Scary New GOP Poll-Obama Derangement Syndrome—pathological hatred of the president

[kpete]

Obama Derangement Syndrome—pathological hatred of the president posing as patriotism—has infected the Republican Party. Here's new data to prove it:

* 67 percent of Republicans (and 40 percent of Americans overall) believe that Obama is a socialist.

The belief that Obama is a “domestic enemy” is widely held—a sign of trouble yet to come.

* 57 percent of Republicans (32 percent overall) believe that Obama is a Muslim

* 45 percent of Republicans (25 percent overall) agree with the Birthers in their belief that Obama was "not born in the United States and so is not eligible to be president"

* 38 percent of Republicans (20 percent overall) say that Obama is "doing many of the things that Hitler did"

* Scariest of all, 24 percent of Republicans (14 percent overall) say that Obama "may be the Antichrist."

more:
http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2010-03-22/scary-new-gop-poll/?cid=hp:mainpromo2

[Joanne98]

1. OMG!

[mike_c]

2. how does this differ from our hatred of the monkey king...?

I mean, in a better world I'd lament ANY partisanship this intense, but calling the other side on it without acknowledging our own faults is hypocritical. I will NEVER have anything but contempt and disgust for Bush. I want to see him imprisoned for his crimes. I GUARANTEE that my attitude toward Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, and that lot are every bit as intense as the teabaggers' anger toward Obama.

[TwilightGardener]

5. I just thought he was really stupid and incompetent. Plus, he invented

a war out of thin air. Not sure how that compares to Obama, who actually isn't a socialist, isn't a Muslim, etc. See, one form of hatred was based on reality and actual deeds. The other is irrational.

[mike_c]

13. but that's neither fair nor respectful...

...not that wingnuts deserve much respect, but still. They PERCEIVE Obama to be as awful as we perceived Bush, and their view of Bush's "accomplishments" would probably be exactly similar to your comment about Obama, just with the name changed.

I do agree with you-- they're largely delusional and their fears are based on fear-mongering and irrationality. But that's not what the OP is really about, at least as I read it-- it's about decrying the disrespect and hatred the Glen Beck wing of the conservative movement has for Obama. Ultimately, many on the left held Bush and his cronies in the same contempt-- I certainly do, and make no apologies for it. But being an unrepentant Bush hater, I have to acknowledge that conservatives might feel exactly the same way about Obama (or any other semi-liberal president), and that their motives ultimately are not too different from mine.

To be clear-- I considered Bush a "domestic enemy" every day he was in office. Exactly the same as the cons feel about Obama.

[muriel_volestrangler]

20. I don't see why that is "neither fair nor respectful"

TG is right - there are concrete beliefs that the poll shows - 'Obama is a Muslim', 'Obama is not eligible to be president' which are plain wrong. There is a ridiculous superstition - 'may be the antichrist' - which there was never any equivalent for in left wing opinions about Bush. "Doing many of the things that Hitler did" might have got some votes on DU about Bush, but I really don't think 38% of Democrats (generally far more moderate than DU) would have said something so extreme.

'Obama is a socialist' could be an opinion, arguably, but it's one that shows a deep ignorance of what socialism is and what Obama's beliefs and policies are. But 2/3rds of Republicans believe it. And I think it's fair to say most of those will regard it as an awful thing to be - along the lines of someone on the left calling someone a fascist. I don't think a poll of Democrats would have anywhere near approached 67% saying Bush is a fascist.

[TwilightGardener]

23. Of course it's fair, and not necessarily disrespectful, to appraise a man's

ACTUAL JOB PERFORMANCE. I disliked Bush because he simply did the wrong things in office, and he wasn't intellectually capable of doing his job. I didn't hate him because he was rumored to drink the blood of dead soldiers, or was a secret member of the KKK, or kicked puppies--do you understand the difference between rational and irrational?

[mike_c]

27. this whole conversation nicely illustrates why such partisanship exists to begin with....

The argument basically boils down to "My side has contempt for the president based on reality, while the other side's is delusional."

That's ONE VIEW. Ask a teabagger, and you'll get another perspective entirely. They will probably tell you that Bush saved the world, or at least the U.S., and that Obama is hell-bent on destroying it. Your view and mine notwithstanding, that is how they perceive events, whether we regard it as rational or not. Likewise, they see our disgust for Bush-- the guy who saved our collective asses, in their view-- they see our disgust for Bush as equally delusional. How could anyone disagree with the guy WHO STOPPED THE TERRORISTS IN THEIR TRACKS? Or whatever?

