Have you noticed the age of the Birthers and the Hooters?

Both the Birthers (the idiots who believe the President was born outside the United States) and the Hooters (those who hoot and holler at public meetings) are all early (eldest) boomers. At a glance they seem to be uniformly from their early fifties to early 60's.

So there goes one theory as to why they are so fucked up, its not modern education. These are the children of 1950's and 1960's education, maybe Viet Nam era vets, and I dare say the Woodstock era.

I'm just trying to understand where these idiots are coming from. I can't figure them out. They have absolutely nothing to gain from what they are doing, lunacy and bad manners simply will not prevail.

No wonder everyone was advised to avoid it.

near woodstock, nor did any of their friends. rather, they would probably be friends with people like the rednecks who shot billy:

I think George Hanson sums it up pretty well-

Billy: They're scared, man.

George Hanson: Oh they're not scared of you. They're scared of what you represent to 'em.

Billy: Hey, man. All we represent to them, man, is somebody who needs a haircut.

George Hanson: Oh, no. What you represent to them is freedom.

Billy: What the hell is wrong with freedom? That's what it's all about.

George Hanson: Oh, yeah, that's right. That's what's it's all about, all right. But talkin' about it and bein' it, that's two different things. I mean, it's real hard to be free when you are bought and sold in the marketplace. Of course, don't ever tell anybody that they're not free, 'cause then they're gonna get real busy killin' and maimin' to prove to you that they are. Oh, yeah, they're gonna talk to you, and talk to you, and talk to you about individual freedom. But they see a free individual, it's gonna scare 'em.

Billy: Well, it don't make 'em runnin' scared.

George Hanson: No, it makes 'em dangerous.

shows exactly how i feel about these freaks.

really, thanks.

instead of presenting a cogent argument and allowing someone to reply to the argument, we have devolved into a shouting match where no one bothers to hear anything anyone else has to say. we won't get far like this. and it's very sad to see it happening.

.... from comedy to movies to sitcoms to game shows. Why would anyone be surprised that people feel no need to act with respect towards anyone else when our entire culture is based on derision and ridicule?

I'm proud to come from a time when if you told someone who richly deserved it off, you did so with a modicum of restraint, subtlety and face-saving deniability.

followers. The GOP knows that and they give them instructions, and they follow them. They're told things and they automatically believe it. Obama is not a US citizen, HC reform will hurt you, climate control will cause your bills to go sky high.....

:rofl:

We're not "fucked up" (well, we were - far out), and there's plenty here on DU taking on our co-generational idiots.

We are indeed a feisty group, including the Tea Party idiots. They don't frighten us, though, who know their ignorance up close and personal.

We did have cool music, though.

Birthers, Freepers, Teabaggers, Minutemen, Promise Keepers, etc...

I bet the overlap would be enlightening.

They're being paid.

:dem:

-Laelth

They are mostly older, white people. You're not going to see too many young people in those crowds because there really aren't that many young Republicans left.

Though I do not do polls, I can get a good sense of where most of the students land on the continuum during the course of discussion. The younger ones (late teens/early 20s) tend to fall into two groups. They are either frighteningly apolitical (news? what news? vote? why? politics? yuck. etc, etc) or remarkably conservative. Some are openly Republican, most just espouse (in a manner that makes me cringe) conservative viewpoints.

The older 20s start leaning liberal - the older ones are mostly (not all) pretty consistently liberal.

Big school? Public or private? That is an interesting observation, makes me more curious about the demographics.

State community college. HUGE student body from all demographics, including military from the air base. Many attend the uni and come to the college for core classes because they're a little cheaper per credit hour (and more sections are offered). Fairly even mixture of working adults and younger (traditional) students. Very well integrated in terms of gender and ethnicity.

that they could all swing the other way at once, once someone figures out how to make Republicans "cool" again. (Don't laugh, who could have predicted Reagan Youth in the late 70s?)

For those of us who grew up in metropolitan areas and in suburbia, the education we received was for the most part a good one. But, for many Americans in that age group who grew up in more rural areas, I don't think it was the same. If you listen to these people, it is easy to see that they simply have poor reasoning skills. They are the kinds of people who would be easily manipulated.

Because they know deep down in their hearts they cannot keep up with change. Sure, there may be more older people in that group, but they are not the total group.

I think that for these people, the world has changed too fast. You said it really well: "Because they know deep down in their hearts they cannot keep up with change". I think that is true. They want everything to stay the same.

For a lot of us, change in the world is exciting. But for these kinds of people it is just too scary.

the older ones showing up as Hooters are retired, and can afford to be doing stuff like this during the day, when the poor people who would benefit from universal health coverage are at their lousy jobs, trying to eke out a living.

No matter the age, there are always Young Republicans around.

They were the ones who sneered at us for listening to Dylan and working to stop what was going on in Viet Nam.

They were busy with their cheap gin, bad drunks even then, and we cleaned up after them and put them to bed because we'd lost track of time thanks to the great smoke we had.

They were the virgins who resented the hell out of those of us who had no qualms about greeting strangers with very friendly sex.

They wore button-down shirts and sports jackets and slacks, sweater sets and skirts, while we forego underwear and swapped t-shirts and jeans wherever we happened to find ourselves.

And today, they are just another bunch of Young Republicans, desperate to maintain the status quo, even if they're not sure of what that means, because they're so frightened of change, even though change is all around them. They are rigid because they don't know any other way to be, and with all that's left of their calcified hearts, they yearn to be like us, if only for the great sex............................

:grr:

Personally, I like Hooters.

-Hoot

I'm in my early 50's and no way do I think like they do. No way am I for (or against) what they are.

I would also posit that many of the older folks I saw in those crowds are in their late 60's and above.

were raise with the Do As You are Told and do....
My mom just hit 65 this year, but the last 5 years or so we have much diverged she still does as she is told..I still do what I think is right, as a kid she went with the what is right, but what is right is not the same as what we were told then..am I making sense? I look beyond what I am told to see What IS, and if I think what I see is wrong I say so. Loudly if necessary.

She has started sending me repig stuff, and quotes from bill oliely and has lately remarried her second husband was a conservative too and she lived in South Carolina for years..I think it has taken a toll on her reasoning facility.

Though I do have to say, my mom tended toward the do what she thinks is right mindset to the very end of her life.

But I do know other older people who fall into doing what they're told.

I think some of it is fear of change, and lots of people can experience that, regardless of age.

They got theirs. Fuck you.

And they are looking for someone to blame.

I graduated high school in 1965. I've come to realize that this was a pivotal year. Half the class went on to college and grad school, married their high school sweethearts, moved to the suburbs, took over Daddy's business, raised 2.5 kids and with every hair they lost and every pound they gained, their politics became more and more conservative. Some, I would imagine, went completely over the edge, and now you know "where these idiots are coming from". (Or at least some of them.)

Oh, the other half of my class? Well, I guess you could say we "dropped out" in one way or another. Sure has made for some entertaining reunions! A bunch of fat, bald, scowling old farts vs. A bunch of stoned-to-the-gills, hysterically-laughing, long (albeit receding)-haired, 20-years-younger-looking "disgraceful degenerates" - You know: The HAPPY ones!

:hippie:

and now sit at home all day listening to OxyRsuh, Beck and O'Reilly while fretting about how the "socialists" are going to take away their riches.They are the guys who would be fretting about the quality of their lawns if we hadn't lost the Fairness Doctrine during Reagan. Now they just have way too much time on their hands. Their are plenty of people here in that age range, but they are far too intelligent to fall for anything that comes out of the RW noise machine. Besides, our boomers have LIVES, these people clearly do not.