GOP base-Suffering Stockholm Syndrome? Why are they such ardent supporters

[Roland99]

because not everyone reads GD: P



Why do so many people support Bush and, on a more general basis, the entire GOP in the face of so much abject failure?

It's much like Stockholm Syndrome where victims come to empathize with their kidnappers/captors. The Republican Party has undergone various hijackings going back to the McCarthy era. Actually, it appears to have a basis in the period of the formation of the CIA, which was comprised largely of Ivy League types, Yale, in particular (esp. the Skull and Bones crowd). That was followed by Barry Goldwater's rise.

Then the neoconservative/neoliberal faction rose out of the 60s (from the philosophy of Leo Strauss and, more directly, out of the office of Henry "Scoop" Jackson). They helped create the Soviet/Communist boogeyman and continued their stranglehold up to the 1994 overtaking of Congress with Newt Gingrich's Contract for America. Co-conspirators joined in at this time in the form of radical clerics of the far right, a group of people that abused the Christian faith for personal gain (politically and financially).

That brings us up to the current captors of the GOP which is still the neoconservatives but they've managed to move further beyond the creation of a nationalistic ideal and on to one of global dominance of US foreign policy. And, to help ensure that power, they have co-opted control of the mainstream media and have managed to vilify any opponents of their ideology as traitors to the nation.

All during this, the Republican base would eventually come to follow the party line with fervor, vilifying those opposed or not 100% on-board. They felt that level of comfort in belonging to a group and stopped looking at news and events with a critical eye. Veering off the party path led to fear and doubt, discomforting thoughts to those not used to thinking for themselves.

This 'base' has come to believe, as proposed by the party's captors, that nothing presents more of a danger to the success and stability of American than same-sex marriage and abortion. They also cannot comprehend that opinions and trains of thought exist outside of the Republican Party, esp. the desires and wishes of people living in faraway lands of the Arabian desert, SE Asia, or Latin America. For surely if such lands were filled with people they would want to believe in the same things as them. They would want to worship the same God in the same manner and be good citizens. They would allow corporations unfettered access to seek great sums of money and would scoff at the thought of conservation and being stewards of the land. For as their captors demand, they acquiesce as they understand the dangers posed to them by liberal thought. They have assumed the pains and burdens of their captors.

Now, this is all a summary review of past events and a cursory look into the mindset of the victims. There are still unknown knowns that lurk beneath the skulls of these poor, pitiful creatures. What makes some people vulnerable to these effects? Are all people affected but just by varying degrees? Are some people completely immune and even repulsed by such efforts so much as to become militant opponents or conspiracy theorists? Only a long-term scientific study of DNA, brain waves, childhood influences, diet and exercise, and reading habits could begin to give us a fuller understanding of how this Syndrome wends its way into the synapses of its victims.

In the meantime, it is not only in our best interests but that of this great nation, as well, to wrap ourselves in the truth for all to see in the hopes that we can whittle away at the fortifications protecting the weak-minded. For not all are lost.

[stepnw1f]

1. Because They are Morally Retarded

They have twisted values which in turn twist up their perception of things, which in turn leads to really bad leadership. Some of them, just don't get it....

[Roland99]

4. But that's what we see of them. Something got them to that point.

[geniph]

2. Because propaganda works

and they're being fed propaganda in nonstop waves. I run into people all the time who literally get ALL their news from Faux, originally because they found it more "entertaining." Then they got convinced (by Faux itself, of course) that only Faux was to be trusted, all other news sources were suspect.

Unsurprisingly, those people all fall into that 30% of hardline "the President is doing a wonderful job" supporters camp.

I figured out how Faux initially sucks these people in. It's because nearly every "news" story has a sidebar or crawl that has something to do with sex. A story on a serial killer in Florida has a sidebar of half-naked college girls gyrating on a beach during spring break. A story about the Chinese leader's visit has a crawl at the bottom about the Duke rape case. Even when they don't actually notice the SEX SEX SEX, it's still there subliminally, drawing them back. No wonder wingnuts are so obsessed with sex; it's on Faux 24/7/365.

[FloridaPat]

3. Where else are they going to go? No one likes the Nazi party.

They could join the KKK, but again, no way to get back the presidency. The Green Party won't take them. Most other parties are sane and like American and the Constitution. It's the Titanic for them with no life-boats. Hopefully they all will go down with the GOP ship. Hopefully before the US goes down.

[Roland99]

6. You know what will happen? They'll eventually become 100% Fascist yet

still call themselves the Party of Lincoln.

[MissMarple]

5. Some are politically tone deaf, others are snarky bigots, or just need a

daddy party. Any Republican daddy will do, even an abusive one.