repugs have spent years pushing on people and there are millions that believe it without question.In the debates Bush did everything he could to dodge the question about outsourcing American jobs overseas,now any working person that saw that would be a fool to vote Bush but there is clearly another factor.I simply think the repugs have spent years building there own image as traditional Americans that know the value of work,cut taxes and don't tolerate criminals and at the same time slandering Dems...its all lies.its all image but they have worked hard and long making that image and it will not come down over night.This election makes that very clear indeed as one would find it stunning that any person that makes less than say $50,000 a year would support Bush but there are many that do,blindly because Bush has had help maintaining his image from the media.Some of these people dislike Kerry simply because he is a Democrat and running against GW,people like that can't be convinced they can only be deprogrammed over some years time.