The latest Democracy Corp report (pdf) on the beliefs of Republicans is highly depressing. It’s not only what they believe; it’s that they are just wrong about everything. Their brains have been marinated in a toxic stew of highly corrosive anti-science religion, Fox News, hate radio, and intensely targeted misinformation campaigns. It’s a wonder that they can still remember where the Sun rises and sets.
The study broke Republicans into focus groups and then categorized them as either moderates, evangelicals, or Tea Party members. The moderates sound like sane people who just don’t like paying taxes or dealing with government regulations. The evangelicals and Tea Party folks sound like they’ve been programmed by a malicious scam-artist oligarch/preacher. They are all totally paranoid. I mean “paranoid” doesn’t even do justice to what they believe. We need a stronger word.
But they do have one thing basically correct. They feel like the Affordable Care Act will be really popular in the sense that the people who receive a subsidy to buy health care will not vote for a party that wants to take their subsidy away. Now, they think that the only people getting subsidies will be lazy folks who don’t work, but that’s not really my point. I already told you that they are wrong about everything.
ObamaCare isn’t going to turn America into a country of lazy moochers. It’s going to turn middle class white folks into stronger supporters of the federal government, and therefore the Democratic Party. It’s the same reason a lot of retired white folks support the Democrats. The Democrats created Social Security and Medicare, and old folks know that.
The evangelicals and Tea Partiers seem to think this is a sinister plot to buy enough support to win elections in perpetuity. It’s not a plot, but opposing ObamaCare is going to be even less popular than opposing Social Security. So, yeah, it’s doom time for the old Republican Party.
And that seems to be what they’re all preoccupied with. They feel like Obama came in and enjoyed total victory over them and their way of life. Now that ObamaCare is enacted, they’ll never win another presidential election. The country will just get more tolerant of gays..it’s terrible.
Part of me insists on mocking these people, but I am actually angry that there are so many people who have been programmed to be this upset and filled with anxiety and basically unhappy. People aren’t naturally this mixed up. You have to physically damage people to get them to believe and behave this way.
There are a whole lot of folks who make people stupid for a living. And they’re screwing up my country.
