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indianablue Donating Member (558 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jan-14-05 08:37 PM
Original message
40 % of Americans are just plain idiots.
I read today even after Bush, Inc officially acknowledges no WMD in Iraq, 40 % still believe we did find them.

I remember in the run up to the war after Powell speech seeing little old ladies being worried it was just ridiculous.
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sarcasmo Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jan-14-05 08:39 PM
Response to Original message
1. I live with one and she is my wife.
My wife has drank to much kool aid and can not be deprogrammed.
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indianablue Donating Member (558 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jan-14-05 08:40 PM
Response to Reply #1
3. I know my sister and bro and law have been so ..
Foxed they can not even think for themselves.
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liwkenne Donating Member (64 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jan-14-05 08:58 PM
Response to Reply #1
17. Don't lose hope
My wife was never fully brainwashed by the Cult of the Chimp, but I was afraid she was headed in that direction. Luckily, she stayed open to reason and persuasion.

Deprogramming is possible. Don't give up.

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newyawker99 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Jan-15-05 03:27 PM
Response to Reply #17
32. Hi liwkenne!!
Welcome to DU!! :toast:
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liwkenne Donating Member (64 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Jan-15-05 06:21 PM
Response to Reply #32
38. Thank you!
It's great to have a place like this to communicate with people who actually THINK. I'm afraid the next four years will be difficult and depressing with our Chimp-in-Chief at the helm, but DU will help me keep my sanity!

Thanks again! :hi:
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GreenPartyVoter Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jan-14-05 11:05 PM
Response to Reply #1
25. My hubby drank it too. :^(
------------------------------------------------------
Join the new Boston Tea Party!
http://timeforachange.bluelemur.com/index.htm#shopping
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Maine-ah Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Jan-15-05 04:31 PM
Response to Reply #1
35. LOL
my husband had the kool-aid before the war was started, I managed to show him the way, he now yells about it more than I do now. :hippie:
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DrWeird Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jan-14-05 08:40 PM
Response to Original message
2. 50% are below average intelligence.
nt
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RafterMan Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jan-14-05 08:48 PM
Response to Reply #2
10. Median
Just like 50% of our kids can't do math at median grade level.
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DrWeird Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jan-14-05 08:49 PM
Response to Reply #10
12. I heard that was true for kids in the South.
No surprises there.
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Wrinkle_In_Time Donating Member (664 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jan-14-05 11:04 PM
Response to Reply #12
24. Not only that, but some people ...
... don't know what "average", "median" and "50%" mean. Oh, and they probably don't know what "mean" means. :P

50% of every population are below average intelligence, even if they don't come from "The South". *sigh*

Wrinkle in Time... don't we all?
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newyawker99 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Jan-15-05 03:28 PM
Response to Reply #24
33. Hi Wrinkle_In_Time!!
Welcome to DU!! :toast:
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RafterMan Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Jan-15-05 05:01 PM
Response to Reply #24
37. Grrr
That, back at you.

50% are below the median, not the average. If you have four people with incomes of $0, $0, $1 and $1 million, the average income is $250k, but 75% of the people are below it.

50% are below *median* intelligence, not mean.
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DemBones DemBones Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jan-14-05 11:34 PM
Response to Reply #12
30. Hey, 50% of Southern kids are above the median!

Some are actually smart.
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Clark2008 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Jan-15-05 06:37 PM
Response to Reply #12
41. I am so FUCKING tired of the Southern bashing here!
Edited on Sat Jan-15-05 06:38 PM by Clark2008
For YOUR information, my SOUTHERN BORN AND RAISED child is 5 years old - and can already read AND do math. I was born and raised here, too, and I could read at 3 and 1/2 and do math at 5.

I really wish you'd start sniping at your own prejudices and start working to help educate some other Southerners about Shrub. The problem is our lack of independent media in the South.

:mad:
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ZombieNixon Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jan-14-05 11:17 PM
Response to Reply #2
28. Odd, because I heard that
50% are above average intelligence. How can they both be true? ;)
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Clark2008 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Jan-15-05 06:43 PM
Response to Reply #28
42. Good one, Zombie!! :o) n/t
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indigobusiness Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jan-14-05 08:40 PM
Response to Original message
4. The level of thinking and discourse is appalling.
Edited on Fri Jan-14-05 08:44 PM by indigobusiness
Whatever one thinks of Europe, there is no comparison to the level of education compared to the relatively ignorant US.

The reason Bush is despised in Europe is because they refused to buy the crap that sells here, in the way of spin and propaganda.
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indianablue Donating Member (558 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jan-14-05 08:42 PM
Response to Reply #4
6. I know i have been to Europe when in the Navy and other places.
The average american is a complete idiot. BY idiot I mean they coudl care less about anything so in that way they r idiots
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indigobusiness Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jan-14-05 08:48 PM
Response to Reply #6
11. Notice I didn't say "stupid"?
I said "ignorant".