The real problem, in my opinion, is that the RW media is full-on stoking this fire for all it's worth. Controversy generates profits for the media, so CREATING controversy and chaos enriches them even more. The OP is a fine example of playing both sides against the middle, just to keep the fires good and hot.

[TwilightGardener]

No, it's not a "view" that Bush started a war on a lie and blew the surplus

Clinton handed him. And tried to privatize SS. And watched as pallets of billions of dollars disappeared in Iraq. And said "Heckuva job, Brownie" as New Orleans drowned. That isn't perception--that is WHAT HAPPENED. Reacting angrily to huge misdeeds and mistakes is completely fair. I don't even mind that GOPers and teabaggers hate Obama for passing HCR. That's reality-based. Hating him for being a Muslim, being a socialist, being a foreigner--that is NOT the equivalent of hating him for legislation and bad decisions.

[mike_c]

36. look, this is getting nowhere....

Do you seriously think that teabaggers believe themselves to be any more delusional than we do? Of course they don't. I agree COMPLETELY that Bush actually did do terrible harm to the nation and the world, and that teabagger's claims about Obama are myths and superstitions at best.

BUT THAT IS NOT THE POINT.

They see the world 180 degrees differently. In their perception, WE are delusional and Obama really is "a socialist" and "the antichrist." And in that world, they have every right to express the same contempt for Obama that we express every day for Bush and his cronies.

It's time to stop throwing stones at each other and get to work finding common ground-- politically and philosophically that is REALLY hard to do, maybe impossible, but how about this?-- BOTH sides are being manipulated by the media and by our political leadership. That's something that we can work toward ending, and in the process, we might find that the extreme partisanship that got us here was at least partly manufactured to sell advertising on the nightly news and to keep venal hacks in high public office.

[TwilightGardener]

41. There is no finding common ground with the insane. Their perception is not based

on any form of reality. And I don't know why you are legitimizing it and equating it to our legitimate and reality-based disapproval of the Boy King. So, yeah, we're not getting anywhere.

[Emit]

39. Here's a big difference in the way I see this

The Republican lawmakers, members of our House and Senate, are stirring up these folks. With the exception of talking heads and liberal blogs, that did not happen when Bush was President.

A DUer reminded me the other day of when Durbin back in 2007 inferred a Bush/Hitler comparison. He got a ration of shite for that!

On Sunday, Nunes was ranting on and on in an interview about the 'totalitarianism' of the Obama administration. Last night Greg Judd was on Charlie Rose saying pretty much the same thing. Rose didn't know what to say. Same thing when Dick Armey appeared on Rose last month. My own Congress critter, Dean Heller, rants locally about 'socialism' frequently.

These GOPers are making these comparisons every day ~ it's becoming common place with them. Listening to the Repugs drone on and on Sunday about the HCR/HIR ~ many of them made reference to socialism, government take over, etc. How many GOPers routinely attend Tea 'Bagger events with pics of Obama dressed as Hitler? I'll name a few: Pence, Bachmann, Gohmert, Ron Paul, Tancredo.

Here's a recap of Sunday:

After hours of procedural delays forced by the minority, Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) began the final stage of the debate with an appeal to rise above the insults. "We have seen angry people at the doorstep of the Capitol," he said.

The angry people were closer than Hoyer realized. Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Mich.) hollered on the floor about "dirty deal after dirty deal." Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) likened the Democrats to Soviets. "Say no to totalitarianism!" he said. Somebody in the Republican seats shouted "Baby killer" at Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.), an antiabortion Democrat.

The legislators were making such a ruckus on the floor that they couldn't hear the ruckus just outside their walls. The tea-party demonstrators chanted "Nancy! Nancy!" and held signs saying such things as "Red Queen Nancy -- Joseph Stalin Was Not a Saint."

That would have been the end of it, had Republican lawmakers not stirred things up. First Reps. Buck McKeon (Calif.), Rob Bishop (Utah) and Mike Turner (Ohio) came out waving signs saying "KILL THE BILL." The crowd went wild. Reps. Mary Fallin (Okla.), Geoff Davis (Ky.) and Bill Posey (Fla.) held the "Don't Tread on Me" flag, and Rep. Pete Sessions (Tex.), head of the House Republicans' 2010 campaign committee, came out with half a dozen colleagues and more kill-the-bill signs. Rep. Jeff Miller (Fla.) dangled an American flag from the balcony.

"That's kind of fun," Fallin said cheerfully after a turn at riling the crowd with signs saying "No" in red letters.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/20...



