Manipulation of the Right Brain

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Saturday May 03, 2008 · 4:54 PM PDT

2008/05/03 · 16:54

Hillary Clinton is a sharp, analytical woman. She's shrewd, calculating, objective, dispassionate and focused... all the reasons why she's going to lose the nomination.

People don't vote analytically; they vote emotionally. That's not what they say but it's what they do says author and psychologist Drew Westen. Another psychological principle kicks in to cover the dichotomy: rationalization: the need to invent plausible reasons for why you've decided as you have.

People say they "figured it all out" and decided on Obama instead of Hillary but that's not what's really happened. That's the rationalization. Instead, people respond to Obama's use of emotive methods of communication and his focus on altruism and hope. They know he hasn't described his plans for the future; they don't care. They're paying attention because they're emotionally involved and prefer that connection to the facts.

expolitico

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Thursday November 15, 2007 · 9:44 AM PST

2007/11/15 · 09:44

Pakistan's General Pervez Musharaf has this week assaulted Pakistan's judiciary, lawyers, and media, imprisoning many and shutting down or limiting access and content of TV broadcasts. He's fighting those who are fighting him. And his methods aren't that nice.

We could take a lesson from the General -- not by sending people to jail; but by firing them and bringing in a new group of players.

Throughout this campaign I've been waiting for any of the candidates to speak about corruption, temptation, campaign financing, the complacency of the Congress, the fact that Congress cares more about political gain and reelection than it does about the rule of law, the protection of our Constitution, and common-sense accountability. And the media who have complacently gone along with converting an altruistic news organization paid for by all the other venues, to the news groups becoming profit centers owned and operated by entertainment conglomerates.

expolitico

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Saturday May 19, 2007 · 5:44 PM PDT

2007/05/19 · 17:44

Michael Moore told reporters after a press preview the other day:

I'm trying to explore bigger ideas and bigger issues, and in this case the bigger issue in this film [SiCKO] is who are we as a people? Why do we behave the way we behave? What has become of us? Where is our soul?

So began the hoopla at this year's Cannes Film Festival. Moore's movie portrays the American medical industry as driven by greed.

SiCKO, which has taken Cannes by storm, goes further than just the health care industry by depicting a country where the government is more interested in personal profit and protecting big business than caring for its citizens, many of whom cannot afford health insurance. Certainly this is proven true with the resignation (with $400,000 separation pay) of Paul Wolfowitz.

expolitico

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Saturday March 31, 2007 · 2:47 PM PDT

2007/03/31 · 14:47

This woman walks into a butcher shop and asks to see a whole chicken. The butcher hands her one and the woman proceeds to inspect it up, down, sideways, and every which way. She even sniffs it. She hands it back and says no thanks.

The butcher responds: "Madam, could YOU pass a test like that?"

UNICEF had such a test that the US didn't pass. In fact, we flunked terribly. We came in 20th out of 21.

UNICEF reviewed various tests and performed surveys within the member countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and compiled a report entitled
‘Children’s Welfare in Rich Countries.’

expolitico

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Monday March 26, 2007 · 5:33 PM PDT

2007/03/26 · 17:33

Deliberate action or speech that makes someone fearful or angry, such as the recent (and regular) gems by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, perpetuates fear, most often existential fear.

There are numerous psychological studies establishing the power of fear:

Groups of strangers could persuade people to believe statements that were obviously false.
People were often willing to obey authority figures even when doing so violated their personal beliefs.
Ordinary citizens could continually shock an innocent man, even up to near-lethal levels, if commanded to do so by someone acting as an authority.
Cognitive dissonance often causes illogical and nonsensical mental constraints.
Heightened patriotic urge, for example right after 9/11, was an attempt to counterbalance the scary thought of ones own mortality brought on by those attacks.

expolitico

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Friday March 23, 2007 · 8:59 AM PDT

2007/03/23 · 08:59

There's been a steady measurable trend since the early '90s that is directly antithetical to the policies of the Bush administration.

In a just-released study by the Pew Charitable Trust about trends in political values and core attitudes the numbers show that the electorate is gradually getting fed up with socially conservative ideology and religious intensity.

The numbers are quite clear:

Government should care for those who can't care for themselves - up 12% to 69%
Government should help the needy even if it means greater debt - up 13% to 54%
Old fashioned values about family and marriage - down 8% to 76%
School boards should have the right to fire homosexual teachers - down 11% to 28%
Prayer is an important part of my daily life - down 7% to 45%
I never doubt the existence of God - down 11% to 61%
People believe that the rich are getting richer and the poor poorer - up 8% to 73%

expolitico

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Monday March 19, 2007 · 3:46 PM PDT

2007/03/19 · 15:46

In the movie "Letters from Iwo Jima" there's a scene where a Japanese soldier translates aloud a letter from an American soldier's mother and everyone in the movie (and in the audience) could see that it was the same as letters they had received from their mothers and loved ones... because we're all the same.

