If Bush and friends are stupid, why are they still in power 7+ years later?

[Fire Walk With Me]

Sorry folks. It's entirely up to us to remove them. Please dedicate yourselves completely to doing so, and it will happen.

[whistle]

1. Not stupid...insane!

[hobbit709]

2. Because a large percentage of the public is even more stupid.

[CountAllVotes]

11. from the lips of a McCain supporter I spoke too

She said she cannot/will not vote for Obama. She is voting for McCain. I asked her why, especially being she has adult children in their 20s and that they could get drafted. She said she wasn't worried about her son being drafted as he has a physical problem of some sort. I then mentioned her daughter. I told her they could snap her right up if the need was seen in a draft situation. She was speechless and had no idea that women could be drafted. She had no more pro-McCain slogans after that.

It seems to be the the selfish Americans out there (this war won't affect me types) are the stupid ones as this damned war affects everyone in some way or the other (i.e. $4.00++ gasoline for starters).

As for said woman, I have not spoken to her since. I honestly cannot understand why anyone that has children or adult children would vote for him. I am admittedly baffled!

:dem:

[beac]

37. Sounds like the Repuke SIL of a friend who told her she wasn't worried about

Roe v. Wade being overturned b/c she could easily send her little Muffy abroad for a safe abortion, but she just DID NOT want her taxes to go up-- ie. as long as MY loved ones are okay, F everyone else.

Disgusting human beings.

[CountAllVotes]

46. yeah ...

I have not spoken to nor seen her since. With such selfish and greedy "friends" like this who needs enemies? :puke: is right.

[anniebelle]

12. lol - you are sooooooooo right!

[ColbertWatcher]

31. Idiocracy came early. n/t

[baby_mouse]

36. Why do hate America?

Because you're all STUPID.

[Echo In Light]

42. Uninformed, disinformed, ignore-ant via indoctrination/media directives

We won't win many over, or get them to pay attention by simply referring to them as stupid.

I mean, I'm equally guilty of thinking it whenever I'm out and about, wading in and out of all the various huge SUV-truck-van-jeep things adorned with sports hero worship and cell phone-addled drivers...but realistically, if you write average, conditioned sensibilities off, those people will only continue to ignore, or join the ranks of the Professional Conspiracy Deniers.

[Jackpine Radical]

3. I, for one, have never bought the "stupid" thema.

Here is a reprise of what I wrote after Katrina:

STUPID LIBERALS
Posted by Jackpine Radical in Editorials & Other Articles
Wed Jun 21st 2006, 11:08 PM

From 9/12/2005

The liberals like to make fun of President Bush’s intelligence. Why is it then that the average Democrat is too stupid to understand the President when he speaks in plain English? As, for example, when he praised Michael Brown for the outstanding job he had done in New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina. And again when he challenged his critics, saying, in effect, “What makes you think something went wrong with the disaster response?”

Consider the effects of FEMA’s brilliant New Orleans strategy. First, the New Orleans black population is now scattered across the country, thereby dissipating their voting power. I guess they won’t be delivering Louisiana for the Democrats in the foreseeable future. Second, real estate developers can now make a clean start and build New Orleans into a gigantic theme park that will put all the Disney enterprises to shame. And third, since all the actual disaster survivors are scattered across the country and are too poor to hire lawyers, there is nothing to prevent the Administration from funneling all the disaster relief money into the coffers of deserving but uninjured campaign contributors, just as Mr. Brown did in Florida after Hurricane Frances and just before the 2004 election. Admittedly, Brown was able to siphon off only $31 million for Bush supporters after Frances, but that was just sort of a practice run. This time tens of billions will be available to reward loyalists and friends of the administration for their support, regardless of whether they actually sustained any material damages from the hurricane.

As an indication of what is to come, Halliburton already has the contracts for cleaning up all military facilities in the wake of Katrina, and Dick Cheney’s recent visit to the Gulf Coast was followed a day or two later by the announcement that Halliburton subsidiary KBR got a no-bid contract for the civilian cleanup as well.
How, in the face of all this evidence of the Administration’s brilliant planning and execution of disaster relief efforts after Katrina, could any Democrat be so blind and stupid as to accuse our President of not being prepared, or of not being able to rise to the challenge of an unexpected opportunity?

[zanne]

7. I still say it's stupidity.

I think stupidity comes in many forms. Some highly intelligent people are stupid. For example, people who base their vote on how it will enrich themselves are stupid. People who vote based on rumors are stupid. People who vote one way because their friend/family member told them to are stupid. I could on and on.

