I don't understand the "personal investment" some people have in Bush*.

How were the repugs able to build up such a personality cult around this man?

I voted for Clinton both times, but I recognized when he made mistakes. The guy wasn't perfect.
I wasn't blindly devoted to him personally, no matter what.

I know people who just will not listen to anything negative about Bush*. Not that they'll try and refute what you say, or argue the facts with you. They just will not listen and they'll tell you to basically shut up. This seems to be when the facts are irrefutable.

I send out an e-mail commenting about various aspects of the current debacle and get replies like "Take me off of your mailing list".
Not "I believe you're wrong and this is why:...".
Just "Take me off your mailing list".
I won't listen to you.
Shut. Up.

How did they get into this mindset?
Some are otherwise smart people, but they seem to be so much more emotional about Bush* than we are about our side.
I don't understand it at all.
:shrug:

I don't get it either, and I don't want to.

my team is better than your team. I don't want to have to think about it, just chant the chants, cheer the cheers, and wear the colors. Everything WE do is right and good and everything THEY do is bad and evil. No thinking required. (Nor allowed, come to think of it.)

and guilt as well. If they admit that Bush is wrong, they will have to admit that their support of him has resulted in 100,000+ deaths.

Fear and shame keeps them in line.

he must continue the Iraq war because of gazillions must still be made, you guys saw F-9-11 -- Bush got more money in funanacial backing then any other prez in history.

The guy comes across as an illiterate but he understands $$$ and those committed to him -- many people have a president in their pocket...same ole - sameole except Bush is killing too many of our own people under phoney pretenses.

yeah, ok Saddam was a bad guy...but all that oil...!

what i've observed from many voters is that they are incredibly shallow (even more shallow than pollsters give them credit for...) I've known voters that simply want to align themselves with the party in power, so they can seem like winners, too (like sports teams)

They associate "Their" side with all that is good and "liberals" are the dark side.

about defending Bush. She listend to Limbaugh. that's how it started. She didn't like Clinton, and by the time it was over, she HATED HIM and now hates every Democrat. She hates the facts. She is in deep denial. It's almost as if she's lost her reason AND her heart!

Limbaugh is a dangerous force....

Not that Limbaugh isn't a bloviating mouthpiece and cheerleader

She went through a bad spell, started listening to that hateful asshole. Instead of her coming to terms with the fact that she had some bad luck & made some bad decisions, Limbaugh gave her a legion of others to blame for her misfortune. She changed drastically in just a few years. She is now so racist & hateful & bitter I cannot even believe this is the same woman who raised me.

I am so sorry about both our mothers, Gloria. It is a tragedy.

seriously.

We all find Bush so obviously uninspiring. I think they would have this reaction if they put a sock puppet up for election.......come to think of it, they did.
But seriously, why the Bush family? What is it about them, other than personal threats, that has ordinary people so willing to defend them endlessly? There are certainly richer and more talented families in America; families that have a much lower proportion of fuck-ups. Why Bush?

As you say, it's not simply a matter of having a different political viewpoint. Bush supporters completely and utterly refuse to listen to anyone who disagrees with them, plus they get furious that anyone dares to question the wee man's motives and actions. I'm talking wild-eyed, hysterical fury, like that of a five-year old throwing a tantrum.

I like that one. Do I have permission to use it?

MojoXN

A few years ago, I came across a piece asking a similar question to yours. The author pondered what makes Bush supporters such Kool-Aid drinkers and came up with what I still think is the clearest and best explanation I've heard.

Essentially Bush makes it okay to be a coward, mean-spirited, dumb, ignorant, racist, intolerant, a "have," a hypocrite, greedy, unethical, indifferent, a liar, and all the other *wonderful* things he is.

People are glad to have someone in power who mirrors their own desire to be these things without guilt. Bush sends the message it's okay to do publicly and be publicly what most would consider shameful.

On edit: Being a "have" is not shameful; being an insatiable "have" who steps on the throats of others to "have more" is.

In a really literal way that certainly makes him the Un-Christ.

I understand your point, but I think it really just makes him one of the most dangerous, damaging, murderous hypocrites of our time.

& it is one of the saddest things I've ever read about their nature. That they are ok with a 'leader' who validates their shortcomings instead of looking for a leader who would inspire them to become more.

I also love this: "Being a "have" is not shameful; being an insatiable "have" who steps on the throats of others to "have more" is."

Simple as that.

MojoXN

They have time for Disney, Paris Hilton, American Idol and Survivor but not the facts. They don't want to know the facts and even if they did know, they'd deny it. Their stupidity is our down fall.
Sorry, but I hate these stupid fuckers.

and still find time for the facts. (I find Survivor sociologically very interesting)

Deep down they know they are wrong and are unable and/or unwilling to admit it. It is bluster like O'Reilly blusters. You don't think he really means that shit he is always spouting, do you? Thoughtful people, honest people are able to admit when they have made an error in judgement. Many of us were able to separate Clinton's faults from his good points. These folks are not able to admit to faults because it comes back to them. They are the ones who put him there so they feel compelled to always back him up. I think some of them are starting to choke on it, as well they should.

Woof

in "She Wore a Yellow Ribbon."

That is at heart the mentality. For if one admits that they were wrong, it shows a weakness of intellect that misled them in the first place and only folks who are self-confident enough about themselves and realize that personal growth occurs more from mistakes learned than being right can admit that they have such a weakness.

