No Way! Study: Many Conservatives Don't Think Colbert is Joking

[wyldwolf]

Via Politicalwire:

"An Ohio State University study finds that conservatives were more likely to report that Stephen Colbert "only pretends to be joking" on his Comedy Central television show "and genuinely meant what he said while liberals were more likely to report that Colbert used satire and was not serious when offering political statements."

http://hij.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/14/2/212

[MUAD_DIB]

1. GOPiggies just don't set satire.

[unpossibles]

8. I think the reason they don't is because they don't get shades of nuance

at all.

If gay people are allowed to have equal rights then that means the straight people's way of life is threatened.

If non-white people and women are allowed to have equality, then that threatens the way of life of the white man.

Atheists are threatening to destroy Christianity.

Anyone who is not 100% free market cheerleader is a damned communist, therefore the Democrats - despite being mainly Corporatists themselves - are damned commies.

Torture is ok because it somehow prevents terrorism, and they don't even consider that us torturing and imprisoning people without trial makes US terrorists too.

Taxes and government are bad because they are all self-made people who don't need help from a stable functioning society. The luck of their birth had nothing to do with it.


Seriously, they think that stuff without a trace of irony. It's no wonder satire is too complex for them.

[jberryhill]

10. Oddly, the study also reports they think he's funny...

"he pretends to be joking"

Wow.

Just wow.

[MercutioATC]

2. Well, The Colbert Report IS broadcast on C-Span...

Oh, wait....no....it's on Comedy Central...

[Teaser]

3. We need a control here...

is there a winger who pretends to be liberals for laughs?

[jberryhill]

11. Was Dennis Miller one when he did Weekend Update on SNL?

[damntexdem]

4. No cognitive dissonance for those nutcases.

So they must think that Colbert meant it when he stated that the Dubya Administration was not like the Titanic, rather like the Hindenburg!

[niceypoo]

5. The more extreme it is, the more they like it

Which basically shows they believe in nothing. Reaching for extremes makes them think they believe in something.

[burning rain]

20. Those are good points.

The zealous righties have long had a tendency to self-isolate, and with a Democratic president, especially one inclined to be more liberal than Clinton or Carter, now more than ever. They feed off and reinforce each other's fears and extremism, and to retain credibility, they keep one-upping each other. It's a mad evolutionary process in which environmental pressures toward moderation or, God forbid, liberalism are removed, as alienated conservatives create subcultures in which they don't engage moderates and liberals, but only engage in ritual denunciations of them. So at any given time the "fittest," or most credible, members of the conservative subculture are especially likely to be maniacs for whom the wider community will have no use.

Just consider the mad fantasies of birthers; apocalyptic Christians, those who claim the US has had its last free elections; secessionists; and right-wing Texans, along with sympathizers elsewhere, who babble about creating an ideologically pure Lonestar Republic complete with loyalty oaths and the liquidation of enemy Austin.

[Phx_Dem]

6. Their stupidity is boundless, and mindboggling.

[tanyev]

7. Well, they're not the sharpest crayons in the box.

Some of them are more like the crayons that got melted down to make candles.

[WeDidIt]

9. Republicans don't get satire

It's that simple.

Their brains are hard wired to not understand humor well.

[chollybocker]

12. Republics don't own mirrors, so the concept of irony is beyond them.

Sometimes it's funny; mostly, it's just sad.

[Arugula Latte]

13. Stephen's going to have fun with this one, I'll bet.

[Jennicut]

14. OMG. Dumbest people ever.

[PassingFair]

15. Idiots.

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

16. In other news: Stupid people are very stupid

[Still Sensible]

17. Hell, even *ush knew Mr. Colbert was sticking it up

his ass day after day. It just reflects the simple thinking of a segment of the populace that the Rove machine was able to capture with nationalism, jingoism and old time religion IMO.

[Forkboy]

18. These people are as thick as a whale omelet.

:crazy:

[BuyingThyme]

19. I still can't get over that deal where Tom DeLay posted that Colbert bit on his new website.

Their minds must work on some completely different plane than ours.

I also heard that Billy Cunningham guy, who took over Drudge's radio show, once say "Colbert is the best" endearingly.

[and-justice-for-all]

21. How pathetically sad....funny, yet sad...

Colbert is an satirical over the top version of repukes, he makes them look like an ass DAILY.