Good qualities of Bush supporters

DUers,

Please help me. I am losing my ability to remain a peaceful man.

I don't know a single Bush supporter. I cannot understand them, and they terrify me. To me they are an evil alien race. They sent my friend to Baghdad and created the nightmare there that she describes in her e-mails (much worse than the news stories).

I know there are millions of these people in the country and it makes me want to A. leave the country or B. take them up on those assault weapons they're offering me.

I've noticed a lot of posters here talk about friends and family members who support Bush. Can you tell me: who ARE these people, as human beings? What are their good qualities? Is there any hope of reclaiming their minds and souls?

Thanks in advance,
s.b.

:shrug:

I know 3 types of GOP followers. A tiny percentage of them actually benefit from the Bush policies. The vast majority of them are misled and brainwashed by Fox and Rash Limbo. Another tiny percentage of them are simply bad people. Read this thread and you can see what GOP follower looks like: http://p197.ezboard.com/ftwcrossroadsdiscussionforumfrm17.showMessage?topicID=1186.topic

I do know some young males who think the war is cool because it appears to closely resemble their video games. (Guess who gives seed money to violent video game developers? The DoD.)

I wouldn't call these kids Bush supporters, though. They won't vote, and those who have seen Fahrenheit 911 believe it as gospel. And yet still want to go to Iraq and blow up civilians. It's like this drugged out ethos of amorality, apathy, and nihilism.

Who hated homosexuals, pro-choicers, and liberals; and was a racist who loved guns.

Something about temples and money changers and rendering Caesar...

I was serious, though; this is driving me insane.

How can the same country produce the movie "Three Kings" and then start the same war again five years later?

who need a "father figure" (like God or Bush) to tell them that everything is going to be OK so they can live their lives with minimal fear. They want to be told what to do so they don't have to think or make mistakes. I think they know that their fears are not founded, but many I meet like the fact that their positions annoy intellectuals and/or anybody who does like to question many aspects of their life (existence, dying, God, etc...).

Their good qualities are that, since they aren't curious, they have that "ignorance is bliss" aspect to their lives that I sometimes miss. Of course, I could never live my life with blinders on, but it is a very comfortable existence for these folks. Their biggest fear of liberals is our questioning of their paranoia - ie, "why are we killing people in Iraq". They have convinced themselves that it is right and making them safer, and it is angering to them that we dare to question this as they really relate to the "God's work" bullcrap that Dubya and the other fear-mongers promote.

In the end it's a sickening symbiotic relationship between leader and the led person that is described very well by the Straussian philosophy.

It is difficult to reclaim these lost souls as their fears prevent them from straying too far from their comfortable little existences. Many years of casual therapy in a work environment can eventually bring them a small glimpse of reality and perhaps they might venture out on their own someday and question things - on their way to liberalism.

Thanks for the response. And I just remembered, I left the office world and went freelance many years ago because I couldn't stand those people anymore!

They are both child-like and childish. It's like they never had to grow up emotionally (a process that's coming late to me because I was born to fundamentalists). The child-like aspect makes them attractive in ways. They are blissful and content, expecting God to get everything for them...and President Bush* is in the service of God, so he'll make sure everything goes OK, too.

They are also childish. They are unable to understand or listen to points of view that may conflict with their own. They will childishly grab all the toys and say, "Mine!" when their heavenly father or heavenly president fails to provide.

Unfortunately, I don't know many people who AREN'T * supporters. Today, I'm really quite despondent about that fact...ask me again tomorrow...

was polite, with a sense of humor. She was a senior citizen at the center where I used to volunteer. I helped her with many computer problems, even going to her house to help with a problem she was having with her home computer. Then I foolishly let her know of my faith and my political convictions. She emailed me that I had "no right to vote or to breed". She still emails me regularly, and I delete every one without reading them. I do send her links to articles and emails, but they don't do any good-I can tell because of the titles of the emails she sends me in return.

I'm going to a family funeral tomorrow (its in another state, so it will take a while to get there). I'll see relatives I haven't seen in decades. My brother is a Dem (and a Viet Nam Vet)- I know how he feels about Bush. But I'm not sure about my step-siblings. Emotions will be strained anyway, so in a way I hope I don't find out their political affiliations. But since my car is loaded with Kerry/local Dem stickers, it might come up. I'll let you know what I find out.

In fact, the ones I know are appallingly bad. They can hardly operate them, let alone fix them. I'm always fixing computers for Republicans who broke theirs. Why is that?