It, as well as fear of thre unknown is one of the fundamental features of being a conservative not to admit mistakes.

To your point towards the psychology of conservative minds:

“In general, it can probably be said that the conservative does not object to coercion or arbitrary power so long as it is used for what he regards as the right purposes. He believes that if government is in the hands of decent men, it ought not to be too much restricted by rigid rules. Since he is essentially opportunist and lacks principles, his main hope must be that the wise and the good will rule - not merely by example, as we all must wish, but by authority given to them and enforced by them.<7> Like the socialist, he is less concerned with the problem of how the powers of government should be limited than with that of who wields them; and, like the socialist, he regards himself as entitled to force the value he holds on other people.


”When I say that the conservative lacks principles, I do not mean to suggest that he lacks moral conviction. The typical conservative is indeed usually a man of very strong moral convictions. What I mean is that he has no political principles which enable him to work with people whose moral values differ from his own for a political order in which both can obey their convictions. It is the recognition of such principles that permits the coexistence of different sets of values that makes it possible to build a peaceful society with a minimum of force. The acceptance of such principles means that we agree to tolerate much that we dislike.”

Why I am not a conservative”
F.A. Hayek

http://www.geocities.com/ecocorner/intelarea/fah1.html

Sounds about right.

see: the politics of exclusion

No. They have it in themselves. The more we remind them of how stupid they are, the more they feel they have "invested", in my opinion. Dumbshits will never admit they were wrong so long as I keep calling them "dumbshits"...It's a Catch-22, ain't it?

to find anyone who voted for bush or will admit to it.

By the time 10 or 15 years passes there will be so few admitted bush voters you'll wonder how he was ever even able to steal an election.

There fore to insult him is to insult them.

------------------------------------------------------
Save New Orleans, then save the nation!
http://timeforachange.bluelemur.com/electionreform.htm

or the world over to Rove. Adolescence is a very confusing time. You need a leader or you might get a "hurty" feeling and think for yourself. Then you would be responsible and start to solve problems instead of having people to blame.:sarcasm:

Author spells out how rich southerners trick working class white southernerns into believing that they are united with and share in the glory of their wealthy fellow political party members. Combination of distant relations/ racism ("Hey, at least none of us are Black") / unity against a common perceived threat. Althout written 60 years ago, this book really spells out how the modern Republican Party does its thing. It also points out what it is doing wrong regarding Katrina and why it may well lose a big chunk of the South in 2006 because of Katrina.

...I often tell people to read that book if they want an understanding of how the current Republican party operates. They have adopted the practices of the old Southern aristocracy, and have applied it to national politics.

even though they would consider him (a caterer) a servant (likable but not one of us). He excuses Bush, the entire Bush family, and Nixon of any blame for anything.

as Bush supporters don't want to hear FACTS. If they listen to the facts, they would have to change sides.

These people act more like North Koreans praising the Dear Leader than like residents of an alleged democracy.

deify them because they are so hollow and unthinking themselves. And if the person they have latched onto is small and mean and talks about judging others, so much the better - then they can elevate themselves in their own teeny minds.

Ugh, man the visual of Babs and Poppy Bush in a nativity scene with baby Georgus in the manger - C-R-E-E-P-Y!

Men love him as he exhibits the macho man personality; the strut, the arrogance, the costumes playing warrior, the "determined" hero..(.even if the decision is really, really bad, never give in); the lack of compassion....(that's sissy); the savior of brain dead people, unborn babies, money, oil; the rescuer of women ( make the decision for them) and the really big one..."get up and fight for life like a man"...no handouts, no help, no government.

Women like him because they are really, really stupid. Oh, and they like
the "image". Just like Daddy was or wish he was.

We live in a sick society.

Edit:I should say...Republican men and women.

I've truely come to believe the bush* apologists are actually closet monarchists who want a king to worship, rather than an elected office holder who will be gone within a set period of years.

I think it's the logical extention of conservatism in its final form.

I've met some rabid monarchists; they are very strange people.

a difference.

It works !

Their lives and economy were falling apart. He gave them Jews to hate. He gave them nationalism (that making patriotism and one's country into a religion). They ended in a pile of ashes. We are going to end in a pile of Chinese calling in our IOU's (that should really put a burr in the butt of his racist followers). They ended up wanting capitalistic socialism. We, too, will end up hating the word "conservative". But you know what?? Just like the Germans who kept one eye on their back, deep in the heart of these scum is the fear that they will be flushed like so many before them have been flushed by this administration.

I think that's where some of the Clinton-bashing and endless, pathological bringing-up-Clinton comes from when you talk to these people.

They think that we are all personally invested in Clinton like they are in the Shrub, and that saying awful things about him should be hurtful and threatening to us like it is for them when we criticize Bush.

I personally never liked Bill Clinton that much when he was in office, so its actually kind of puzzling and annoying to me when idiots say, "but Clinton Clinton CLINTON OMG HUGH!!!11!" in the middle of a debate. It's like WTF does that have to do with anything??? Is that supposed to be an insult or what? I don't give a crap about Bill Clinton.

But they think we do because they are so obsessed with Shrubby. It's funny, in a sad kind of way.

Democrats are born leaders (which is why it's difficult to come to agreement on various things....we want to lead our way)

Republicans are born followers. They will always, always, always stand behind their man, no matter how inept. They don't break ranks. EVER.

I think it's the cult mentality with the bushbots.