Conservatives - They Scare Easily
By Steve Hynd Friday Sep 19, 2008 7:00amRightwingers scare more easily than liberals, according to a new study.
... participants were then given two laboratory tests, to establish their physiological responses to frightening or unexpected stimuli. In the first test, they viewed 33 images, three of which were distressing or threatening: a large spider on the face of a frightened person; a dazed person with a bloody face; and maggots in an open wound. The scientists measured the electrical conductance of the skin, a standard measure of distress and arousal.
In the second test, the volunteers were subjected to a loud, unexpected noise, with scientists measuring the involuntary blinking that followed. A strong startle response is indicative of heightened fear and arousal. The results, which are published in the journal Science, revealed significant differences in both responses, which corresponded with people’s political views. Those with “markedly lower physical sensitivity to sudden noises and threatening visual images” tended to support liberal positions, while those with strong responses tended to be more conservative.
This would fit with the hypothesis that people who have more fearful responses to perceived threats are more likely to be conservative, while those who have weaker responses develop more liberal views.
Jeebus, they went to all that trouble when they just could have asked Karl Rove? The GOP has been using fearmongering - on terrorism, evil axises, taxes, guns, God, gays etc etc - as a vote-getting tactic for how long now?
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Crossposted from Newshoggers
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This LINK is to the Lecture on TED dot com that this study comes from. It's morning to you there, take a few minutes (12) with your coffee and see what the how the people in the two different Ideologies differ between Liberals and Conservative. You'll see your self right away in the first minute.
I was dating a conservative for a while. Nice guy. We're still friends. It was amazing to see how differently he viewed the world. Now this is a brawny, 6'3" strong man. Yet internally he was perpetually fearful. He needed guns to protect him. He wanted to be able to carry a concealed gun. He was proud of having taught his daughter to use guns, and when I joked about his little Annie Oakley, he said that when this country was under attack she'd protect me. I looked at him incredulously. This was out of that hoaky movie "Red Dawn."
Personally I think that any Fat Cat severance package, where they are leaving their company worse off than they found it, henceforth, that has monetary value in excess of 6 figures should include a stipulation that they have their heads cut off.
Naturally you want this carefully drafted in law, since we are a nation of laws, right?
There are specialists who work up names for these sorts of laws.
Something like the Fat Cat Cranium Severance Package Act.
Or SCCSPA for short. As I say their others much better at this sort of thing.
So there is a correlation between the republican convention and adult diaper sales.
Lilybelle @ 2:
Sounds like my brother, owns 50+ guns, is rabid right-wing, and has 3 failed marriages. Hates gays vehemently though, and is completely against gay marriage or civil unions. I just look at him and just wonder what planet is he from?
NBC's Dateline also had a "revealing" expose of Right-Wingers.
You laugh now, but the monster in the closet hasn't eaten anyone since George Bush started illegal wiretapping ...
If there are still any half reasonably sane conservatives (an oxymoron) out there, show them this:
http://tinyurl.com/DontForgetToVote
I had to keep more lights on than I needed the entire time I put that together!
brown people, gays, immigrants, non-Christians, leebruls, and free thinking people everywhere.....Bedwetting Conservatives are afraid of everything and everyone that isn't white, straight and Chreestian. They're shadows are black so they're scared of those too.
I diaried on this yesterday at dkos and all I got was one comment.
Tell me true - is it my breath?
DFooK
♠♠...Bangkok Bob...♠♠ @ 1:
that's pretty interesting. thank you.
ConservativesRCowards @ 8:
I don't think there is such a thing as a conservative now, at least not in politics. It is "how much can I steal or give to my rich buddie?" and how can I hide it without getting caught. Any political party that calls themselves conservative, are usually the exact opposite. Favouring big government, massive spending, massive military spending. This is happening in most nations of the world. In Canada, our conservative party is the equivalent of the Republicans, except just a little less harsh. Our liberal party is actually more conservative. Go figure.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wHaDnhHFiJY
Speaking of "scared". I sure as hell hope the government of Canada does not follow the US lead on any of this stuff!!!!!!!!!
