LOL: "Next they'll build an arena and hand out bread"...

[CatBO]

Great quote from the comments section for this article:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/09/AR2008100903169_pf.html

"Wow, it's come to this. Hello, mobocracy. Next, they'll build an arena and hand out bread."

Very true sir, very true.

[zingaro]

1. Sure. The circuses are already here. nt

[Mooney]

2. I wonder if these people even know what they're mad about?

The sense I get about the anger you see at these rallies is that the people there have some vague sense of impending loss, but they have no idea what that actually means or what the implications are. Maybe they've gotten so used to a one-dimensional "Republicans = Good / Democrats = Bad" comprehension of the world that they just respond on a purely visceral level.

I think a lot of these people (the older ones anyway) are used to demonizing their opponents in terms of a life-or-death struggle, the way they probably did during the days of the Cold War. Since the Soviet Union fell, I think a lot of these yahoos don't know what to do with themselves, and have been looking for a new mortal foe to oppose ever since. I can't help noticing that the way a lot of the Republican base talks about Democrats and AY-rabs is very similar to the way a lot of my older relatives used to talk about the communists, as though it's one monolithic enemy that stands in opposition to the United States. I guess seeing an opposition party that way, or seeing a complicated foreign culture that way, is easier than conceding that there are many shades of gray.

[CatBO]

3. Demonizing is right. They need hate.

The rabid Republican base is an incurious, non-intellectual sort. They don't read, unless it's their Bible. They are not particularly intelligent. They need lies. That's why they go to church. They need people to tell them stories they can believe that make them feel good.

Part of their mental makeup is also that they need someone or something to hate. That's why there's a "devil" in the Christian myth. Having a good guy isn't enough, there must also be someone to hate.

These people are angry because they are programmed to hate and they're programmed to believe lies. If they had any intelligence, or any interest in facts, they would read and absorb actual news enough to realize that they should be hating the very people they voted into office. But they are mentally incapable of learning or understanding, or seeking truth.

McCain and Palin are simply feeding the hate/lie machine with the best fodder they can. Interestingly enough, this will only alienate moderates, and it will serve only to get the Rabid Republican Base to the polls. But these people were going to go anyway. They will not gain any new votes by cynically feeding the ignorant and intellectually handicapped among us. It's almost as if they are trying to lose.

I only hope our candidate stays safe throughout this mess.