People in Europe apply themselves to a higher quality of learning. They often learn many languages, know more about history and the overall dangers of ignorance.
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EVDebs Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jan-14-05 08:42 PM
Response to Original message
5. The vote says it all ... turnout was 60% which means that 40%
either didn't vote at all or had their ballots tossed in the garbage can. The origin of the Greek word idiot is enlightening

http://www.heir.org/opidiot.htm

"Our word "idiot" comes from the Greek word for a private person uninvolved in public affairs. The Greeks thought any free man who failed to interest himself in his own present and future was an idiot."
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Downtown Hound Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jan-14-05 08:43 PM
Response to Original message
7. Yep. n/t
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Trajan Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jan-14-05 08:44 PM
Response to Original message
8. 40 % ....
ONLY 40 % ? ...

Is THAT all ? ...

You are quite mistaken : try 70 % at least ....
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killbotfactory Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jan-14-05 08:45 PM
Response to Original message
9. Yes.
Yes they are.
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donheld Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jan-14-05 08:52 PM
Response to Original message
13. forget the little old ladies
I know grown younger men and women who were out of their wits scared.
:eyes::eyes::eyes:
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Cronus Protagonist Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jan-14-05 08:53 PM
Response to Original message
14. The bell curve of intelligence never lies
Although there's more like, um, 50% below the average.





http://brainbuttons.com/home.asp?stashid=13
Buttons for brainy people - educate your local freepers today!

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barb162 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jan-14-05 08:53 PM
Response to Original message
15. at least 40%
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El Supremo Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jan-14-05 08:56 PM
Response to Original message
16. Not only are they idiots...
But they prefer to vote for them.

Somebody tell me why anybody, idiot or not, would rather have somebody not smarter than them be their leader.
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HysteryDiagnosis Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jan-14-05 09:01 PM
Response to Original message
18. 5% are grade "A" fancy idiots. eom
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OnionPatch Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jan-14-05 09:01 PM
Response to Original message
19. Do you have a link for this?
I heard it on the radio but can't find it in print. I'd like to put it in a newsletter I work on.
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moggie12 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jan-14-05 09:05 PM
Response to Original message
20. Only 40% are idiots?? Who's buying all those Chia-Pets? n/t
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DELUSIONAL Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jan-14-05 09:06 PM
Response to Original message
21. I used to wonder how someone like Hitler could fool
so many people.

As a teenager I used to ask how one group of humans could be so cruel to another group of humans based on rather arbitrary criteria.

Sometimes I wish I hadn't asked this question -- because I really don't like the answer. Americans can become just like the Germans who treated Hitler like a god.

Also seemingly normal people can be taken in by cult leaders.

The Corporate Media is horribly guilty in "producing" the myth of Der Bushita.

Sometimes it seems like the only sane people are here at DU (except for the disrupter and freeper trouble makers).
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Demeter Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jan-14-05 09:09 PM
Response to Original message
22. Only 40%? I demand a recount!
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yinkaafrica Donating Member (535 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jan-14-05 09:51 PM
Response to Original message
23. Perhaps they are mean spirited bastards
those stupid fuckers abound
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lojasmo Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jan-14-05 11:07 PM
Response to Original message
26. 70% of americans polled believed Sadam was behind 9-11
Your numbers are optimistic.
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NVMojo Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jan-14-05 11:09 PM
Response to Original message
27. the sad part is, youdon't have to look too far to meet one of these
40% in person. They are everywhere.
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NRaleighLiberal Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jan-14-05 11:17 PM
Response to Original message
29. Why should anyone be surprised?? Have you seen the complete...
garbage that comprises 95% of what is on TV....I suspect many, many people have forgotten nature, taking walks, reading books, listening to music, conversing with their spouse, kids or friends to stare at the silly box, be sold to, lied to, etc. Disgusting.
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ComingTogether Donating Member (12 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jan-14-05 11:50 PM
Response to Original message
31. I think its more of a reflection on the corrupt media
I hate our media
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NAO Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Jan-15-05 04:03 PM
Response to Original message
34. Just consider how stupid the average person is...
...by definition half of them are even stupider than that!.

So a more accurate percentage of idiots in America would be:

"the average person" (which is stunningly stupid)= 1% +

"the half of them that are even stupider than that = 50%

Total percentage of stupid people = 51%

The outcome of the 2004 Election actually makes perfect sense, and was accurately predicted to within 1% by this mathematical/statistical model.
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rumpel Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Jan-15-05 04:57 PM
Response to Original message
36. Here is an article excerpt that might interest you...
by John W. Dean

snip

A few days before the election, I got some insight into the thinking of Bush voters, when I listened to a call-in by a liberal community college instructor, to a conservative radio show.