Sept. 19 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. government moved to cleanse banks of troubled assets and halt an exodus of investors from money markets in the biggest expansion of federal power over the financial system since the Great Depression.
``We're talking hundreds of billions,'' Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said in a press conference. ``This needs to be big enough to make a real difference and get to the heart of the problem.''
``This could be the biggest bailout in the history of the country and could ultimately cost $500 billion to $1 trillion,'' Shelby, the top Republican on the Senate Banking Committee, said in a Bloomberg Television interview today. ``Congress is not going to rubber stamp something.''
Anyone else hear that sound? It's the ticking of the clock on complete bankruptcy of the USA government. Now, you can be afraid. Really afraid.
And, the good ol' U.S. is apparently still bigoted when it comes to view about blacks. 40 percent, according to an AP poll.
They pay lip service and deny. Oh, not me But, in the recesses of their minds, even white Democrats would rather threaten the remaining semblance of social and constitutional freedoms than pull for a black man for president. Maybe it it time to head for Europe with my grandchildren who are essentially....white!
LET'S INCLUDE: FEAR OF THE BLACK MAN
Well, at least it's out. Now we can deal with it.
ConcernedCanuck @ 14:
the heart of the problem is greed?
My husband and I were talking about movies and books many years ago, and I mentioned Stephen King. He said, "It is easy to make people afraid. What is hard is to write something that will make people feel joy."
Now consider the difference between the Republican party and Democratic party conventions. Where did you see fear? Where did you see joy? Who is working harder for this country's future?
Right wing whackos have always needed a "boogeyman" to be happy. It's already been mentioned that conservatives are hard to find these days...some people thrive on fear.
One tends to be scared of what they dislike such as gays, people of color, gun control, poor people and the truth.
These folks enjoy the safety of the space under their beds.
CoIntelPro for Pronktastic Victory Over SCLM, DIEBOLD, ESS and SEQUOIA! @ 17:
Thank you! I have been saying that and I sure hope Dennis can understand that is why I pointed that out to him specifically. I also believe that he harbors bigotry because of some small slips that he probably didn't understand were self-revealing but are apparent to someone who has been under the racial gun, so to speak.
Denial is no way to deal with the issue and until a large percentage of U.S. Citizens overcome that hurdle it never will be dealt with adequately.
I'm about as liberal as anyone can be but if I were shown a photo of a spider on someones face, I would recoil. Am I really a closet conservative? Yikes! That thought is even scarier than the spider photo would be.
Thank you for posting this. ♠♠...Bangkok Bob...♠♠ @ 1:
CoIntelPro for Pronktastic Victory Over SCLM, DIEBOLD, ESS and SEQUOIA! @ 17:
Yes, I think so. I really fear for the aftershocks of the Empire collapsing. This isn't Rome or the United Kingdom. This is the most globally entrenched empire in the history of man and it is sliding into the abyss faster than an avalanche on a mountain. And the greedy "leaders" look to be trying to pocket as much as possible before the gravy train ends, rather than fix the economic problems.
Lisa @ 22:
DumbF**kIstan
hahahahahahahahaha
chicano2nd @ 20:
dense dennis is a lost cause.
How many Americans have died this century from Terrorist attacks compared to auto accidents, cancer or even lawn darts?
Accepting for a minute the crazy notion that Bush actually told us the truth about what really happened on 911, (crazed Muslims with boxcutters circumvented our multi-billion $ air defense systems without any inside help), Im willing to take my chances.
But the conservative mantra?
I DONT CARE IF YOU TAKE AWAY ALL MY RIGHTS AND LIBERTY! JUST DONT LET THE BAD TERRORISTS HURT ME!
