October 23, 2004
This from Doug's Dynamic Drivel:
It’s hopless that there can ever be meaningful dialogue between the left and the right. The Program on International Policy Attitudes recently did a "study of the differing perceptions of Bush and Kerry supporters, conducted by the Program on International Policy Attitudes and Knowledge Networks, based on polls conducted in September and October" and well the nicest thing I can say about Bush supporters is they are a few chiles short of a huevo ranchero.
Your can read the report’s synopsis (full report here [.pdf]):
Doug points out that, according to the study,
Even after the final report of Charles Duelfer to Congress saying that Iraq did not have a significant WMD program, 72% of Bush supporters continue to believe that Iraq had actual WMD (47%) or a major program for developing them (25%). Fifty-six percent assume that most experts believe Iraq had actual WMD and 57% also assume, incorrectly, that Duelfer concluded Iraq had at least a major WMD program. Kerry supporters hold opposite beliefs on all these points.
Similarly, 75% of Bush supporters continue to believe that Iraq was providing substantial support to al Qaeda, and 63% believe that clear evidence of this support has been found. Sixty percent of Bush supporters assume that this is also the conclusion of most experts, and 55% assume, incorrectly, that this was the conclusion of the 9/11 Commission. Here again, large majorities of Kerry supporters have exactly opposite perceptions.
I’m sorry but there’s just no way to say it but anyone who believes the things these people believe are just too stupid to be allowed to vote. They don’t deserve that right. You can’t convince such people with reason. Hell you can’t even convince them with hard evidence. Indeed even when the person they are supporting makes jokes about not finding WMD in Iraq - they still believe it. How can you reason with this kind of mindlessness?
It is obvious that Bush is a ‘father” figure to them. Father does not lie. Father does not do wrong. Father takes their best interests to heart. Just accept what father wants, does, says and all will be right. It’s this same sick accepting attitude that allows real fathers to abuse their children and if reported for it for people like this to say well the kid must have seduced the father or some such thing. They are sick. That’s really the kindest thing you can say about them, they are mentally ill.
via OneWorld. Net via Common Dreams
According to The One World article linked to by Doug:
One of the reasons that Bush supporters have these (erroneous) beliefs is that they perceive the Bush administration confirming them,” noted Steven Kull, PIPA’s director. “Interestingly, this is one point on which Bush and Kerry supporters agree.”
The survey also found a major gap between Bush’s stated positions on a number of international issues and what his supporters believe Bush’s position to be. A strong majority of Bush supporters believe, for example that the president supports a range of international treaties and institutions which is actually on record as opposing.
and
Similar results were found with respect to Hussein’s alleged support for al Qaeda, a theory that has been most persistently asserted by Vice president Dick Cheney, but that was thoroughly debunked by the final report of the bipartisan 9/11 Commission earlier this summer.
Seventy-five percent of Bush supporters said they believed that Iraq was providing “substantial” support to Al Qaeda, with 20 percent asserting that Iraq was directly involved in the 9/11 attacks on New York and the Pentagon. Sixty-three percent of Bush supporters even believed that the clear evidence of such support has actually been found, and 60 percent believe that “most experts” have reached the same conclusion.
And there's more and more and more statistical proof in that PIPA study that shows the way Bush manipulates his followers with clever distortions of the truth.
I kind of like the way Doug said it:
....the nicest thing I can say about Bush supporters is they are a few chiles short of a huevo ranchero.
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Old Comments (1)
Mike on Hilton Head on 30 Apr 2005
Gosh you have all the certainty that is usually attributed to some religous rightwing nut out to tell all of us how to live our lives.
I was just reading the March 2005 addendum to the Duelfer Report: http://www.cia.gov/cia/reports/iraq_wmd_2004/note.html
It seems to me that the remaining unanswered questions here are at the heart of the issue.