[Fire Walk With Me]

10. Extremely well-said.

What an excellent article. Thank you, and the other responders in this thread.

Edit: Far better said than my own attempts:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x3500369

[The Traveler]

4. Not stupid, not insane

evil. Just accept it. These are evil people. Traitors, too.

[InkAddict]

29. Read M. Scott Peck and imagine how evil can be magnified

by those with exceptional power.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M._Scott_Peck

Evil is described by Peck as "militant ignorance". In this it is close to the original Judeo-Christian concept of "sin" as a consistent process that leads to failure to reach one's true goals.

An evil person:

Projects his or her evils and sins onto others and tries to remove them from others
Maintains a high level of respectability and lies incessantly in order to do so
Is consistent in his or her sins. Evil persons are characterized not so much by the magnitude of their sins, but by their consistency
Is unable to think from other people's viewpoints.
Most evil people realize the evil deep within themselves but are unable to tolerate the pain of introspection or admit to themselves that they are evil. Thus, they constantly run away from their evil by putting themselves in a position of moral superiority and putting the locus of evil on others. Evil is an extreme form of what Scott Peck, in The Road Less Traveled, calls a character disorder.


http://www.yuricareport.com/RevisitedBks/How%20to%20Detect%20Evil.htm

Peck draws a profile of the evil: they have no regard for the truth; they lie and live in a world of lies. They are masters of disguise and cloak themselves with masks of respectability, goodness and often piety. (Peck tells us that religiosity is a common and effective disguise.) But it is the appearance of propriety and respectability that is the important factor. Peck defines evil as: “The exercise of political power—that is, the imposition of one’s will upon others by overt or covert coercion…” Or in other words: it is the use “of political power to destroy others,” for the purpose of defending or preserving the integrity of one’s sick self (or group).

http://www.amazon.com/People-Lie-Hope-Healing-Human/dp/0684848597

People of the Lie: The Hope for Healing Human Evil (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1983).

Dr. Peck utilizes the integration of the deepest insights of psychiatry and religion to probe the essence of human evil. People who are evil attack others rather than facing their own failures. Peck demonstrates the havoc these "People of the Lie" work in the lives of those around them. He presents, from cases encountered in his psychiatric practice, unforgettably vivid incidents of evil in everyday life. This book offers a strikingly original approach to the age-old problem of human evil.

[dana_b]

39. that describes Bush and his cronies perfectly!

also some other people in power right now. I'm going to have to read some more from M. Scott Peck.

[Jackpine Radical]

43. Yes, exactly. We are dealing with evil, not mere incompetence.

To again quote myself,

"Never attribute to mere stupidity that which is better explained by malign intent." -- Me.

[The Traveler]

48. Thanks for the references!

That was really more than a little interesting ... and I think very descriptive of what we have endured.

[Fire Walk With Me]

49. I like Scott Peck's work a lot

and am distressed to recognize within myself some of the characteristics described.

Does this make me more accurate regarding what I see in BushCo (I haven't been too far off the mark thus far) or does it merely incriminate me, of myself?

[ColbertWatcher]

5. If the electorate is split evenly 50-50...

...without any outside influence, all it will take to tip the balance is a little propaganda.

Welcome to America, Mr. Murdoch.

And so it begins.

[Buzz Clik]

6. The Bush administration has changed the structure of government for at least a decade.

The Democrats in Congress have been big enablers to this process.

[rocktivity]

8. Bush is a figurehead; a puppet being manipulated by smart people.

Bush is only smart enough to realizie that HE'S not smart enough.

:headbang:
rocknation

[Uncle Joe]

25. I agree, I also believe one can be corrupt and incompetent at the same time.

I believe Bush is willfully ignorant and incurious, he literally doesn't care about the people and this is the root of his stupidity, because his party will be paying a heavy price for his short sighted, sycophant loving stupidity.

Furthermore if life as we know ends because Bush's head is stuck in the sand in spite of the overwhelming evidence presented by the world's brightest scientists warning us of the looming global catastrophe of global warming climate change, that's stupid because Bush's family and friends will die with the rest of us. You can call this evil if you like, but I wouldn't classify working to bring about the end of humanity's existence as intelligent!

[lutefisk]

40. The fact that he realizes it makes him act like even more of an a-hole

He didn't cook any of this up, but he willingly plays the part the "smart people" have given him. No conscience, no ethics or morals; he's perfect for what he does. He drives us all mad with his outrageously ignorant, pompous, oafish, embarrassingly callous and cruel idiocy, keeping us distracted from the creatures behind the curtain.