(SNIFF)
ConcernedCanuck @ 23:
it won't be dramatic or explosive if we can wrest the reins from these megalomaniacs. the world, however, is poised to water and fertilize the soil of our self-destructive tendencies. the US is going to be foreign-owned, lock stock and barrel. states and cities are about to sell their infrastructure. after 30 years of continuous political and media hatred for the american worker, the mindset for the solution will probably include some form of 3rd-world "enslavement" of the middle-class(those who can retain that status) and potentially government action against the poor, starting with minorities. internally, we are divided and are still easily manipulated. (witness this thread and the various points being made.)
scary thing is: germany had to build itself into a threat. we are a threat moving to the end of empire and already quite well armed.
MK Ultra @ 26:
Actually, I think that mantra goes more like:
I HATE OTHERS WHO ARE NOT LIKE ME
AND BECAUSE I HATE THEM, THEY MUST HATE ME.
CoIntelPro for Pronktastic Victory Over SCLM, DIEBOLD, ESS and SEQUOIA! @ 28:
Agreed ...... What ever happened to the Strong Americans who said:
"Give Me Liberty, Or Give Me Death"!
I don't think that looking at the problem as being conservative is very helpful, however. I try to point out to so called "social conservatives" that I, through my cultural upbringing, am more conservative in many ways. I value my extended family. Religion is very important to many of my fellow Chicanos (they don't like me calling them that but in many ways they are dense and don't understand the power of definition) although I question whether god is a male noun, female noun, or is god a verb! Community is very important to me also. Am I a socialist because I do believe it takes a "village to raise a child?" I see someone doing something wrong and I will confront (maybe it will get me shot one of these days!) At least I believe I am active.
My babe frightens very easily. She is very conservative. Can't understand why anyone would alter their perceptions with alcohol or any other substance (yeah, I smoked while in the naval hospital corps overseas and Nam). But she sees right through Palin although I have sit through her blessings of each of our meals (she attended Catholic schools K-12).
The point is that the white, republican phyche is the problem. The are very greedy. They are very selfish - they are thinking only of their littles selves when the end comes and hope, despite their violation of Christian doctrine, they hope their appeals to the higher order after each screw up will "save" them in the end. Tell them someone wants what they have and they will not share (he will raise your taxes equal bogey man!) Conservative white democrats do equal conservative republicans. And, finally, they are very reactive!
RepubAnon @ 7:
And how long had it been since that "monster" had "eaten" anyone beforehand (I assume "monster" doesn't include those far-right nut-jobs like McVeigh)? Yeah, things are scary when you don't have logic and evidence on your side, aren't they?
Now, I'm confused. If conservatives scare more easily, then why aren't they terrified of Sarah Palin? She sure as hell scares the shit out of me!
I think of her as governor of a state and my hands tremble. Vice presidential candidate? The knees start knocking. Actual vice president? Face tics, high blood pressure, elevated pulse. John McCain dies of stupidity and Palin takes over? I'm frozen, unable to move, soon my heart stops.
This study is self-evident to us, but on a different level I know this to be true of my own Mother. The more real information that I send her, the more frightened she becomes and the less she wants to hear it.
She might consider herself a conservative or she might just vote R from habit; I don't know. I do know that her fall back position is always "they are all the same" or "eeny meeny".
Freedumb ain't free
terrists are gonna getcha!
bob @ 5:
Remember when all of the NRA types claimed that they kept guns in case some insidious force took over the government and subverted the Constitution?
Maybe somebody should tell them....
This explains a lot in regards to my mother...she has always been a very nervous, high-strung person. She's a conservative Republican, and she watches Faux Noise almost 24/7. The only time she isn't watching it is when she watches her 2 soaps. And it just seems like she's become more nervous and high-strung as the years go by. (And wacky side-note...she and my father just spent over $2000 upgrading to a big ol' HD TV...and she uses it to watch Faux. I don't get it, what a waste of money.)