I won't even go into the talking heads and rw hate radio hosts. Way back when, Fox Noos made such a fuss when a contestant for a Moveon event made a poster or video or something with Bush dressed as Hitler - remember the outrage? Now, Beck routinely makes that comparison of Obama ~ and it's not even remotely as fitting.

Can you imagine the outrage had the Dems in Congress and left leaning talking heads on teevee done the same as what the Republicans are doing now?

Dems would've been toast. There would've be outrage. It would've been the main topic of discussion for weeks.

[mike_c]

42. yup-- that is exactly the point I tried to make in #36....

:thumbsup:

It's largely a partisan rhetorical battle, stoked by the media and political leadership for reasons that have nothing to do with the good of the nation.

[GoCubsGo]

9. Well, for starters....

Our contempt and disgust for Bush are based reality. We dislike him because he DID start an illegal war. He DID shred the Constitution. He DID destroy this country's economy. Nobody ever accused him of being something he wasn't, while they accuse Pres. Obama being a Muslim, a foreigner, the antichrist, etc.. It's not about the intensity, it's about the facts. And, the victims of ODS hate President Obama over things about him that just are not true.

[mike_c]

14. see #13....

:-)

[old mark]

15. Bush is as fucking stupid as they are - they love him. except

those who now think he was a liberal. There are those who blame Bush for not going far enough while he was president, and those who think he was specially appointed by god to lead the US against the Muslims.

Please remember these people are seriously delusional in large numbers, way more so than even the most wacked on the left.

And, yes, Bush actually was and did all that we hate him for, andprobably much more we don't yet know about.

mark

[SPedigrees]

19. The difference is this:

Bush WAS a rude, war-mongering, illiterate, sadistic person who trampled on the Constitution and dedicated his terms in office to destroying living conditions for working families while granting appalling power to predatory corporations. He DID run up a record deficit and DID tell lie after lie. Bush DID denigrate all our allies across the globe with the result of making America the most hated country in the world.

President Obama is NOT a socialist except to the extent of supporting and strengthening such socialistic American programs as social security, medicare, VA health care etc. and pouring stimulous $ into our socialistic public highway system. President Obama IS an American citizen. His religion is Christianity, not Islam.

See the difference? It's hating someone based on who and what he actually IS and what he actually has done, versus despising a person based on malicious and ridiculous lies.

[yodermon]

25. Because a full & fair airing of the factswould result in

their convictions of *actual crimes*.

OTOH, birther lawsuits get dismissed.

I personally don't "hate" Bushco, as they are human beings. I just want justice to be done, and this desire for justice results in a strong emotional response on my part.

The teabagging/birther/beckites are not basing their emotions on facts, but on propaganda that is demonstrably false.

You seem to be implying that since the end result of both sides is "hate" of the other side's leader(s) then they are equal and opposite and equally deserving of criticism. This is not the case. What goes into the "hate sausage" is very important IMHO.

[cali]

28. yeah, but did/do you think buscho is the anti-Christ? I mean literally?

Because 24% of them believe that about Obama.

[mike_c]

29. no...

...but I am utterly convinced that Cheney feeds on the still beating hearts of children and infants. Ever notice how he mostly comes out at night? I'm just sayin'....

[TransitJohn]

30. Because Barack Obama was democratically elected to the office of POTUS, he didn't steal it.

Big difference.

[Zomby Woof]

33. But we didn't believe delusional shit about him

We KNOW he was born in Connecticut, for example. We NEVER made crazy, false claims about him. We didn't say he practiced a different faith. We didn't even doubt he went to college, especially as he was a 'C' student.

The fact you claim you don't see a difference is very telling. Very suspicious. In an operationally criminal mindfuck kind of way.

[krispos42]

35. We hated him for what he did, and we were far more accurate

Obama is not a socialist; he's at best somewhat left-of-center.

Questioning how Bush was "elected" in 2000 and "re-elected" in 2004 is entirely appropriate and reasonable. When your brother is the state governor, your state campaign manager is also the state secretary of state, and the Supreme Court steps in while having several members that your daddy appointed to give you the Presidency... that's reasonable. Screaming about ACORN and birth certificates isn't.

Bush/Cheney DID do things that Hitler did in Hitler's plan of total political, economic, and military control.

• B/C manipulated the willing media that had become enlarged and engorged by pro-corporate lawmakers and presidents
  
• declared war to pass his domestic and foreign political objectives
  
• privatized vast amounts of duties and obligations that were formally done by government
  
• created a revolving door between their adminstration and cronies and the huge private industries that gave them campaign dollars
  
• violated the US constitution, US federal law, international treaties, and international law for domestic political purposes
  
• tortured people (sometimes to death) to promote their foreign and domestic political views, and to terrorize people
  
• shifted vast sums of public monies to private corporations, and advanced and promoted the wealth of the rich and powerful at the expense of the poor and powerless.
  
