Study of Bush's Psyche Touches a Nerve - MUST READ!!!

[Pert_UK]

Hoooooooooo........MERCY!!!! The best laugh I've had in ages...

"A study funded by the US government has concluded that conservatism can be explained psychologically as a set of neuroses rooted in "fear and aggression, dogmatism and the intolerance of ambiguity".

...the report's four authors linked Hitler, Mussolini, Ronald Reagan and the rightwing talkshow host, Rush Limbaugh, arguing they all suffered from the same affliction...

The authors also peer into the psyche of President George Bush, who turns out to be a textbook case..."This intolerance of ambiguity can lead people to cling to the familiar, to arrive at premature conclusions, and to impose simplistic cliches and stereotypes," the authors argue in the Psychological Bulletin."

Full story:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,12271,1017546,00.html

[stevedeshazer]

1. This paragraph says a lot:

"Republicans are demanding to know why the psychologists behind the report,
Political Conservatism as Motivated Social Cognition, received $1.2m in
public funds for their research from the National Science Foundation and the
National Institutes of Health. "

Rather than consider the outcome of the study, they demand to know why it was funded! HA!

[Pert_UK]

2. It's absolutely typical of Bush + Blair's government.....

They want "experts" to back their opinions.....

"Why the hell did we hire these people if they're not going to tell us what they want to hear??? If we give them another million will they change their mind"

It's like your doctor telling you that you've got cancer and you saying to him, "Now wait one minute - I pay you a lot of money, so you should be telling me that I'm fine."

Unfortunately for US and UK governments, there are still people who look at the FACTS, do RESEARCH and ANALYSIS and then form conclusions BASED ON THEM.

It's like the Blackadder II sketch where the Queen insists that elephants are pink, and when Melchett disagrees she says "Who's Queen?", as if her office makes her infallible.

It would be funny if it weren't so scary.

P.

[C_eh_N_eh_D_eh]

11. Just to be anal-retentive

It was orange, not pink.

[Pert_UK]

33. Can't believe I misquoted Blackadder......Hangs head in shame...n/t

[Birthmark]

4. For the sake of argument

What if a similar study had said that liberalism was caused "fear and distrust of authority, antisocial tendencies, and the disbelief in absolute morality?" Mightn't we be interested in the source and its funding? What if it was funded by this Administration?


Hey, I'm just asking. :)

[Sick of Bullshit]

7. Maybe so, but...

Liberals aren't the ones who have made Hate Radio into the billion dollar industry it is today.

[Kenneth ken]

8. 2 of 3

I'd question the 'antisocial tendencies' part, but otherwise, I'd say, yep, probably true. Sounds like me.

[neuvocat]

9. True, but

that also sounds very much like the repukes who hated Clinton and the government when he was in office. After Selection 2000 they turned into the pro-war, pro-government "patriots" who were willing to beat people up for not conforming to the Bush agenda.

[AntiSmirk]

15. Antisocial tendencies?

Whaaaa? Otherwise, I would not necessarily be offended by your list of things that make liberals tick. I think there is a lot more to it though. Compassion and empathy to name but two.

On Edit: I forgot to mention Fair and Balanced as well.

[Cronus Protagonist]

18. That was very black-and-white of you

Surely you knew you would get psychoanalyzed in this thread. And surely you do know that your polar opposition positioning of liberals is flawed and unsound even if it is posited as part of a "they/we do it too" world view. :)

Personally, if someone came up with a "similar" study as you proposed, I wouldn't be asking about the source and funding, I would know it was full of shit no matter how much Republican money was behind it and therefore the questions about funding wouldn't be of much interest. For the record, I also don't care who funded that poodle shit on the sidewalk, I just walk around it.


Fair & Balanced Buttons — The Cronus Connection

[searchingforlight]

21. Actually, I think you have some good points there.

I am liberal. I do distrust authority and to some degree fear it. I am very social but I do have a disbelief in absolute morality. Humm

Guess you just saved us big bucks!!!

[study_war_no_more]

26. hey just cause your paranoid

doesn't mean the Government isn't really out to get you, Imagine this you are on a Island with ten rebuplicans but their is only food enough for nine.
Soylent green is people and neomorlocks are GOP.