The only thing, though, is that I've inherited a lot of her anxiety issues, but I'm a firmly progressive individual who has programmed Faux Noise out of my favorites list on my cable. I can't even discuss politics with my mother because we're so diametrically opposed. (Holy crap, you should have seen it when I called Faux "a bunch of liars," you would have thought I'd personally insulted her!) So I'm glad to not be fitting into what this study found!
RepubAnon @ 7:
tell that to the children in iraq afganistan , the terrior that comes in the night dressed in us cammos! breaks in your door , dragges your parents off to be murdered , monsters ,closets ! what planet were you boen on?
born!
This study isn't exactly something new but it just proves what we all know. If you look at most right wingers they are in fact cowards when it comes to anything that they perceive as a threat. Then, when confronted by that threat what is the first thing they do? They look for someone to confront it for them. Liberals on the hand, usually tend to be involved or have been involved in life threatening situations. Most that I have seen are firefighters, nurses, soldiers, police, etc. Why, just yesterday I experienced how true that study is. My friend and I were looking up information on a particular bacteria because a relative of his may have it. The bacteria was regarding the super-bug called MRSA. We looked at the pictures and to us, having dealt with many forms of nauseating scenes while on the job, we were unmoved by the pictures. However, when a right winger approached I thought he was going to puke.
♠♠...Bangkok Bob...♠♠ @ 29:
They are dead. :)
GOP Conservatives = paranoid inadequates
Donuts
RancidVenison @ 31:
9/11 doesn't happen if the fucking scheming, draft-dodging cowards read a goddamned PDB and if they follow up on the FBI agent's request to examine the fucking laptop.
looks like someone needs a clue.
Mick Piobr @ 35:
I am an NRA member. Nice to have their little stickers on my car and windows at my house. I would probably stick out like a sore thumb in a meeting of an NRA group and if I opened my mouth and gave them my thoughts on the Constitution, and particularly the 2nd Amendment, they would probably turn their guns on me. But it is instructive to receive their emails and mailings. Gives me more insight to most of their mindsl.
RepubAnon @ 7:
Really!? What about those Aryan Nation fucks that were planning to asassinate Obama?
Oh, right; they were probably patriots in your opinion, right?
chicano2nd @ 44:
Thats funny...probably a good idea too. I'd just rather not give my money to that bunch.
You must have a strong stomach. :^P
So....
biology as the basis for political disagreement rears its ugly head again.
Jesus, you'd think the defeat of the Axis would have killed that off.
And incidentally, the only reason the Left lacks any sort of balls today is that it has gone far too soft after the revolutionaries of the 1910s.
ConcernedCanuck @ 23:
The British Empire was more deeply entrenched than we were.
Your argument is bad.
This really is a no-brainer, especially if you look back at the political dialogue of the past 7 years.
Conservatism by is very definition is an ideology of the insecure.
Conservatives are neophobes, liberals are neophiles.
CoIntelPro for Pronktastic Victory Over SCLM, DIEBOLD, ESS and SEQUOIA! @ 25:
Yeah, I do have to agree. Sometimes I feel sorry for him, even as late as last night. But, I read his last comment on the a prior thread and he still believes that Hannity held a "hard-hitting" interview with Palin and claims Keith throws softballs at Democrat interviewees. The fact of the matter is that most republicans are deathly afraid to be interviewed by him period!
♠♠...Bangkok Bob...♠♠ @ 29:
They died without freeing their slaves.
I agree 100% - Chicken-Ass = Conservative!
it makes perfect sense to me!
Mick Piobr @ 46:
Maybe a strong stomache is a good way to put it. I did have to join to qualify for a course which then enabled me to carry a concealed weapon. If all hell breaks lose I'd like to think I would be ready for that. I do deal with a lot of desperate sociopathic types too on a daily basis so my bullets are not only reserved for those crazy right-wing nuts. Desperate times and conditions do call for desperate solutions however.....I Blackwater comes a calling!
The 2 tenants of conservatism are Fear and Greed.