Computers require patience and flexibility. I can imagine Bush trying to solve a computer glitch by smashing his monitor with his mouse!

Goddam thing not doing what it's supposed to... Goddam liberals... Dammit, whutever happenda typewriters (and of course, underpaid subservient women to operate them for you...)

I work for a small software consulting company. The majority of my cow-orkers are, at least, Conservative, but I'm not sure if any of them are card carrying members of the Republican Party. Most of them are quite good with computers. One is even a linux geek.

However, they are all either very religions (Christian) or materialistic. The onle reaaally religious guy is really nice. He won't curse, drink, smoke, or say anything negative about anyone. We cowork and avoid political/religious discussions.

bad about Repugs and anything good about Dems. They watch Faux and think that's "Objective News". It would take years to reach most of them, if they were willing to listen. I know two who are avid union members, no less. I always tell them that a Right-Wing Union member is about the same as an atheist priest. Hard to believe.

While I doubt the earnesty in Bush's religous convictions, I think many Republicans have genuine religious convictions. Also, I think many are just woefully misinformed. They don't devote much time to researching news, and if they do, it is generally only something that would confirm their prejudices, like Fox, NBC, or other conservative media.

I think many such people are so impressed by Bush's consistent use of scripture in his speeches that they don't realize that every time he quotes scripture, he supplants God's name with his own; he supplants God's cause with his own. I think most of them would be shocked to see such sacrilige if it were pointed out to them. If you want to diminish Bush's credibility among this crowd, print out flyers showing just that.

Their problem is that they make political decisions based on poor reasoning. A lot of Dems do the same thing. Politicians have adapted so well to the current media environment that they appear strikingly similar to those all this spin was designed to fool. You really can fool a lot of people. Even with the Internet, informed people don't know who to believe, and they typically lack the math, logic skills, research skills, etc., necessary to penetrate the fog.

The only thing the Republicans I know have to go on is the way things are going in their own lives. And Bush is deliberately hiding his liabilities.

These folks are being Enron'ed, and we know the Enron got away with their shenanigans for a long time.

I'll have to agree for the most part. While the only card-carrying Republican that I know (he is the county party chair) is somewhat sanctimonius and smug, the majority of the conservatives that I know aren't that much different from the liberals/Democrats that I know. The biggest difference is that social views of the conservatives center around themselves and their family, instead of a greater ranging social view.

They have been sold a bill of goods, but I don't know how to get them out of their state of self-delusion. I wish Air America Radio where as ubiquitous as Rush Limbaugh.

Could you post your friend's emails to DU? Delete her name of course. We could forward them to our friends. If the truth were known about Iraq, Shrub's approval rating would be much lower.

Mike loves Fox News, hates Clinton, and spends his afternoons listening to Rush Limbaugh and Howie Carr on talk radio. On the other hand, he's one of the friendliest, most easygoing people I've ever met. When he heard the news of Bill Clinton's heart problems, Mike stated that he hoped the former president recovered OK because he had no reason to want Clinton dead.

I strongly suspect that Mike believes what he does primarily because he has never been exposed to alternative points of view. I'd like to talk politics with Mike and give him at least a general idea as to why liberals are opposed to so much of what his beloved right-wing pundits hail as "good." And who knows? Maybe someday, that conversation will take place. After all, I've only been on this job for a month-and-a-half!

I know a lot of NYC area conservatives. The town where I live is close suburb to NYC that has a large population of single white yuppies. The main demographic here is 25-35 year old, well educated, preppy finance geeks that make good money. The general feeling amongst them is that they work hard, poor people are lazy, and they have the perception that dems tax the rich and give hand outs to the poor. I was recently at a party where the host had a signed picture of Bush on his refrigerator that stated "Thank you for your generous contribution". I almost puked. When I questioned why he would give money to the Bush campaign he simply said it's good for my business. I was a little surprised to find most of the people there were not on my side. Most of them didn't have adamant feelings either way about the war but generally kept responding with the usual Republican spin by saying it's better to fight terrorist there than here. On the bright side, since they're from NY/NJ their votes shouldn't matter but I found it a little disturbing that they have a lot more money to donate than most of my more liberal friends.

... who are perhaps some of the nicest, friendliest people you'd ever meet. They'd probably hold the door open for you and help you carry your groceries.

Doesn't mean they don't serve the cause of pure evil.