• hysterically played on the fears of terrorism. "Terrorism" became the new "Jews", and if you protested how he was treating terrorists, you were a terrorist-lover

Of course, Obama is doing things that Hitler did in the past as well. He's proposing budgets, signing legislation, giving speeches, stumping, making diplomatic trips to foreign nations, schmoozing with important national figures, sleeping, eating, using the plumbing, etc. After all, Hitler spent a lot of money on infrastructure too! All those limited-access highways... Hitler built those in the 30's to stimulate the economy.

Now Obama has his flaws of course, but our hatred of Bush is based on actions, not on wishful thinking.

[Posteritatis]

49. We generally didn't need to lie about Bush's issues. (nt)

[GoCubsGo]

3. Boy! They really HAVE become marginalized, haven't they?

I wonder how long before the few relatively sane people left in the party jump ship. I find it a bit hard to believe that the likes of Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe, and even Ahnold are still willing to be associated with the likes of these whackos.

[Mari333]

4. how strange. and I think Obama is too far right.

[RKP5637]

8. Yeah, me too. I was saying just recently Obama is a too far right president! n/t

[SPedigrees]

21. Well now you see what the only realistic alternate is to our

"far right" president. Like it or not, we are a two party system, and voting for a 3rd party sadly will result in these repub crazies continuing the destruction of our country that began with Reagan.

[RKP5637]

31. I would only ever vote democratic, always have, always will. n/t

[SPedigrees]

44. I didn't mean you specifically, RKP, altho I apologize for insinuating it. It just concerns me

when I hear (from so many on this board) intentions of voting against Obama and our dems in Congress in favor of 3rd party candidates.

[RKP5637]

45. Hi, thanks!!! Ohhhhhh, dems voting for 3rd party in these times would be a horrible mistake.

[SPedigrees]

51. Yes that is what frightens me. Apologies again. nt

[RKP5637]

32. BTW- that's when I really felt the country starting to self-destruct, with Reagan. n/t

[Gman2]

6. I was debating a rightwing Oathkeeper friend, and insurrection is just one

Kent State Bullett away from mass civil war. And police/military coup. And the fact that they keep their numbers secret, is cuz they use that to influence us thru fear. That is the classic def of terrorism. He trains cops in domestic civil unrest quelling. They are ready to oust. Just waiting for the signal. I could not get him to tell the triggers for insurrection. BUt, I did get a few wingers to tell when they would turn their guns around on their fellow soldiers. We have killers, that think they have weak kneed liberals cowed. They think that unleashing their fury with bullets, will see us surrendering to their end of democracy. Without a bloodbath. Folks, we are two shakes of a lambs tail from revolution. And make no mistake, many wingers WANT TO kill them some liberals. Witness Fatbo's call to wipe us all out. I hope soon, that we mow down a swath of treasonous fucks soon, or a lot of INNOCENT people will be slaughtered.

[Submariner]

7. The racist "Whiteys" can't handle the fact that a Black man

is showing himself to be a 1000% better Commander-in-Chief than they could have ever hoped for from their loser-in-chief election stealing partisan SCOTUS-appointed incompetent pretzeldent.

P.S. I can say that because I am white and support President Obama all the way.

FU you racist Freeptard Crackers!

[RKP5637]

11. +1000. Same here!!! n/t

[Echo In Light]

10. Question: we don't bother w/M$M, so, are they 'selling' this meme in comparison w/Bush?

[Winterblues]

12. Republicans are terrified

America chose Democrats to govern because they were dissatisfied with how Republicans had done so. Republicans know deep down if Democrats are allowed to actually govern, Republicans will never win another election. There is a definite mix of racism involved but the main factor IMO is their fear of being proved completely wrong on every issue. They know deep down they are wrong but want to keep America in the dark for as long as absolutely possible..Their days are numbered though..

[goclark]

18. This is their "Last Stand" unless they come to reality

Have you noticed the lack of young voters in their Tea Party stuff?

That's because the young voters realize that "stuck on stupid" isn't what they want in life.

[SPedigrees]

24. You make a good point. Young persons get most of their news from the internet.

There's a lot of right wing craziness on the web, but there is also good and truthful information, so the younger generation gets a mix. The old geezers get FOX news.

[RKP5637]

47. Wait, I'm old, I don't watch Fox News!!! I also get my news from the Internet,

there are a lot like me, so old doesn't always equate to old geezers and Fox News... just if they are RW R's.

