A: The San Francisco Bay Area!
We here in the Bay Area live a bubble of diverse, open-minded liberalism. I don’t think there’s a Republican parent at my daughter’s school. So this morning’s “Two Cents” column was an eye-opener. I don’t know how long it took the San Francisco Chronicle to find a whole string of people who voted for George W. Bush, but here they are in all their mind-bending glory. Here then is the answer to the question: who are the loyal 28% (or whatever the latest number is) and what are they thinking? Except for one Hillary fan, these voters back Bush because he is a man of steadfast conviction who will never back down from Islamofascist terror. The economy is booming and unemployment is the lowest ever. Democrats are weak-kneed liberals who want to be “nice” to terrorists. <sigh> What does it take?
LOL, Lil. I’m not sure I’ve ever met a rethug in the Bay Area, but I’m sure they exist.
So, let’s see…all of the people are older than 40 (at least judging from appearance). 8 are white guys, 2 are white women, and they managed to dredge up a token African American man. The vast majority, I’d say at least 8 out of the 11, live in wealthy towns.
Doesn’t look like a very representative sample of the Bay Area at all.
You got to love people who say, Gee, Iraq is a mess, but unemployment in the US is down!
Good God! reading what they had to say was like having a conversation with the repub sis. She still believes W told the truth about WMDs. We had the same conversation AGAIN yesterday yet she won’t read anything I want to send her. Drives me absolutely insane.
She still believes W told the truth about WMDs. … She won’t read anything I want to send her…
What is the reason people shut their eyes and put their fingers in their ears? Fear that their whole world will crumble if some unpleasant facts make their way through the barriers? It makes me insane too ’cause sometimes I find myself thinking: They’re so sure! What if they’re right and I’m all wrong? Am I as bad as I think they are, not wanting or able to accept reality? Aaaaaa!!!!!!
I don’t even think these people exist–think they are just figments of a PR person’s imagination.
more grateful for my in-laws; last night at dinner my mom-in-law said, “I firmly believe that man [GWB] was not elected in 2000.”
Got to wonder though, how many people did they actually interview? Could be they felt like they had to find as many pro-Bush speakers as possible to counter any claims of “liberal bias”…
Yikes! My favorite one is Robert Hallstrom from Pittsburg who wrote:
I’ve suspected for some time that there is some secret Republican drug out there that induces psychosis and causes wild hallucinations . Robert has convinced my that I’m right. I need to get my hands on that stuff.
Because the situation is so extreme, so urgent, so dire, so, I am sorry to say, doomed, people who are unaccustomed to urgency, extremity, direness and doom as daily life elements tend to, no, they NEED to develop coping mechanisms.
For some, it’s stick to God speaks through Bush, evildoers who hate freedom, Al Kydy gonna gitcha, enemy who lurks, Resolve to Prevail, 3000 people died in the world trade center, better to fight em over there, protect Israel for the Rapture, we better get the oil before the Chinese do, America saved the world in World War II, the rest of the world is jealous, they thought Americans were weak, got to get the job done, nuke Mecca, or whatever variation/combination of the above helps them get through the day.
For others, they put their faith in politicians, everything will be all right if we just all send this or that politician more money. He was so brave the other day when he said he didn’t agree with killing all the male children under two, everybody send him a fax to thank him for his courage, what a hero, send him some money, if only we can elect the politicians that appeal to me everything will be all right, so send them some money.
The reality-based universe is hard enough in the best of circumstances, in the worst of circumstances, which is the situation of the US today, these coping mechanisms are all that these people have. That is their only source of a psychological benefit, and that is the only kind of benefit they are going to get.
It is not humane to try to take it away from them.
It is not humane to try to take it away from them.
Is this snark? Agreed, the blinders are a coping mechanism. Do you mean don’t argue, don’t try to educate people, humor them? Let them eat cake?
I am assuming that we are talking about adults, relatively affluent adults who live in the US.
They are not stupid, they have access to the same resources you do, and they have the right to decide how much education is right for them.
I am saying that they do not need you to educate them, nor are they likely to be very amenable to the notion.
You cannot argue with them, any more than you can argue with a devout Catholic on the subject of the Immaculate Conception. You may be able to do an impressive job of demonstrating your own gifts of logic and laying out facts, but facts and faith do not always mix well.
I would not call it humoring them, I would suggest having enough compassion for them, and for yourself, that you do not expend too much energy flailing at them, at the cost of doing other things.
They are already eating cake. It is a cake they baked, a cake they want, a cake they need. So yes, let them eat it, while you mark your calendar for May 1st, and if you will be purchasing new athletic shoes for the occasion, take KidSpeak’s excellent advice and break them in first.