The caller explained that she was a periodic listener who thought the host was honest, though she seldom agreed with his beliefs. She recounted a conversation with two of her colleagues. She said they were intelligent, politically active Bush supporters.

The caller had told her friends that no weapons of mass destruction existed in Iraq, and that this had recently been confirmed in the report of President Bush's envoy Charles Duelfer. But her colleagues insisted there had indeed been WMD, and cited the same Duelfer report.

The caller had also told her friends that there was no connection between al Qaeda and Saddam Hussein's Iraq - and pointed out that Vice President Cheney had admitted as much in the Vice Presidential debate, and that the 9/11 Commission's report had so found. But her friends insisted there had indeed been such a relationship; that Cheney had misspoken, and she was wrong about the 9/11 Commission's report.

Where did her two colleagues get their factually erroneous information? The caller explained that they attended the same evangelical church, and got their information from a sermon their minister had given on the subject.

The talk show host conceded that the caller was correct on all of the points she'd raised. And then he made a comment to this effect: "This isn't the first time I have had callers raise this nonsense being spread from the pulpit. Now I am a Christian, but I am not an ignorant Christian. What in the world are they thinking spreading this erroneous junk information?"

snip

The term "separate realities" isn't mine - it comes from an important and incisive October 21, 2004 report by the Program on International Policy Attitudes and the Center for Intentional and Security Studies at the University of Maryland, entitled "The Separate Realities of Bush and Kerry Supporters."

Importantly, this study wasn't funded by partisan political groups. To the contrary, it was underwritten by the Rockefeller Brothers Fund and the Ford Foundation.

The report's findings are stark: Bush and Kerry supporters agree that the U.S. should not have gone to war if there were no weapons of mass destruction or if there was no support of Al Qaeda by Saddam. But - like the colleagues of the caller mentioned earlier - other Bush supporters have closed their eyes to the reality that, in fact, there were no WMD, and there was no Al Qaeda connection.

According to the report, Bush supporters have similarly rejected the reality that world opinion was against Bush - believing, contrary to facts, that it actually favored Bush. No neutral observer could possible dispute that, as a factual matter, world opinion strongly opposed, and continues to oppose, the United States's actions in Iraq - and would have preferred Kerry to Bush as President.

snip

Steven Kull, the report's author, provides a rather benign explanation for why this is: "The roots of the Bush supporters' resistance to information," Steven opines, "very likely lie in the traumatic experience of 9/11 and equally in the near pitch-perfect leadership that President Bush showed in its immediate wake."

This bond between Bush and his supporters, Kull notes, interacts with some "idealized image of the President" that they hold. And the two, together, make "it difficult for his supporters to imagine that he could have made incorrect judgments before the war, that world public opinion could be critical of his policies, or that the President could hold foreign policy positions that are at odds with his supporters."

To study this report is to realize that Bush won reelection through blind faith and loyalty. Bush did not acquit himself well in the debates: Kerry won adherents each time he spoke. But it seems it did not matter: Bush supporters either weren't watching, or weren't really listening, when the debates occurred. This becomes more glaring because the University of Maryland study shows the Kerry supporters were living in the real world.

Full article:
http://writ.news.findlaw.com/dean/20041105.html
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BigMindTinyHead Donating Member (42 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Jan-15-05 06:28 PM
Response to Original message
39. Calling Americans "idiots" is a losing cry
Don't be part of the 60% stupid.
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Cats Against Frist Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Jan-15-05 08:15 PM
Response to Reply #39
43. Well that's a little "Catch 22" of defense and indignance, is it not
A bunch of the population are so stupid, that they can't even live in reality, and if you tell them that, they just get more indignant and squawk that you're "mean."

And these people are supposedly the "strict-father" model supporters.

Actually, it sounds more like they're the 14-year-old kid.
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liwkenne Donating Member (64 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Jan-15-05 08:16 PM
Response to Reply #39
44. How about "easily manipulated" instead?
Edited on Sat Jan-15-05 08:17 PM by liwkenne
After the Chimp's performance in the first Presidential "debate", I was convinced that only the totally brainwashed and/or completely insane would still vote for him. I couldn't imagine that anyone else would even consider it. I was one of those who believed that it really was a "man behind the curtain" event. I was certainly wrong.

Sadly, it appears that millions of people can be easily manipulated by this immoral administration and a complicit media. Arrogance, lies, fear mongering and ineptitude can be packaged and sold as "morals" and "values" and they'll buy it.

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Renew Deal Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Jan-15-05 06:30 PM
Response to Original message
40. At minimum.
Complete idiots. Reference:
www.freerepublic.com
www.christiancoalition.com
www.gop.org
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