[SPedigrees]

53. Same here on both counts. And I imagine that's true of most here.

But there is a large demographic of older Americans who are not online and get their news from TV MSM. This cross section is where the teabaggers were recruited from, I would guess. Fortunately the younger persons who will replace them won't be as easy for the republicans to manipulate.

I was born in 1950, for what it's worth. :-)

[RKP5637]

54. We're about the same age. You know, I am embarrassed by a number of

people in our generation. I'm counting a lot on our youth too. I try to keep reasonably fit, keep my hair moderately long, etc. and I get looks from old geezer farts here younger than me, because I don't look/act like a teabagger.

I see these teabaggers in demonstrations and I think damn, many look to be in my generation. Yes, I think the same, "a large demographic of older Americans who are not online and get their news from TV MSM. This cross section is where the teabaggers were recruited from..."

Thanks for your reply!:)

[Matariki]

16. Did they take this poll at a teabag rally?

I'm having trouble believing those numbers.

[RKP5637]

17. Yep, the republicans are uniting all of the crackpots in the US IMO under their

banner and somehow the NEW republicans think this is a good thing. I've always questioned the stability of the US. We're beginning to sound like a country that needs to be broken into regions for the sake of sanity. I'm beginning to wonder what's united about the US. I think the NEW republican party is the biggest terrorist organization we have operating in this country.

[muriel_volestrangler]

22. Interestingly, the author is a centrist Republican

John Avlon's new book Wingnuts: How the Lunatic Fringe is Hijacking America is available now by Beast Books both on the Web and in paperback. He is also the author of Independent Nation: How Centrists Can Change American Politics. Previously, he served as chief speechwriter for New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and was a columnist and associate editor for The New York Sun.

There seem to be more of them getting scared by their associates.

[indepat]

26. Bet few, if any, Republicans who think Obama is doing many of the things Hitler did

ever stopped to consider that junior committed, in the eyes of most of the world, one of Hitler's most atrocious acts, that of starting a war of aggression. But in their eyes, what a Republican president does, no matter how illegal, immoral, or inhumane is just peachy-keen which, IMHO, is indicative of a growing national psychosis. :-)

[RKP5637]

37. And very well put, "a growing national psychosis." I agree and find it

very concerning. The current trend of the republican party is dangerous IMO, and they are being whipped into an irrational frenzy by Beck, Hannity, Limbaugh, others, RW radio and some cult religious, as well as, R leaders.

The power of disinformation and propaganda is incredible today and I think forces/emotions are being unleashed in this country of which the R's will lose control and it will take on its own feeding frenzy. Many Americans need to chill out, and the R leadership is amiss IMO in allowing it to continue and in fact stoking the fires of hatred and racism in this country directly or indirectly by their absence in trying to get it under control to a level of sanity.

[MajorChode]

34. As I've said, there WILL be another Republican McVeigh style terrorist attack

The difference will be that you now have in place fringe nuts like Beck who will defend those actions and blame Democrats for them, which will insure there will be more to come.

[RKP5637]

40. This is what I fear too, more and more as the crazies in the RW media stoke the fires

of hatred and racism. I'm beginning to think the agenda of Beck and similar is to completely bring down America. They are an evil force in this country and none are held accountable.

[goclark]

43. We have always have crazy people that are stuck on stupid

That doesn't mean that we ever stop working to make America a better place for all to live a quality life.

[MajorChode]

46. Yes, I agree completely

I'm just highlighting the differences between the parties. When Democrats suffer political defeat, they simply work that much harder and wait for the country to once again realize how misguided and destructive the GOP is once it comes into power. Given time, the GOPhers inevitably fuck up by killing the economy or starting needless wars and America once again wakes up to the stupidity of electing GOPhers. When Republicans suffer political defeat, they look for ways to subvert our democracy by any means necessary. This may mean new tactics of obstructionism. It may mean blocking access to legal medical clinics. And it may mean loading up a truck full of synthetic fertilizer mixed with heating oil. The difference today is that in previous attacks, you mainly had fringe nut groups stoking those fires while operating mostly under the radar. Now you have people like Glenn Beck doing it on national TV.

[vanbean]

38. Propaganda works. That's why they use it.

[WeekendWarrior]

48. Fortunately, there aren't that many Republicans anymore. nt

[Bucky]

50. Except for that Muslim number, they all lose out to his overall job approval rating.

But maybe I'm missing the context.

[WilliamPitt]

52. Only 1 in 5 Americans identify themselves as Republican

So...

20% crazy is about where we always are.