Something last night on CSPAN pissed me off

[Hawaii Hiker]

Yesterday, was watching C-SPAN, they had a group of 12 regular everyday people in a group discussing politics, namely the 2008 election..It was a mixed group of Democrats, Republicans, & Independents..

The one late 30-ish woman made me fall out of my chair when she said (paraphrasing) w/a straight face; that Bill Clinton was such an immoral person, while she believed GW was a man of honorable character....Are you FUCKING kidding me!!...Is that how Republicans define "morals" - someone who goes to church & denounces Hollywood & pornography....So, in other words, who cares if you lie about a war that has killed 3,475+ soliders, who cares if you have one of the most corrupt administrations in history, who cares if your administration has RUINED our standing with the rest of the world, who cares if an administration allowed thousands to die in hurricane Katrina because of their incredibly slow response...That's right, GW is moral because he goes to church & is against porn & gay marriage..That's how warped Republican morals & values are defined....

Most on the panel about 9/12, said that they would not vote for Hillary....I'm telling you, I don't know how she can win, she's too polorizing....Democrats should be able to win in 2008, this is our election for the taking...Let's not snatch defeat from the jaws of victory...

[Norquist Nemesis]

1. Had the same reaction

It was hard to watch that.

[Warpy]

2. Some people make a career out of being stupid

because it's the only thing they have ever been capable of doing well.

To understand why they will likely never change, I'll give you an article I repost frequently, here and elsewhere:

Incompetence is bliss, say researchers

There are many incompetent people in the world. But a Cornell University study has shown that most incompetent people do not know that they are incompetent.

People who do things badly, according to David A. Dunning, a professor of psychology at Cornell, are usually supremely confident of their abilities -- more confident, in fact, than people who do things well.

One reason that the ignorant also tend to be the blissfully self-assured, the researchers believe, is that the skills required for competence often are the same skills necessary to recognize competence.
----------

``Not only do they reach erroneous conclusions and make unfortunate choices, but their incompetence robs them of the ability to realize it,'' wrote Kruger, now an assistant professor at the University of Illinois, and Dunning.

Much more that explains a lot about the hard core right: http://www2.lingsoft.fi/~reriksso/competence.html

[Az]

3. You have to understand the mindset

This is why Fred Thompson is going to be a hit with the GOP. In order to convince this type of repug you have to have conviction or at least appear to have conviction. This is the thing George has done that keeps his core glued to him. He has not wavered in what he appears to be doing or saying. Everything remains on message.

Clinton was made notorious for not having a fixed position. Instead he sought a compromise between various positions. Triangulation was his tactic. And when you throw in the sex scandal it just tells the repugs that he has no values what so ever. It all fits together in their mind.

To them Bush is fighting the good fight. He is standing by his convictions. Never mind its all smoke and mirrors the image is good enough for them.

[OHdem10]

4. Did you notice the dark-haired younger women (R)

who kept saying GWB is"strong". Guiliani is "strong"
Peter hafrt then explained Rudy's position on Gays, Guns Abortion.
She still stuck with Guiliani . "Stong" is really her
point of importance.

What astonished me was they started off wanting to learn
more about Obama.

Obama faired no better with this focus group than Hilary. They
seemed to like Obama but in critical issues he did not come to
the fore.

Guilliani faired best with McCain slightly behind him.

McCain seemed to be a safe bet but not lots of enthusiasm
for him.

[Larry Ogg]

5. I watch that crap for about three minutes and had to turn it before I did something bad to my TV...

I can’t believe people can feel so smart and not have any clue what so ever.
Collectively, if this groups brains were made out of petrol they wouldn’t have enough to power a piss-ants motor cycle one lap around the inside of a cheerio.

[valerief]

6. Were they the flat-earthers? nt

[NI4NI]

7. One also chimed in about JFK's "morality"

For once I actually got to see some of Chucklenutz live 27%ers.