They're nasty, overgrown children.
oh really @ 32:
That gawd-awful voice is soothing to their membranes.
An important point is that this work appears in Science -- *the* top scientific journal. Anecdote and comments by Keith Olbermann are one thing, but this is hard scientific proof.
chicano2nd @ 50:
I dunno... I think that dennis just likes to kick people while they're down.
People are really hurting badly and that little weenie goes to a liberal blog and spouts his misinformation and talking points...
Here is a little something that the right wingers will fear. That is, if they ever bother to pay attention to it. This financial crisis is a lot worse than people think. Here are some of the quotes regarding the latest Federal Reserve/Treasury meeting in Congress:
Congressional Leaders Stunned by Warnings
“When you listened to him describe it you gulped," said Senator Charles E. Schumer, Democrat of New York.
As Senator Christopher J. Dodd, Democrat of Connecticut and chairman of the Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, put it Friday morning on the ABC program “Good Morning America,” the congressional leaders were told “that we’re literally maybe days away from a complete meltdown of our financial system, with all the implications here at home and globally.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/20/washington/19cnd-cong.html?_r=1&hp=&pa...
Joe O. @ 58:
What? People thought the worst of this has gone through, yet?
The shit won't hit the fan perhaps for a couple of months at the Rainbows and Pixies out our asses brand of optimism, but regardless, it will hit the fan.
Joe O. @ 58:
Congratulations, Repukes! Your policies over the last four decades has ruined USA standing worldwide and wrecked us at home!
That which the USSR was unable to accomplish has been done by the good ole BuyBull thumpin cree-yist-yin GOP.
Mick Piobr @ 60:
No, this came directly from trying to best the USSR.
Again, bad argument.
Mick Piobr @ 35:
People own guns because of some sick, twisted fantasy that one day, they too will get to kill someone and be hailed as a hero for "defending their family".
Of course, in reality, only 8 out of every 1000 licensed, registered gun owners who shoot someone will be "heroes", and 2 of them will be cops. The other 992 will just be murderers.
Commentator @ 61:
Nah, it is the simple need for a lot of white males for a penis extender, and some white females to get some sort of power trip.
Guns offer that.
I always get that same condescending tirade by some of the NRA gun nuts I know: that I somehow bow down to them because they will protect me and my rights. And all that bullshit, as if they were doing me a fucking favor. I ask them if they have taken a look at the bill of rights lately and politely tell them to STFU.
I think the root cause of the problems so-called "conseratives" have is their religion - as most of them "claim" to be Christians. But, Religion, almost any religion, is merely a system put in place to control folks - and it is usually always based upon FEAR.
Fear of God, fear of the Devil, fear of unclean women, fear of people who don't pray the right way, fear of folks who eat the wrong foods on the wrong days, etc. etc.,
You get the idea. People are are raised in religious families and are very pious, pretty much have this crap seared right into what little gray matter they own.
There was a great Rogers and Hammerstaiun song from South Pacific, "You Have to be Carefully Taught."
Part of the lyric is: "you have to be taught from year to year, it has to be drummed in your dear little ear;" "you have to be taught by 7 or 8, to hate all the people your relatives hate." Ergo go conservatives begat more of the same.
How ironic is it that science is conirming the odd behavior/ideology connection of these science-fearing conservatives by suggesting that fear is at the ROOT of their problem ?
Amitola @ 63:
That's more or less accurate, none of the Great religions, and I mean None with a capital "N" are adapted to 21st Century society, they are all archaic.
We need a modern update of religion to make it co-incide with the demands of a computer-driven society, instead of agricultural slavery-driven societies.
chicano2nd @ 20:
Chicano- Dude, you need to forget about me. Even when I'm not here you have to talk about me. I'm not your problem. And I'm not racist- I may not understand your problems fully or know what it's like, but it doesn't make me a racist not to think like you do. Tell me any slip-ups that were insensitive and I may apologize.
i see no posts from 'dennis'.
wonder if he's scared.
guess not.
chicano2nd @ 50:
I absolutely did not say Hannity gave a hard-hitting interview. I said none of Olbermann's interviews to any Dems, esp. Obama recently, were no more hard-hitting, and that he had no room to poke fun at the Hannity/Palin interview. Talk behind me when I'm not here, but please have the decency to quote me accurately. It takes no time to c&P the quote.