[Sick of Bullshit]

3. The truth hurts

:spank:

[Voltaire99]

5. Hitler, Mussolini, Reagan, and Limbaugh: the anagrams!

Who's to argue with science? In honor of this groundbreaking study, there was only one thing to do. Feed the four names into Anagram Genius v.9.1.1 for Windows. Looking over 2,500 combinations, these leapt out:


"I'm a huge, subnormal, large nihilist"

"Smallish thug in burlier egomania"

"Ghoulish lamebrain lies maturing"

"Harangue grim slime-bath illusion"

"I am huge, senior, alarming bullshit"


Oh, it goes on and on, but one's my favorite:

"I'm the grueling labia minora slush"

...which just about says it all about such men, doesn't it? ;-)

[Pert_UK]

34. I am huge, senior, alarming bullshit........SUPERB!

LMAO!

P.

[moondust]

6. "aversion to shades of grey"

HAHAHAHA!! Been chuckling at this for years! Good to see it get the recognition it deserves!

Diametrical polarization is for simpletons!

Love it!!

[study_war_no_more]

27. Dualism is for people who

can't imagine the rainbow.

[R Hickey]

10. Scarbouro was appolectic about this on his show last week

The only episode of 'Scarbouro' that I've ever watched, covered this study.

Scarbouro had some California professor on, defending and explaining the study, and Scarbouro tried brow-beating the professor, but just ended up looking like a fool.

The professor told Scarbouro that Scarbouro was a good example of those dogmatic right-wingers in the study. Scarbouro looked like quite a fool.

[BiggJawn]

16. Oh, that's RICH!

"Thank you, Mr. Scarborough, for supporting my thesis with your mouth-frothing..."

I would have loved to have seen that...

[MrMonk]

32. Scarborough

Isn't he the Congressman who had a dead intern in his office?

[tomp]

12. "The professors have ideas;...

...the rest of us have emanations of our psychological needs and neuroses."

will is saying psychology is invalid because psychologists are human. or, in other words, anyone who is neurotic, or has a neurosis, cannot have an valid idea.

i think he proves the point of the article on intolerance of ambiguity.

[UTUSN]

13. Flaw in This Study:

Allows Conservatives to be within "general human dimensions."

[alarimer]

30. Yes

I'm a little disappointed- I always thought conservatism was a mental illness. Now I find it is only part of the human dimension.

[Lost4words]

14. thanks Pert_UK,.... BA..hahahaha

repuklikan motto,, " I've got mine, to hell with you"

I truly hate pukes :puke:

[Ganja Ninja]

17. It’s important to remember that these are sick people.

There is hope! A cure may already exist. Back in the 60’s conservatism was treated and often cured with the steady use of medicinal cannabis and an occasional dose of LSD.

[Best_man23]

20. Welcome to DU

:-)

[Ganja Ninja]

23. Thanks glad to be here.

[DavidMS]

35. LOL!

May sugest useing the psychratic drug of choice today: MDMA (AKA Extacy)

Conservatism is treatable!

[treepig]

19. from the article

"Another author, Arie Kruglanski, of the University of Maryland, said he had received hate mail since the article was published" . . . nicely providing further confirmation of the study's conclusions!

[sendero]

22. a relatively common...

... disorder in psychiatric patients is called "splitting". People who suffer from splitting cannot have a neutral opinion about other people, they are either exalted or demonized.

This is a common, component of disorders such a "borderline personality disorder", and I believe other syndromes as well.

It seems like it is kind of like a steroid-version of the inability to deal with ambiguity and nuance.

[Neutrino]

24. It's like I always said, Bush isn't a bad guy--he's just crazy.

The glass is half empty or half full. It's the half-empty
part that we have to worry about. poor baby.

[dmr]

25. I thought they were just all constipated moneygrubbers

now I see they are constipated neurotic moneygrubbers. Makes sense to me!

[goforit]

28. I still believe he has Tourette Syndrome and is Antisocial Psychopathic

I do believe that Cheney is Anti-Social and is a Pathological
liar to the max. He also suffers from a severe case of paranoia!

[trapper914]

29. Is this the same study from a few weeks ago?

That one was attributed to UC-Berkley. Conservatives immediately dismissed that one due to the source.

[Duncan Grant]

31. Yes it is. Here's a link for all who may be interested.

The Berkeley link:

http://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2003/07/22_politics.shtml

The title of the study is "Political Conservatism as Motivated Social Cognition"...see link for more details.

Another interesting link on how this "mindset" affects communication (Bush specifically) was published in 'The Nation' (A Nation of Victims by Renana Brooks) on 6/30/03...here's that link:

http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20030630&s=brooks

It's also a great read!
:kick:

edit: subject line