That lesson is NOT taught in schools or from the pulpits of our lives. In fact, the opposite is being taught. Our parents tell us to watch out for those people; our churches say that their religion is the only true avenue to a fulfilling life; our government says that it's form of cracy is the only one for the world to emulate. Worse, we're taught that everyone that doesn't agree is an infidel, barbarian, third world ignorant or a heathen.

We're taught nothing to the contrary. Except perhaps (and it's a big PERHAPS) the dialogue of the 2008 Presidential race.

expolitico

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Saturday March 17, 2007 · 5:36 PM PDT

2007/03/17 · 17:36

. . . Reasoning rather than rabble-rousing

It seems like the pendulum of political discourse is swinging back to reality instead of sarcastic, provocative, divisive entertainment (perhaps not the best word because the entertainment value has gone flat and been replaced by bitterness and cynicism).

When Ann Coulter said what she did about John Edwards, the backlash was swift and across the board non-partisan. Republicans, Democrats, gays, straights, they all reacted similarly suggesting that Coulter wasn't just out of line, but instead making a desperate attempt for self promotion at the expense of Edwards.

When the Attorney General fired the eight Federal attorneys and it became apparent that they were all political firings - that there was nothing negative on any of their records (in fact, quite the opposite) - the press, the attorneys themselves, and the public all reacted quickly with dismay that Gonzalez could be so petty and that the lies coming out daily from Rove's office, Gonzales', and the White House were so blatant that it's become painfully clear that there's total disorganization at the top of our government.

expolitico

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Tuesday February 13, 2007 · 2:55 PM PST

2007/02/13 · 14:55

"Fear of death has the highest correlation with being conservative" says scholar and author Frank Sulloway.

Many recent studies prove that the fear of death drives people to demonize those who hold different world views or beliefs about life and death. Tragically, most people are willing to sacrifice themselves in war to preserve their nation’s or religion’s particular symbols of immortality in a desperate attempt to achieve a sense of mastery over death. On a lesser scale, people can be – and are – manipulated using pseudo fears that elicit the same psychological reaction(s). Thus the title of this message: Psychology and Politics.

There are many studies, and many government-funded ones after 9/11, that delve into the psychology of politics. See below for details and a link to a fascinating video clip.

expolitico

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Tuesday December 12, 2006 · 6:04 AM PST

2006/12/12 · 06:04

In reviewing candidates and issues for the 2008 Presidential Election, the Iraq situation - as distinguished from the fight against international terrorism - is and will be the leading topic, even if it's in hindsight. Here's my thinking:

* Nothing dramatic is going to happen in Iraq except a steady slide downward.

* Democrats and Republicans will go along with the Iraq Study Group's 79 proposals and negotiate with President Bush and new Secretary of Defense Gates some semi-satisfactory actions that will slowly take effect.

* As Senator Feingold recently said: "Unfortunately, while the Iraq Study Group's report recognizes that the Administration's policy is not working, it doesn't correct the myopic focus on Iraq that has so dangerously weakened our national security."

expolitico

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Sunday October 29, 2006 · 2:54 PM PST

2006/10/29 · 14:54

GOTV

Republican get-out-the-vote (GOTV) programs are set and ready to roll. They track people who've been identifed as saying they intend to vote right up until they actually do vote. If they vote early or absentee, they are purged so that the resulting target list is up-to-date and refined. Democrats have a similar capability but not a system for doing it everywhere; they do it where and if they have the money. The result is that the Reps get some votes that would otherwise fall through the cracks. And this election cycle, many Reps are seriously considering not voting, thus this GOTV program will get many of them back in the fold.

My opinion: a fair portion of moderate Reps that either didn't plan to vote, or were planning to vote moderately, will be guilt-driven back into voting solidly Republican. Dems just don't have the same mechanism or mentality. And if Dems are apathetic, as many are, they don't get goaded back into the fold.

expolitico

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Thursday October 19, 2006 · 7:30 AM PDT

2006/10/19 · 07:30

I was driving from San Francisco to Santa Barbara when a woman called my cell phone and asked whether I would like to talk with ex-president Jimmy Carter. I said that if it was a recording, I didn't want to. She said that it was the real thing. So we scheduled a phone appointment for 12:35 today.

I was in the process of pulling over at 12:34 when the lady called again. She waited for me to get parked and then put him on... and it was really Jimmy Carter!

He was asking me to contribute to his son's senate campaign in Nevada.

So I told him that I already had. That I had already sent the maximum $2,100 contribution to the Jack Carter for Senate campaign. He was surprised about that and then we talked about how to contribute even more through the state party. He gave me the name of the lady at the state party and their mailing address. Read More

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Manipulation of the Right Brain

Let's Take A Lesson From General Musharaf

Who are we as a people? Where is our soul?

UN Study Says U.S. Children Not Doing Well

Fear Mongering Is A Provocation

A More Socially Conscious Electorate

We're All The Same

Engaging rather than interrupting . . .

Psychology and Politics

Let's Take Annihilation Out of the Equation

GOTV, $$$, Limbaugh and our do-nothing Congress

I just spent 12-1/2 minutes with ex-president Jimmy Carter!