♠♠...Bangkok Bob...♠♠ @ 1:
"Website currently unavailable". Hmmmmm.....
C. Hussein Jr @ 67:
You never address me when I am here. Brave of you to do it when I'm not.
"The scientists measured the electrical conductance of the skin, a standard measure of distress and arousal."
Well, just maybe it wasn't distress they were registering in response to graphic disturbing images, but arrousal. Like Bush, Cheyney and Rumsfeld (probably Condi too) getting stiffies watching the torture videos.
chicano2nd @ 15:
That was a VERY enlightening poll. I had not realized that most Independents are actually more bigoted than your average Republican. In light of this, I really don't see how Obama has much chance of capturing the Independent vote.
http://news.yahoo.com/page/election-2008-political-pulse-obama-race
Yup, Yup, Yup.....scared AND dumb. Known it for awhile. Throw in some racism, bigotry and irrational beliefs in things like Noah's Ark and Creationism. and you've got Fundamentalist Christian Extremism, an excuse to kill and pillage.........condoned by the sheep that are following America to the promise-land, err, make that the wasteland.
dennis @ 69:
Your words are on the other post Dennis as are my responsive words. The fact of the matter is you are all over this site. When you leave, you words are still here. And, its like the sun comming up, we know you can't help yourself and you will be back!
I'm convinced their scaredy-cattedness is why conservatives have such hard-ons for guns. I know liberals who have guns, but they don't fetishize them the way cons do, or think that having a gun will solve all their problems.
I am curious to know as to what the estimated percentages of these two groups, those that scare easily and those that don't, are in the U.S. population.
I don't know about this suspect study. I'm scared to death. I consider myself a liberal/progressive and I'm scared to death of a Palin-McCain administration. I can't imagine that any conservative is more frightened than I am.
Ask Rove? How? We'll be partying with the Higgs Boson before you get an answer out of that fool. Go with science, folks. That way you don't need a subpoena.
General Pavel Rennenkampf Xocoyotzin @ 65:
I was thinking more on the order of doing away with "religion" - i.e., the philosophical/moral doctrines that require a sky genie to be responsible for everything that happens to humans or is done by humans.
Besides, once "they" turn the power off, computers won't be our gods anymore!
dennis@60
Face it Dennis...your party is dying and truly represents a part of the American past that none of us should ever want to go back to again. IT'S AN ALL WHITE PARTY! The GOP's base consists of exclusive white people who simply fear and dislike minorities....you can't deny it. If you believe it is ok for your party to win a National election basically ignoring it's black citizens and other voting blocks(modern day Jim Crow), well you're just as responsible as the MANY bigots in your party. I would NEVER support an all black political organization that ignored the views and feelings of the diverse citizens and groups it should represent.
Axes. The plural of axis is axes, "ax-ees."
But then that would have ruined your rhyme.
/enginerd
//whose mother brought him as a toddler to civil rights protests in 1969
///but after 9-11 she is a Lou Dobbs acolyte, and is scared when there are too many brown people in the bank
////cries
So some "statistic" makes headlines because it's polarizing and it's election season. It's circle jerk political fluff pieces like this that make sites like freerepublic.com make me want to hurl, and then theres always the left equivalent that the mirror image blogs (such as this one, occasionally) post.
No wonder politics are ignored by so many, self righteous bullshit like this replaces discussion on real issues for both parties.
pissed off patricia @ 21:
The article mentions that the tests "measured the electrical conductance of the skin, a standard measure of distress and arousal."
