Question: Why do you think that right wingers have such violent ideas?

[Sarah Ibarruri]

I particularly marvel at the way they seem to seethe and wish ill upon the most helpless segments of society. Are most of these people psychos, or just their leaders and the rest follow along? Or is the GOP a mishmash of mega-wealthy along with misfits? What's your idea on this?

Last of all, why when I ask them why they're so violent, do they not see themselves as violent? In fact, they seem to think they're good, particularly because of their "patriotism."

[NMDemDist2]

1. cuz they're fear biters

just like mean little dogs

[Sarah Ibarruri]

2. They're afraid of everything? Is that why they also have a love affair with guns and war? nt

[NMDemDist2]

15. yes. n/t

[VPStoltz]

21. They hate themselves for not be able to love.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

27. Wow, good one! Or for being as unlovable as rabid skunks. nt

[Lumpsum]

3. From a psychological stand point

Horrible childhoods coupled with horrible parenting. Most Repukes have very deep-seated issues.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

5. I think so too. Highly disturbed indivdiuals. Punitive, above all nt

[rwheeler31]

4. They have no answers, so they just lash out.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

7. Good point - they really don't have any do they? nt

[RJ Connors]

6. Because their basic nature is evil. n/t

[Sarah Ibarruri]

8. Okay, every time I say that people look at me as if I were out of my mind

I think they are evil. I wonder tho if that comes from being born psychotic, or being mistreated from babyhood on, or what.

[RJ Connors]

30. Well, when you look into these people's background

what you find is that the majority of them where raised in Christian fundamentalist homes of which many times abuse is an issue. To me just being subjected to years of indoctrination in fundamentalist doctrine ought to be considered psychological abuse of a minor. But I doubt that will ever happen.

The fact is there have been an untold number of psychological studies and research done in this area since the 1950's. But you are never going to see hardly any of them as most of them have been buried deep in the bowels of academic institutions. No one wants to discern these truths and then put their own name to it as doing such would assuredly bring one's careerer to an abrupt end. Not to mention the death threats one would get. But the truth is we have known for a long time many of these people are unhinged.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

38. So true

And yet if American Christian fundamentalism is hurting people, this needs to be brought out in the open. Maybe it's just got to be done in a grass roots kind of way. Point out that Christian fundamentalism is harmful emotionally to the individuals that suffer its punitive ideology, and it's harmful to the society in general.

[Why Syzygy]

9. They get it from their God . the mass murderer of the OT. nt

[Sarah Ibarruri]

10. Wow, ok. LOL! That's an interesting take on it.. Maybe so! nt

[Why Syzygy]

12. That's their excuse for being homophobic.

I truly believe they feel okay about doling out punishments as they feel they are God's "chosen".

[Sarah Ibarruri]

17. True. I also think they cannot relate to equality....

... they need a very severe, punitive hierarchy of power. Equality terrifies the hell out of them.

[DBoon]

13. their religion teaches them that brutal punishment awaits

for those who question or disobey God

God shows his love for mankind by subjecting the disobedient to excruciating terror and pain

[DBoon]

11. punishment-oriented conformists

who lack any sense of empathy

[Sarah Ibarruri]

19. Isn't that what a sociopath is? nt

[defendandprotect]

14. self-hatred -

[BrklynLiberal]

16. I think the same mentality that attracts them to the repukes makes them

predisposed to be violent and hate-filled. Lots of fear and anger.

[The Hope Mobile]

18. They don't have the mental capacity to think their way through or out

of situations and when they run out of answers they start swinging. Nobody taught them productive life skills. For many they are so insecure that being a bully is the only thing that gives them a sense of power and control over their lives. Very sad.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

20. Good point. They only know bullying. It's either bully or be bullied nt

[The Hope Mobile]

41. Sad, isn't it? Somebody should've done a better job of loving on them

when they were and teaching them some social skills.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

47. Yep, or at least shown them that the least among us need to be taken care of

I don't mind Robin Hood kind of people who look after the weakest, while being rather beastly to the rest. ;-)

[Fuzz]

22. Teeny peenies?

;)

[Sarah Ibarruri]

23. LOL! Could be! nt

[Fire1]

24. mega-wealthy along with misfits is an accurate description...........

but the mega-wealthy are a little more sophisticated and classy. The rest are just 'wasilla hillbilly's.' (Deliverance)

[Crunchy Frog]

25. I think that sort of personality is drawn to RW ideology.

They're always around in society, but the current Republican party gives them a structure and an identity. The Repukes have been deliberately and cynically cultivating this group for a long time now.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

26. Republicans are like skinheads with suits that let their hair grow out

Ignorant, humorless shallow thinkers with a sadist streak and usually some really f_d up perversion they're hiding from the public.

[glinda]

29. I agree with you

and think that the Republican Party gives support in numbers to people who are out of control mentally and emotionally. Makes it so much easier to be a hate monger when you have such public support for it like Palin and Bachman.

