I've long wondered and considered the possibility that the failure of American Politics isn't for lack of effort, but because those we oppose aren't really functioniing in the same logical plane that we are.
As have been documented nearly 50% of the GOP has completely embraced the ridiculous notion that our current President isn't an American Citizen - and another 27% aren't sure. I strongly suspected that many of that 60%+ haven't changed their mind one iota since President Obama's long form was released.
Yesterday Chris Hayes confirmed that suspicion with a Poll showing at 18% Still have Doubts about the President's Birth, and another 10% Think it's a Forgery.
Here Chris discusses how much our political discourse has been impacted by factless theories.
\
From Chris Mooney at Mother Jones. (Signup Required)
We make think we're being Scientist, but we're actually being lawyers, Our "reasoning" is a means to a predetermined end, winning our case.
We apply fight or flight principles not just to predators, but to data itself. Those basic survival skills are not well suited to the information age.
Ever have an argument with someone who just refused to acknowledge any point you've made, to rationalize it away as irrelevant while every statement they've uttered is claimed to be critical and self-evident even when founded on faulty, flimsy and frankly phony premises? More and more this is what our political discourse has become, a pair of lawyers arguing at each other without a judge or jury or a referee to separate the meat of the argument from the horse manure.
But let's be clear, although it might be argued that "both sides" occasional make these types of self-aggrandizing points - one side clearly does it Far more than the Other.
In fact, I dare say that modern Conservatives have become completely dependent upon them - an ideology built upon a house of cards, floating on a piece of cardboard in the middle of the ocean. One stiff swell from being disintegrated.
Several years ago Howard John Dean released his book "Conservatives Without Conscience" which analyzed the effect of Authoritarianism within Conservative Culture. It may have seemed a little extreme to argue that Conservatives actually had a different thought process than Liberals, but more recent studies have found that there really are differences.
Kanai said his study was prompted by reports from others showing greater anterior cingulate cortex response to conflicting information among liberals.
“That was the first neuroscientific evidence for biological differences between liberals and conservatives,” he explained.
Prior research has suggested that conservatives are more sensitive to threat or anxiety in the face of uncertainty, while liberals tend to be more open to new experiences.
So it now makes sense to argue that Conservatives are more prone to Authoritarianism because they're more likely to be ruled by fear. When you talk a person who is more likely to be controlled by that which they fear, and you recognize that this also applies to facts or information which frighten or threaten them the result basically leads you directly to the modern GOP.
As many of has written lately, particularly myself, many of the things the GOP fervently and desperately believe are simply not true.
After Birthers: 10 More GOP Myths Debunked
So you think we'll have Serious Policy Discussions Now?
Birtherism isn't a Disease it's a Symptom
We all know the drill, whether it's "Death Panels", to "Tax Cuts Raise Revenues" to "We have a Spending Problem not a Revenue Problem" or "The Wealthy are the Job Producers" - the Lies just keep coming and coming, while what may otherwise seem like perfectly reasonable, rational and intelligent persons seem absolutely unable to shake free of them.
They don't want to be broken free of them, and their very likely to project and accuse you of being "Afraid of the Truth" as they explain how the Sharia Law is taking over the Nation for the Lazy Union Thugs who want the Gays to Rape your daughters, then abort the fetus.
It's like they've been hypnotized. Their like a Cult in need not simply of being confronted with uncontrovertible fact, they've been programmed to distrust anything said be someone outside their inner circle. And simply inundating them with a Fact Storm just won't help.
They only listen to Trusted Sources. Brietbart. Malkin. Hannity. Limbaugh. Beck. O'Reilly. Not that biased Lame Stream Media that scoffs at "Traditional Values" like Fag Bashing and letting Darwin take care of the Poor. I mean, geez - if they can't figure out how to make a meal out of a dry bone, they don't deserve your pity - now do they?
Let the hungry feed themselves, isn't that what Jesus said?
We've seen the script, recently diaried here as the Rules for Republicans.
1. The era of liberalism is over.
Today there are no liberals in power; there are only radical leftists. They are the enemy, not the opposition. Their ideology is not simply wrong; it is evil.
2. It is impossible to be too cynical about the intentions, motives, and truthfulness of radical leftists.
They will always exceed our most horrifying expectations.
3. Radical leftists are continually seeking to destroy America's historic foundations, particularly our Constitution.
Their goal is to rebuild upon the rubble according to their own evil vision and to gratify their insatiable lust for tyrannical power.
This is what our fellow Americans have been indoctrinated with. We may be aghast that they can say and believe such blatantly bigoted things as our President is some kind of Illegal Alien Muslim Kenyan Black Reformation Christian with a fetish for Reparations.
It's crazy on it's face, but at least one part of that argument is believed by a Majority of Non-Democrats in this nation. Poll after Poll has shown this is the case.
We may often snicker about it, but really - that's a National Disgrace.
And it's not an accident.
For the past 35-40 years there has been a specific strategy by monied corporate interests like the Koch brothers and Huckster Televangelists like Pat Roberts to increase the ranks of this Gingoistic Xenophobic War-Mongering, Intolerant Cult. And just as they telegraph in their "Rules for Republicans", they've done it all for two simple reasons.
Money and Control.
It's gonna take a very long time to deprogram half the nation, and ultimately save our country from itself, but it's what we need to do. And today is as good a day to begin as any.
Vyan