[elocs]

9. The simple way we can remove them is by supporting and voting for Obama and other Democrats.

As much as we like to mock and belittle Bush and his perceived lack of intelligence he and Bushco have been as cunning as foxes. Yes, they are so stupid that they have managed to maintain power for 7 years. Republicans are pragmatic enough to work to elect their candidates because they know that is how you exercise power. Democrats seem to be more concerned about our candidate's doctrinal purity on every point and less concerned with winning the election. Republicans laugh at that. Let us have the laugh this time and elect Obama as our next president.

[Fire Walk With Me]

14. That's right, but what to do about the fact that they use energy manipulation to drive elections?

They did against Carter, and did an end run on the political arena using the Iranian hostage situation/October Surprise/IranContra. Now they've got a full energy monopoly and can and do drive the price of oil anywhere they wish. They'll use that against Obama the same way they did against Carter, and that's only one aspect of what they'll do, outside of the political arena.

I don't believe that the first step in actually defeating them will result from electing another Democratic President. He will be as vulnerable as the rest of us, to energy manipulation (see what Enron did to Gray Davis in California- got him removed through energy manipulation!).

I believe that the first step is to remove them from the political arena, and then change the laws they've broken back into Constitutionality. Leave them in there and they'll continue to cause supreme damage. Just look at the last several days- another $160 billion to war profiteers, the destruction of the 4th Amendment, Midwest flooding- They have to be removed now.

[OffWithTheirHeads]

17. Obama Si. Pelosi no.

nt

[tularetom]

13. Bush = stupid, friends = sneaky and slimy

Sure we can remove them but it will take years to erase the oily stain they have left on this country.

[fasttense]

15. They are stupid and very evil. That's why they are still in power.

They are like an infestation of cock roaches. They started infesting our government back when Nixon decided to sneak into the presidency with lies of ending the war and other tricks. Even when you cut their heads off, they can still lay eggs and reproduce.

Cock roach republicans are not real bright, but they are real evil and willing to do any despicable thing to gain and keep power. A lot of American voters have been infested with their evil ideas. They have infested every level of government and have even swarmed over some of the Democrats. It takes a really good exterminator to get rid of cock roaches. Unfortunately, we haven't had a good exterminator since JFK.

[Mike Nelson]

16. Too many STUPID people

agreed

[Cheap_Trick]

18. Stupidity is rewarded in this country

case in point:
Happened to see a rerun of America's Funniest Home Videos the other night during my lunch break at work (others selected that to watch). The winning $10,000 video of the night was this dumb ass teen putting on an anti-bark collar and getting it to shock him increasingly harder. Turns out that his MOM encouraged the whole stunt with the intent of taping it to submit to AFHV. Bad enough that a teen was subjecting himself to obviously painful shocks out of boredom, but then to find that it was encouraged if not thought of by his mom!

And the audience roared.

Jumping Jeezus on a pogo stick!

Stupidity is rewarded in this country.

You get $10,000 for putting on a dog collar and shocking yourself, or you get elected for 2 terms for fucking this country up beyond all recognition.

[smoogatz]

19. Bush is incredibly stupid, IMO. But he's not running the show.

The guys in charge (Cheney, formerly Rove, Rummy, Wolfowitz, Feith et al) aren't geniuses, but they're sufficiently cunning to understand how the power structure works, and how to game the system enough to gain power and hold onto it for a couple of terms with or without the consent of the electorate. They are also proponents of a destructive ideology (soft fascism, essentially) that has become extraordinarily unpopular in this country, to the extent that people are aware of its (inevitable) failures in practice.

[lonestarnot]

20. And the economy's healthy meter is on 100%. Evil has sticky tentacles

that are hard to get off once attached? :shrug:

[stray cat]

21. Because some dems don't agree completely with the dem candidate so they don't vote

at least thats one reason.

[readmoreoften]

44. What? Like in 2004? Every Dem voted for Kerry--hell even some Greens did. He lost.

Try voter fraud and intimidation plus an electoral system that rewards rural populations.

