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mckitterick Sep. 24th, 2004 04:44 pm)
mckitterick Sep. 24th, 2004 04:44 pm)Okay, so maybe it's not a brainstorm, but I was watching the ye-gawds-early news today (couldn't get back to sleep at 6:30am when ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
sanju_devil_cat was peeping her brains out at me), and the newsies were showing soccer-moms (now called "security moms") who support Bush and those who don't. It was really clear that the B-supporters were the easily brainwashed type, and they all appeared... well, there's no other way to say it: They all seemed dumb. And have you ever watched the Fox "News" Channel that these people use as their source of propaganda? If you have, I need say no more.
So does anyone know a B-supporter who isn't 1) dumb, or 2) a rich, selfish jerk who cares more about his/her stock portfolio than the health of the nation and our world?
It also occurred to me that it's very strange Christians support B. Have they ever heard the teachings of Jesus? The self-described "Christians" who support him act like Old-Testament-types, not followers of Christ. I suspect real Christians do not, in the main, support B. Unless (wait for it...) they are 1 or 2 as listed above.
Am I onto something, am I off base, or is this a "duh" moment?
Chris
sanju_devil_cat was peeping her brains out at me), and the newsies were showing soccer-moms (now called "security moms") who support Bush and those who don't. It was really clear that the B-supporters were the easily brainwashed type, and they all appeared... well, there's no other way to say it: They all seemed dumb. And have you ever watched the Fox "News" Channel that these people use as their source of propaganda? If you have, I need say no more.So does anyone know a B-supporter who isn't 1) dumb, or 2) a rich, selfish jerk who cares more about his/her stock portfolio than the health of the nation and our world?
It also occurred to me that it's very strange Christians support B. Have they ever heard the teachings of Jesus? The self-described "Christians" who support him act like Old-Testament-types, not followers of Christ. I suspect real Christians do not, in the main, support B. Unless (wait for it...) they are 1 or 2 as listed above.
Am I onto something, am I off base, or is this a "duh" moment?
Chris
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BUT all of the B supporters I know are willfully ignorant. I mean, to the point that they refuse to read or hear anything that doesn't support their point of view. As they were mentioning on Morning Sedition today, many of these are people who tend to get their news from one paper only, or even just from emails from friends. The supporters in my office are frequently surprised when I mention local current events (not necessarily political, just things that are happening) because they don't read local news and so have no idea what's going on beyond the doorstep.
I honestly have difficulty not having a meltdown when I hear some of the things these people believe. I read an average of 9 or 10 news sources every day, some obviously liberal, some pretty conservative, some mainstream, some not. I like to think I'm not talking out of my ass when I discuss issues. And the deliberate ignorance...the mind boggles.
And no, I don't know any deeply "Jesusy" Christians who support Bush, either.
I'm sure this idea will tick off a lot of people, but it's pretty valid. We were talking about it this morning; your post is extremely well timed!
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must-read scary stuff
http://www.livejournal.com/users/bobhowe/17058.html?style=mine
Eek,
Chris
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But that very irrationality makes religion a dangerous tool to use in manipulating the masses. If you sound like the preacher (as does Bush), they listen like sheep and obey. It's terrifying -- look at how Islam is being perverted these days, and you have a flavor of what's coming (or is already in play) for Christianity.
Chris
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Or ensuring kids in schools say "under god" is more important than ensuring those kids have a real education, affordable health care, a national debt that doesn't bankrupt their future, or a return on their lifetime of Social Security payments? Or a billion other things.
I used to consider myself centrist politically. But the center has vanished... rather, people who were once liberal had so far to move in order to combat the insane people that they have become the center. It's not "liberal vs. conservative" any more, it's "rational vs. nonsensical."
Save us!
Chris
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I'm not sure the blindness is always stupidity, though that's sometimes the case. Sometimes it's co-religion, or a similar hot-button.
They aren't good at critical thinking, but they aren't necessarily stupid. So, I vote for "easily brainwashed = yes but stupid = maybe".
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It's like the passengers furthest from the driver can see he's heading the bus toward a cliff at high speed, but the complacent passengers in the middle and front of the bus are drowning out the anguished warnings with drinking songs.
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Perhaps some answers...
It used to be that most Christian types were socialists. Being rich was seen as sinful, if you weren't giving back to your fellow man. The graduated tax system was seen as a very good thing, as were inheritance taxes. Big business was seen as evil.
What happened?
Well, when the Communist Revolution hit Russia, suddenly they declared both capitalism and God to be enemies. Big business types got the idea that maybe they could wrangle some love of capitalism in with the love of God, and they did.
Now many conservative Christian types no longer view Biblical verses praising the poor and saying things about rich people and the eye of a needle in the same light. They think that people who are rich are rich because they deserve to be rich and the same for the poor. Socialism became a dirty word, and graduated taxes suddenly became unfair.
Conservative religious types typically value things like small towns, preservation of traditions for the next generation, etc. Somehow, they're not connecting that big business will not preserve or conserve, and certainly does not care for small towns. Big business is all about change, about convenience, about big towns, about short term gains at the expense of the next generation.
Now that communism is losing most of its threat, the conservative political types keep the religious crowd in line by tossing in social agenda items - just enough to distract them from the pro-big business agenda that's the real ticket. Typically the social agenda items are things that have a snowball's chance of actually being effective (bans on abortion procedures or free speech that will likely be found unconstitutional, amendments that will never pass, etc) As long as it looks like they're really concerned about these social issues, the big business can churn away without a care in the world.
Meanwhile, as things get worse (big networks broadcast more filth, big pharmacies screw over their patients, etc) the distracted public thinks they're unresolved social issues, when really, it's the hedonistic demands of big business that are to blame.
As far as your question, though. Yes, I've known a few well-researched and not rich conservatives, but most of them tend to be more libertarians than they are Republicans. I've also seen a lot of Fox-news-believing fools, too. But then again, liberals haven't excluded fools from their membership roster, either.
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Sigh. I fervently hope I'm wrong about the political intelligence of the American electorate.
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Yeah, that the stakes are so high rather takes the fun out of it, no? As far as being wrong about Americans' political intelligence, I'd say the question isn't so much whether you're right or wrong, but how many citizens it applies to. Your estimation of the intellectual and emotional maturity of Bush partisans is spot on, I think.
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FNC = GOP
rah rah BOO
On a political note, I FINALLY saw someone in Kentucky with a Kerry sticker on their car other than me. It was refreshing. You almost feel like bonding with the person and saying "I feel your pain!"
Seriously, it's like "W" yard signs and "Four More Years" to the n'th power out here sometimes.
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Chris
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hope-dog
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Chris
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Chris
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Chris
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Chris
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Re: Perhaps some answers...
Chris
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Re: must-read scary stuff