Can anyone here answer this question about rethugs

[A wise Man]

I'm not kidding. Are these so called human beings aliens or are they just a pack of self made koolaid drinking liers. They seem to not recognize truth, honesty, their hypocrisy, greed, responsibility and our Constitution. I watch CSPAN mornings and radio, there seems to be an element of reason left out of these people's source of reality. If a question is asked such as " Does one and one equals two ?" Their response is so obscene and lacking rationale of common knowledge and reasoning that the answer bobbles the mind.

[wryter2000]

1. If you get an answer to that question...

Please let me know what it is.

[Nimrod2005]

2. Right on, coming from A Wise Man!

I think this, about exactly how you put it, every fucking day....

[acmavm]

3. They are a human shell with some very critical parts missing.

Such as decency, integrity, honesty, caring, concern for one's fellow human being. Pretty much whatever determines the worth of a person is either missing or flawed in these individuals.

[Mabus]

4. You need to find and read ""Political Conservatism as Motivated Social Cognition"

Here's a small exerpt of an article that talks about this study.

In a study that ponders the similarities between former President Ronald Reagan, Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini and Rush Limbaugh, four American university researchers say they now have a better understanding of what makes political conservatives tick.

Underlying psychological motivations that mark conservatives are "fear and aggression, dogmatism and intolerance of ambiguity; uncertainty avoidance; need for cognitive closure; and terror management," the researchers wrote in an article, "Political Conservatism as Motivated Social Cognition," recently published in the American Psychological Association's Psychological Bulletin.

"From our perspective, these psychological factors are capable of contributing to the adoption of conservative ideological contents, either independently or in combination," they wrote, according to a press release issued by the University of California at Berkeley.

***

Conservatives don't feel the need to jump through complex, intellectual hoops in order to understand or justify some of their positions, (Glaser) said, according to the Berkeley news release.

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=33714

[waiting for hope]

7. I'll concur....

My mom is an avid Faux News watcher - I know it's fear more than anything that has taken away some of her reasoning. She's in her early 70's and she's doing a lot of comparing between now and the Depression and WWII. Actually a comparison between the Japanese and Muslims was made not too long ago, all I could do was push my chin back up and move on to another subject. She is not losing her mind - rather, she is aligning herself with those who she believes thinks like her.

[Mandate My Ass]

5. They are a cancer

literally destroying the lives of the beings who support them, bit by bit. This current administration is just a more aggressive form of cancer than the previous ones.

No wonder they sound deranged, they have nothing to sell but fear and snake oil.

[baldguy]

6. They've been spoon-fed lies for 30yrs by the corporate media.

When confronted with reality, they have no basis in their experience with which to process it. Like little children, this frustrates and angers them.

[YOY]

8. Of course they blame their frustration on a non-existent 'liberal media'

and seldom look inwards to see their own warped-and-off-kilter political compass.

[DaveJ]

11. Sure

However we also have to look into the possibility that their minds are being distorted intentionally, in order to draw them away from rational thinking and away from their own best interests.

[A wise Man]

12. Sometimes when I

here these people via black or white, there is a nervousness in my stomach which agitates me as an example; when I can't get across a message to students very, very illiterate or refuses to learn out of stubborness or up bringing.

[TahitiNut]

9. I sometimes think there's a malady akin to mild Asberger's Syndrome.

There's a certain incapacity in seeing that one's 'leaders' are mere con-artists feeding them a line of complete bullshit. They feed voraciously on deceits that support their bigotries and pumped-up sense of entitlements. "Self-serving" doesn't even begin to cover it.

Clearly, 'average' isn't very healthy when it comes to personality disorders in this country.

[unpossibles]

10. I believe in a blend of nature and nurture here

I think sometimes there is something f'd up with their wiring, so to speak, but I also think that conservatism appeals to certain people and reinforces it as well.

I think the best summary is they are ruled by FEAR. Fear of anything or anyone different. Or even worse, someone who is not afraid to step away from the pack and try to be different and unique. This covers the homophobia, racism, xenophobia, and sexism. This also covers the authoritarianism fetish they seem to have.

And as for the greed and selfishness, I think that is fear based too - they are afraid that someone will take something away from them, usually the people listed above.

I also think they fear themselves - they spend so long hating things that are "different" that when they encounter those traits in themselves, they hate it even more. Look at people like Ted Haggard for example.

I find the following article very enlightening, and I think conservative reaction to it is very telling and just serves to exemplify what the study says. It started out as a study about children, then the authors later went back (just out of curiosity) and asked each participant how they self-identify politically.

http://psychologytoday.com/articles/pto-20061222-000001.xml