[InkAddict]

22. Ummm....blackmail.

Lot's of ways for the megalomaniacal to adjust the group-think, many of them valid, like Global Climate Change, Peak Oil, greenhouse effect; then there's thermonuclear winter...Brrrrrr...i.e.,
Do what we want or else...bye-bye (pick your city), and don't just pick on NYC, how about say Chicago, 2nd financial district, fallout over Great Lakes. Why would any business or individual continue to stay down-wind...tinfoil for sure, but MI, OH, WI, IL, IN could be in real peril should the AF decide to move real ones off-grid so to speak.

True DEM Patriots (there's that word) would not hesitate to place themselves and/or possibly their family's short-term well-being in jeopardy for the sake of the Constitution; not so much our weak-kneed capitulators spouting negotiation with domestic terrorists. History remembers Masada for a reason; Jim Jones, notwithstanding and not same thing.

Do the right thing, that which the Constitution has so graciously provided, IMPEACH; now or later, but JUST DO IT! and hold them as global flight risks while Discovery unravels their treasonous crimes; I'm sorry, but the System of Checks and Balances don't rest with a unitary executive dictator or his marionette master(s) who stack the DOJ/SCOTUS and blackmail Congress while draining the wealth and spirit of our country.

[treestar]

23. Laziness on the part of the people

They don't want to go through all that trauma when they can be rid of him next January. Must seem close enough to most people.

[Fire Walk With Me]

26. Yes, but we can't vote against the energy monopoly.

They used one to damage Carter, they used one to damage Gray Davis and install Ahnold, they'll use one to damage Obama. They use power outside of the political arena to control the political arena, as the next poster said, because they can't win through politics alone.

As such, merely electing a Democratic President will not be a complete solution. Driving the Constitution home now will be a good start, and a good base for the incoming Democrat.

[dana_b]

41. yes and no

there are some lazy people, no doubt. But there are also people who are so up to their necks in just trying to survive that they literally don't have time to devote to the issues like you or I do. This is partially,in fact, due to the horrid policies of this administration, but these people don't have the energy or time to do the research and know that they are being screwed by those in power.

[2hip]

24. They rigged the game

It's really the only thing they're good at.

[JerseygirlCT]

27. I think it's the difference between clever and intelligent

Bush utterly lacks any respect for intelligence or any curiosity about things he doesn't know.

But he and his gang are certainly clever - in the way some slimy predatory creature could be clever about catching prey.

[Marr]

28. It says nothing about their intelligence-- they remain because they're corporate servants.

Since the government largely functions as a means of defending the wealthy minority from the impoverished majority, the entire system protects them, top to bottom-- from the courts to the Congress. They've also got the corporate media apparatus, not to mention the GOP's own dedicated media like Fox News and Rush Limbaugh, shilling for them around the clock.

These people fight vigorously to expand the power of the powerful. The *only* thing that could motivate the establishment to remove such loyal and effective advocates as the Bush Administration would be some kind of massive public uprising. Enormous labor strikes, or tying up the infrastructure... something like that. You might also do it with an opposition party. We don't have an opposition party in this country, unfortunately, as the Democratic Party is just another corporate advocacy group with different marketing.

The people in the Bush Administration *are* stupid. They've demonstrated that fact a thousand times over. But they serve the interests of wealth and power, and that's all that matters as far as government is concerned. I guarantee you that if Bush tried to nationalize the oil industry on Monday, he'd be impeached by Friday.

[AndyTiedye]

30. Because the Mighty Stupidity Machine (MSM) Backs Them Totally

[earth mom]

32. They are thugs-that's why they are still in power.

:grr:

[tabasco]

33. Because they are puppets for the ones with the real power.

The super-rich CEO class. The same people who own the media.

They don't want this country to be great again, like it was with heavy progressive taxation.

They want to be kings and queens with the rest of us as serfs. They have loyalty only to themselves. They place themselves above the country.

[MrsBrady]

34. they are not stupid, they are unabashedly helping themselves

to the nation's wealth, and laughing all the way to the bank,
while sending our young people to die so they can pretend to have a reason.

A stupid person wouldn't understand what they are doing.

They know exactly what they are doing.

[Mojambo]

35. Because stupid, craven and evil serves the corporate power structure best. n/t

[Rex]

38. Not stupid, evil. George, however, is stupid.

[salguine]

45. 'Cause the American voter is stupider. If that's possible.

[defendandprotect]

47. We've been presuming that the CONGESS would protect the Constitution -- ?

The citizens from "illegal" wars of aggression, wiretapping, bankrupting of the treasury?

[ProSense]

50. The Democrats gained five Senate seats in 2006.

The make up of the Senate under Bush's Presidency

It's an uphill battle.