[Lil Missy]

28. Because people like Gingrich, Limpballs, Coulter, O'Lielly, Fallwell, etc.,

have been whipping the "low-information" masses into a hateful frenzy for at least 20 years now.

I recall a quote from Gingrich in the early Clinton years, to the new Republican Congress. Something about "I wish I could teach you all to be more hateful and nasty."

[Dumak]

31. some of it is macho posturing

These are very, very insecure individuals who are worried their peers may suspect they are gay. They talk about animal-killing, torturing, violent solutions to problems because in their culture it's the manly thing to do.

Also, by openly fantasizing about violence against someone, they are expressing a "your either with us or against us" attitude. It tightens their circle of friends, and implies that anyone who disagrees with them deserves such violence as well.

I guess it could be form of psychological gamesmanship

[JeffR]

32. Because of their itsy bitsy teeny weeny penises.

Even their women have them, I've heard.

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[orleans]

34. their dicks are so small and their brains are smaller. (scary!) n/t

[Cassandra]

35. Authoritarian followers

http://home.cc.umanitoba.ca/~altemey/

Read the book. It will explain, really.

[Jamastiene]

36. They do not have the ability to see outside of their own little world.

Or they do and refuse to. They build themselves up on brutality and honor brutality in our culture. Intellectualism is something they shun. They never practice their thinking ability. Everything is primitive with them and they take pride in that.

Thinking and reading are not skills they like to practice if they can avoid it. They brag that they never read any more now that they are out of school.

I know some of those types of people. The most violent ones I have met were brought up in a family that glorified brute force over intelligence. They continue the tradition.

It's the culture. Our society honors brutality and primitive physical force over intelligence.

That's just my $.02 worth.

[juno jones]

37. An interesting take on this:

I've been reading Peter Levenda's 'Sinister Forces' books and while I don;t always draw the same conclusion he does from his meticulous research, this stood out at me, especially in terms of that eternal 20% that always seem to go for the hardcore right-wing GOP:

Much of what has been written on the applicability of hypnosis to a Manchurian Candidate is fundamentally flawed: Many investigators claim that since only one in every five persons is a perfect candidate for hypnosis, and since a hypnotized subject will not do anything to which he or she morally objects, hypnosis is therefore useless. They ignore the obvious implication that fully twenty percent of the human population is capable of "going under" without too much difficulty, and that many of these subjects would no find murder, rape, theft, deceit,etc., morally objectionable, particularly if the command was given by a recognized authority figure.

(italics mine)

Hypnosis? Perhaps it is not so far-fetched. Levenda's first volume details the battle for the mind and the violence done to people to make them into controllable entities. It generally starts off with abuse and sensory deprivation, which we can see codified into fundie child raising- Dominionism and child abuse, part 1:

http://dogemperor.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/8/13/16852/9879/270/370953

Parts 2 and 3 are also instructional. Lack of love at an early age distorts people's ability to have compassion for others later in life. Another website with a sociological look at systemic childhood abuse and its results in our culture and others:

http://www.psychohistory.com/ -It should be no surprise that kids raised without love, with physical and sexual abuse issues should perpetuate violent societies and be attracted to authoritarian politics that validate their emptiness and lack of empathy.

Add to that TV which has been shown to put people in a state akin to dreaming (beta, IIRC).

Add to that the purposeful fueling of hate in a public setting such as fundie church or one of Palin's gatherings where, like the rallies of fascists gone by, hate and violence are seemingly made normal and quite acceptable emotions as a result of the exhortations of leaders and the shared mentality of the crowd. Mass hysteria/suggestibility if you will.

Finally, In that light, I find it instructional that accusations of hypnosis were something that was thrown at dems, as most of the things we are accused of they are usually shown to be doing...

So, I'm not really claiming absolute intentional hypnosis, but I would suspect that there are certain patterns at work that are going to make 20% of the population far more vulnerable to suggestion, especially from authority figures. And there are probably authority figures who take advantage of this phenomenon.

[dorkulon]

39. It's tribal.

They don't wish ill upon poor white people.

[datasuspect]

40. because they are innately powerless in their personal lives

and live in demon-haunted worlds.

[Swede]

42. Its a sociopathic personality.

Lack of Remorse, Shame or Guilt
A deep seated rage, which is split off and repressed, is at their core. Does not see others around them as people, but only as targets and opportunities. Instead of friends, they have victims and accomplices who end up as victims. The end always justifies the means and they let nothing stand in their way.

This website explains it in more detail.

http://www.mcafee.cc/Bin/sb.html

[Cleita]

43. Abuse, mental and maybe even physical in childhood?

Just observing conservative family values in the Palin family makes me shudder.

[Marr]

44. Because they're governed by fear.

More than anything else, right-wingers are ruled by their own fears.

[pecwae]

45. The donation header

here always has an expression of violence against someone at the other end of the political spectrum. This post just seems quite ironic placed underneath.

[peacenik37]

46. They've been brainwashed

Check out Elisabeth Hasslebeck from The View. It's like a cult. See the movie Repo Man. Then you'll understand. This is psychology 101. They've been bought and sold. They have lost their souls.