I draw a different set of conclusions: clearly conservatives are sexually aroused by the suffering of others.
pissed off patricia @ 21:
Correlation does not equal causation. Conservatives like to brag about a study that shows that Liberals don't hug their children as much as the conservatives and other right wingers. For some reason they always get mad when I show them the statistics for right-wingers being pedophiles almost immediately afterward.
However, I can show, without polls, that conservatives are at their core, insecure little bitches.
bob @ 5:
he probably is gay and hates it and therefore hates everything around him including women -- 3 failed marriages really says something.
"Conservatives - they scare easily." Nice. I'm using that in my future arguments with obstinate conservatives.
John Dean wrote about this very subject in Conservatives Without Conscience.
Just like what Salon said about Phil Gramm, Republican economic advisor to Republican McCain. From Salon: "What killed Gramm in '96 was not that he's hypocritical or too ambitious or ugly or even condescending. What killed him was that he has a deeply gloomy view of the world. Gramm lives on fear. We're on an escalator to hell. His presidential campaign was premised on the notion that America would be unrecognizable in 20 years unless he was elected president. He was not capable of explaining how he would inspire America to magnificence, only how he would prevent disaster. Raised in miserable economic circumstances by a chilly, ambitious mother, Gramm never trusts that anything will get better. He sees enemies everywhere. This was a fine world view for the Senate, which is the great negative body in American politics. In the Senate, one man has the power to stop the world from turning, if he tries hard enough. It is heaven for a naysayer like Gramm." Good Riddance To The Naysayer. http://www.slate.com/id/114972/
Not surprised his deregulation policies are tanking bigtime.
well, conservatives want to be protected from every potential Boogey Man - like Homer Simpson hiding behind a mattress with the kids: "Marge, there may be a Boogey Man or Men around". They are the party of National inSecurity.
Republican President GW Bush :
"I don"t know where bin Laden is. I have no idea and really don"t care. It"s not that important. It"s not our priority."
- G.W. Bush, 3/13/02
"I am truly not that concerned about him."
- G.W. Bush, repsonding to a question about bin Laden"s whereabouts,
3/13/02 (The New American, 4/8/02)
Amitola @ 81:
Good luck, the Communists had the better part of a century to try to erase Christianity, Islam, and Buddhism from their control. The religions are still ticking.
Better to just modernize than go through Stalin all over again.
Wonder what the study said about Libertarians?
Joe O. @ 39:
Must be why I'm a nurse. The more disgusting and messy, the better. I've only been on the verge of vomiting once and that
involved an abdominal fistula and it was due to the smell. I'd wonder if our wound care nurses are all libs? Anyway, I love my
job. I also think this applies to teachers. My husband teaches high school special education, usually his students are mentally
challenged. Many of students have physical issues as well. You can't be a big pussy and do what we do. I'm still amazed at the
people that are fearful or suspicious of the mentally challenged.
Not entirely right there... Brits are more conservative than you guys and they do not scare easily.
This is old news, everyone knows that people hiding behind " the magical being" or laws or army is little more that a frightened pussy. Take linsey gramm, grab that little war-monger by the neck and watch him piss his pants, their all the same, chicken-shits using the law,god and the army as their ' mommy and daddy to protect them from the big scary world.-CEO
As a progressive minded individual, the theory presented in the UK Times article certainly fit the way we think of conservatives, but as a scientist who has done emotion research using those physio measures, the article seems to me to be taking rather big liberties with correlational findings.
There's no reason at all from what I've read so far to leap to the conclusion that it must be genetic and cannot be a product of a person's environment. Startle response and GSR used this way measure sensitivity to cues of impending punishment, not fearfulness per se; in fact they correlate better with trait anxiety, which can be but is not always expressed as fear.
Moreover there is conflicting evidence as to whether those measures can dissociate fear from disgust reactions, so it's also a bit of a leap to claim it must be fearfulness.
