Comments for Pathology as ideology: A unified theory of GOP behavior | Doc Magnus's Blog »
Posted By chuck-the-canuck 5 months, 3 weeks ago in Political OpinionNarcissism. Xenophobia. Superstition. Bigotry. Sadism. Cultism. Denial. Sexual predation. Arrested development. Delusion. Bullying. Dissociation. Paranoia. Repression. Obsession. Avarice. Egotism. Insecurity. Pathological lying. God complex. Megalomania. Misogyny. Sociopathy.
Do any of these words describe Republicans you know, either personally or as elected or appointed officials? Perhaps more than one term applies in any number of cases. I am not a psychiatrist, psychologist or sociologist. But I do have common sense and a long memory. I saw the seeds of many of these behaviours among Republican voters, commentators, candidates and office holders about the time Ronald Reagan came to power. Now, these behaviours dominate Republican discourse. They are mainstream.
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deathray5 months, 3 weeks ago
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Sarah Palin... has some qualities typical of authoritarian leaders, not to mention almost all of the traits found among authoritarian followers. Specifically, such followers can be described as follows:
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submissive to authority
aggressive on behalf of authority
highly conventional in their behavior
highly religious
possessing moderate to little education
trusting of untrustworthy authorities
prejudiced (particularly against homosexuals and followers of religions other than their own)
mean-spirited
narrow-minded
intolerant
bullying
zealous
dogmatic
uncritical toward chosen authority
hypocritical
inconsistent and contradictory
prone to panic easily
highly self-righteous
moralistic
strict disciplinarians
severely punitive
demanding loyalty and returning it
possessing little self-awareness
usually politically and economically conservative/Republican
- John Dean
http://writ.news.findlaw.com/dean/20081031.html-
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Goppy5 months, 3 weeks ago
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I think that if you want to understand the 'pathology of the GOP Ideology' ... the quickest way to do so would be to scan this quick read.
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http://www.alternet.org/story/15935/
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deathray5 months, 3 weeks ago
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i'm not sure, for example, that i'd call obama dogmatic.
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he doesn't seem to panic easily
he appears to be remarkably self aware
he doesn't suffer from 'little or no education'
mean spirited? how?
many of the others could be debated, i suppose, depending on your point of view.
that quote is by john dean, and is properly attributed. maybe you can take this up with him. -
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billcorno5 months, 3 weeks ago
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I read a quote from a Republican-defender that Sarah Palin's intellect has put the Democrats on the defensive.
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My reaction was to conclude that nothing else he said was worth reading, but that's just my reaction. There are people out there that think Palin has "intellect." (I can guess, some Republicans.) -
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gamahuche5 months, 3 weeks ago
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FTA
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Every month, lately every week, features the GOP in a new public relations disaster. Jindal. Cheney. Specter. Ensign. Sanford. Palin. Each new incident brings out the gymnast in the GOP apologists and spin-doctors. The latest and strangest occurrence was Sarah Palin's pouty and abrupt resignation as Alaska's governor. Her ill-considered public ramblings equated continuing with quitting, quitting with winning, and leading with being driven from office - up-is-down, wrong-is-right Bizarro politics at its finest.
A child would typically reject these absurd notions, but a swath of educated, credentialed and popular GOP role players have the temerity to call this move "shrewd." Partially, this is institutional damage control, but a survey of various conservative blogs indicates an amazing degree of support and acceptance among some members of the rank and file who still love their Sarah. Republican strategist Ed Rollins had the honesty to call it political suicide, but when Ed Rollins is the voice of sweet reason, something is seriously wrong in the clubhouse.
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Ain't that the truth? -
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jaspersneed5 months, 3 weeks ago
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It can be argued that these pathological qualities appear at such a greater frequency among republicans and among republican politicians that the party's diminished stature with respect to democrats is directly attributable. Personally I wouldn't be so fast to make that judgement. While there is a distinct republican "flavor" to a lot of the items listed, for the most part these are more the qualities associated with sustaining political power in general, not just one party's version of it. "Pathological Lying", for example? Exhibit A: Nancy Pelosi. "Bullying"? -- Rahm Emmanuel, to name just one... Keep going down the list... there's no one attribute that is not as likely to appear among authoritarian types among the left as among the right.
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Republicans didn't get their well earned electoral drubbing simply because they're a bunch of pathological authoritarian sickos... They got it because THEY were the ones in power when the pooch got screwed. Democrats will get the same drubbing once again, a little later on, but again it will not be because of all the pathological, authoritarian democratic pooch screwers currently running around out there, of which there are as endless a supply as republicans... It will be because they'll have had their turn. It will be time to pass the pooch once more, from the sicko dems back to the pubs, and round 'n round we go...
Poor pooch.-
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jaspersneed5 months, 3 weeks ago
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There are other parties, as well as members of the two dominant ones who are not pathological, and there is also the ever hopeful potential for personal, cultural and ideological change and growth -- i.e., political "revolution" sans violence. A "plague on both your houses" can indeed mean opting out, if that's one's choice, but it doesn't mandate it. The "current system" is ours to make or remake, not something we are just handed and then stuck with, like the weather.
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Radiofreeeuropa5 months, 3 weeks ago
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Jasper, to be frank, plurality is needed here, but it will never happen. 2/3s of the electorate vote for party. The remaining 1/3 that can be swayed to either side determines the outcomes. Getting them to bother voting is not easy.
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Don't get me wrong, a multi party system is WAY better, but what 3rd party will ever have the resources and coffer to be any serious threat to the "2 party system"?
Much to be said for anarchists....
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antibrainwasher5 months, 3 weeks ago
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Why do cons keep putting intellectually defective candidates on the ballot, that's easy, they are in favor of disfuncional government. When government screws the pooch, its easy to scream about reducing government.
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Repugs have only one principle, to make the rich richer and the powerful more powerful. To destroy government by electing some warmongering war profiteer running a villiage chimpanzee idiot president, easy to confuse and control, the cons can ram through deregulation, and rape the economy and the middle and working classes, which is exactly what they did.
36,000 dead or injured americans don't mean a thing to cons, if it means they made one more dime on their exon stocks or lockheed martin stocks. Cons recognize there is no country, only corporations, and a military of evangelical morons to protect their billions.
Its the exact Saudi Arabia political model.
Stip all individual rights, especially from women and children, destroy public education, increase private schools for the priveleged children of the rich, increase military protection for corporate billionaires, and screw all non rich. Get the trailer trash to vote daddy totalitarian hate racist politics, and brainwash them to think the rich are virtuous and next to baby jesus. -
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Radiofreeeuropa5 months, 3 weeks ago
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Question. Has any candidate spent less money in a national election and won?
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I don't think so.
Sadly it's simple.
The best government money can buy.
Forget conservatism, liberalism, parties, etc.
It's all a diversion. The real issue is money-greed.
Demolish K street,give equal public access to media by political campaigns and generally remove the ability to BUY votes or the ubiquitous worthless ads... then maybe, just maybe you'd get honest good government.
You know even in the feudal society, every once in a while a monarch would be seated in a throne that didn't harm the population he ruled. -
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