"How the GOP got hijacked by Right-Wing Authoritarians"

How the GOP got hijacked by Right-Wing Authoritarians

As we are witness the unfolding of a rather bizarre health care debate, one can't help but be amazed at the jaw dropping lunacy of the folks on the right who are amply represented by an assembly of "creationists" "birthers", "teabaggers", "screamers" and now "deathers"...

~snip~

... "Conservatives Without Conscience" by John W. Dean, prolific author and former Watergate figure. In a stunning tour de force, Dean's book answered all my questions regarding the apparent success of the right wing to mobilize the pathetic remnants of a once proud confederacy. In chapter two, Mr. Dean postulates that these new conservatives, both its leaders as well as its followers, fit into a distinct personality type described as "Right-Wing Authoritarianism".

In the book, Dean highlights the work of social psychologist and researcher Bob Altemeyer of the University of Manitoba. According to Altemeyer, Right-Wing Authoritarians are especially submissive to established authority and show a general aggressiveness toward others when such behavior is perceived to be sanctioned by established authorities.

At the end of Chapter Two appears a list of those traits that are typically found in Right-Wing Authoritarians. When reading this list, think GOP leaders Limbaugh, Gingrich, Cheney and Palin.

Right-Wing Authoritarian - Leaders:

* Typically men (Palin is the exception but think masculine phrases used to define her such as "hockey mom", "basketball point guard", and "field dress a moose")
* dominating
* opposes equality
* desirous of personal power
* amoral
* intimidating and bullying
* faintly hedonistic
* vengeful
* pitiless
* exploitive
* manipulative
* dishonest
* cheats to win
* highly prejudiced (racist, sexist, homophobic)
* mean-spirited
* militant
* nationalistic
* tells others what they want to hear
* takes advantage of "suckers"
* specializes in creating false images to sell self
* may or may not be religious
* usually politically and economically conservative/Republican

When reading the below list of follower traits, think of those angry white faces (actually more red than white) at your typical "teabagger" party and recent Town hall "screamer" secession.

Right-Wing Authoritarian - Followers:

* men and woman
* submissive to authority
* aggressive on behalf of authority
* conventional
* highly religious
* moderate to little education
* trust untrustworthy authorities
* prejudiced (particularly against homosexuals, woman, and followers of religions other than their own)
* mean-spirited
* narrow-minded
* intolerant
* bulling
* zealous
* dogmatic
* uncritical toward chosen authority
* hypocritical
* inconsistent and contradictory
* prone to panic easily
* highly self-righteous
* moralistic
* strict disciplinarian
* severely punitive
* demands loyalty and returns it
* little self-awareness
* usually politically and economically conservative/Republican

While reading this list you may have asked yourself why these current followers, who display a deference to authority, are not following the head guy; the President of the United States. The answer is a simple one. The glue that binds the current out of power leaders to their pathetic followers is clearly and unambiguously RACE...

So what’s to be done right now? The social dominators and high RWAs
presently marshaling their forces for the next election in your county, state and
country, are perfectly entitled to do what they’re doing. They have the right to
organize, they have the right to proselytize, they have the right to select and work for
candidates they like, they have the right to vote, they have the right to make sure folks
who agree with them also vote...

...

You can watch the authoritarians tear democracy apart, bit by bit, bite by bite.
Or you can exercise your rights too, while you still have them, and get just as
concerned, active, and giving to protect yourself and your country. If you, and other
liberals, other moderates, other conservatives with conscience do, then everything can
turn out all right. But we have to get going. If you are the only person you know who
grasps what’s happening, then you’ve got to take leadership, help inform, and organize
others. One person can do so much; you’ve no idea! And two can do so much more.
But time is running out, fast, and nearly everything is at stake.

John Wesley Dean III (born October 14, 1938) was White House Counsel to U.S. President Richard Nixon from July 1970 until April 1973.

...

Dean is currently an author, columnist, and commentator on contemporary politics, strongly critical of conservatism and the Republican Party, and a registered Independent who supported impeachment of President George W. Bush.

A French Revelation, or The Burning Bush
JAMES A. HAUGHT

Incredibly, President George W. Bush told French President Jacques Chirac in early 2003 that Iraq must be invaded to thwart Gog and Magog, the Bible’s satanic agents of the Apocalypse.

Honest. This isn’t a joke. The president of the United States, in a top-secret phone call to a major European ally, asked for French troops to join American soldiers in attacking Iraq as a mission from God.

Now out of office, Chirac recounts that the American leader appealed to their “common faith” (Christianity) and told him: “Gog and Magog are at work in the Middle East…. The biblical prophecies are being fulfilled…. This confrontation is willed by God, who wants to use this conflict to erase his people’s enemies before a New Age begins.”

This bizarre episode occurred while the White House was assembling its “coalition of the willing” to unleash the Iraq invasion. Chirac says he was boggled by Bush’s call and “wondered how someone could be so superficial and fanatical in their beliefs.”

~snip~

This mixing of Crusades-like messaging with war imagery, which until now has not been revealed, had become routine. On March 31, a U.S. tank roared through the desert beneath a quote from Ephesians: “Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.” On April 7, Saddam Hussein struck a dictatorial pose, under this passage from the First Epistle of Peter: “It is God’s will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish men.” (To see these and more Bush-administration intelligence cover sheets, visit GQ.com’s exclusive slideshow).~snip~