Anyway, anxiety can certainly be taught - just look at all the vets coming back from the war with PTSD. Those poor devils no doubt have startle and GSR responses through the roof right now, and you couldn't claim that it's genetic.
More to the current point - an upbringing in a strict household with authoritarian parents, such as you could expect to be correlated with both conservatism and strong religiosity, could certainly produce an anxious child even if he or she wasn't genetically inclined to turn out that way.
I'm willing to bet that the type of conservatives you'd recruit in Lincoln, Nebraska overwhelmingly come from authoritarian, fundamentalist backgrounds, and I would be very curious to see whether physio responses can still predict political beliefs after childhood upbringing is controlled for.
Hey, don't get me wrong - I would think finding that fundamentalism produces more anxious children is very interesting too - but I'd need to see more than this in order to conclude that it's all due to hardwired traits.
Anyway...I'm going to have to pull out the actual journal article to see which of these hasty leaps of reasoning are coming from the scientists and which from the reporters.
Just watch this. GOP terrorism!!
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kcz4_JL5b7c" title="GOP technique to spread fear"
Just watch this. GOP terrorism!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kcz4_JL5b7c
Scare-de-cat republicans is not news to me. But, I always thought they were deficient in the empathy gene. And since they tend to go in lock step behind any bully w/o questioning authority, scapegoat anyone different from them, practice outrageous hypocrisy, and generally are a nasty, fearful group--I steer clear of them. [Which is pretty hard to do living in Texas.]
Insects, spiders and snakes don't bother me. As a girl living in the Puget Sound of Wa. no need to fear the varmints. Then moved to Texas and learned to stay out of bushes, shake out your clothes, sheets, shoes, etc. It is just the boogy man in the shadows that scares me.
General Pavel Rennenkampf Xocoyotzin @ 48:
Your argument is that of a teen/youngster that has never experienced anything. You have knowledge, you know governments and the rich elite lie 110% of the time, yet you claim to know all about history from reading other people's fables and stories. It doesn't work that way in the real world. I've been around long enough to know the difference, because, I'm still part of the United Kingdom technically, and no, the United Kingdom was NEVER involved, instigating, tied globally as the US is. Never. So your "scholar" argument is bad.
man! I've been saying this for years.. even in my comments on this site. Nice to see some research that agrees with what I thought was always obvious :)))
Has anybody else noticed that today's real-life Republicans look like the movie versions of bad cops, corrupt corporate directors and arrogant, ignorant city officials which we have seen over the last 35-40 years?
Who is imitating whom?
I suspect the GOP didn't like the look of Perry Mason way back in the 60s - too mavericky by half - so they decided to play the part of Hamilton Burger instead.
Anything rather than get the job done.
Not surprising given that an overwhelming majority of our Republican 'leaders' are chickenhawks. I do know many Repubs that are or have served in the military or are police officers, firemen or serve in some form of dangerous occupation. That they allow themselves to be fooled by the leaders of their party is sad. I don't feel any animosity toward these people. They truly believe that they are making a wise choice based on how they view the world. Doesn't make it right and it's not a wise choice but at least they are not making their choice based on greed. The ones that I feel a total lack of respect and complete disdain for are those neocons that have no compassion for people in the middle or poorer classes and vote Republican simply because they are, for now, empowered. Give their choice another four years and they too will find themselves among the poor. And they will be the first ones in line screaming for justice.
Mick Piobr @ 60:
You know what's going to happen if Obama is elected, don't you? By then the economic shit storm is REALLY going to hit the fan and all the Republicans will be blaming him. Just like they blamed Clinton 3 years after he was gone for the economic downward trend during Bush's presidency.
Impeach cheney and bush @ 102:
It's those spooks in our Shadow Government that scare me.
Dang! KO really tells it like it is. Forgive Dubya for trying to scare us? Sure, with a rope around his freakin' neck!!!!!!!!!
I think conservatives are more scared because they get all their news and information from the echo-chamber (Fox and other Murdoch operations , talk radio, etc.)
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