Are Republicans Anti-Intellectual?

[Philosoraptor]

Fascists have historically singled out what they referred to as intellectuals for attack. What they really mean is anyone who dares disagree with them, or tries to analyze and explain fascism to the common man.

We often refer to the dumbing down of our citizens, we all know some real dumbasses out here, they're everywhere, I might even be one of them. Republicans target certain groups as enemies, homosexuals, ethnic and religious groups, unions, artists, scientists and anyone who is not a republican.

If one stands up and speaks ill of bush and his masters in an intelligent way, he will be accused of being one of those elitist intellectual types, and there side has so, so many of them themselves.

[Rabrrrrrr]

1. Well, duh. Yes.

Yes they are.

[Jack from Charlotte]

26. They're TFM's...... here's a report on that.....

Case you haven't seen this yet: TFM = Total Fucking Morons

POLL: BUSH LOSING TFM SUPPORT

A nation divided?

WASHINGTON, May 11 - President Bush appears to be losing support among
a key group of voters who had hitherto stood firmly with the president
even as his poll numbers among other groups fell dramatically.

A new Gallup poll shows that, for the first time, Bush's approval
rating has fallen below 50% among total fucking morons, and now stands
at 44%. This represents a dramatic drop compared to a poll taken just
last December, when 62% of total fucking morons expressed support for
the president and his policies.

The current poll, conducted by phone with 1,409 total fucking morons
between May 4 and May 8, reveals that only 44% of those polled>believe
the president is doing a good job, while 27% believe he is doing a
poor job and 29% don't understand the question.

The December poll, conducted by phone with 1,530 total fucking morons,
showed 62% approved of the president, 7% disapproved and 31% didn't
understand the question.

Faltering approval ratings for the president among a group once
thought to be a reliable source of loyal support gives Republicans one
more reason to be nervous about the upcoming mid-term elections.
"If we can't depend on the support of total fucking morons," says >Sen.
Rick Santorum (R-PA), "then we've got a big problem. They're a key
factor in our electoral strategy, and an important part of today's
Republican coalition."

Weve taken the total fucking moron vote for granted," says Rep. Tom
Feeney (R-FL), "and now we're paying for it. We've let the Democrats
control the debate lately, and they've dragged discourse back into the
realm of complex, nuanced issues. So your average total fucking moron
turns on his TV and sees his Republican Congressman arguing about
Constitutional law or the complexities of state formation in the
Middle East, and he tunes out. He wants to hear comforting, pandering,
flattering bromides and he doesn't want to hear a logical argument
more complex than what you'd find on a bumper sticker."

For Feeney, the poll is a dire warning that Republicans can ignore
only at their peril. "This should send a signal that we have to regain
control of the debate if we want the support of our key constituencies
in the coming election and beyond. We need to bring public discourse
back into the realm of stupidity and vacuity. We should be talking
about homosexual illegal immigrants burning flags. We should be
talking about the power of pride. We should be talking about freedom
fries. These are the issues that resonate with total fucking morons."

But some total fucking morons say it's too late. Bill Snarpel of Enid,
Oklahoma is a total fucking moron who voted for Bush in both 2000 and
2004. But he says he won't be voting for Bush in 2008. "I don't like
it that he was going to sell our ports to the Arabs. If the Arabs own
the ports then that means they'll let all the Arabs in and then we'll
all be riding camels and wearing towels on our heads. I don't want my
children singing the Star Spangled Banner in Muslim."

Total fucking moron Kurt Meyer of Turlock, California also says his
once solid support for Bush has collapsed. "He invaded Iraq and all
those soldiers died, and for what? We destroyed all their WMDs, but
now their new president is making fun of us and saying he's going to
build nuclear bombs and that we can't stop him. Well, nuclear bombs
are even worse than WMDs, so what did we accomplish?"

Laura McDonald, a total fucking moron from Chandler, Arizona, says she
is disappointed that the president hasn't been a more forceful
advocate of Christian values. "This country was founded on Christian
values," she says, "but you'd never know it looking around and >seeing
all the Mexicans running around. I thought Bush was going to bring
Jesus back into the government. Instead, Christians are being
persecuted worse than ever before in history, because all these
Mexicans come here and tell Christians that we have to respect their
religious beliefs. So now it's illegal for children to pray in school.
Soon it will be illegal for them to speak English."

Not all total fucking morons have turned their backs on the >president.
Jeb Larkin of Topeka, Kansas says he still fully supports Bush. "He is
doing a great job. He is a great president. He is a great decider. I
have a puppy. His tail sticks straight up and you can see his
butthole."

And not all Republican lawmakers are concerned about the poll. Sen.
Lamar Alexander (R-TN), for one, does not find it a cause for >anxiety.
While he agrees that his party should not take total fucking morons
for granted, they "really don't have anywhere else to go. They're
never going to be able to understand someone like Al Gore or John
Kerry or anybody intelligent and articulate who wants to talk about
substantive issues. Just try having a conversation with one of them
about global warming. They'll say, 'Oh, but Rush says volcanoes
consume more ozone than humans do.' I mean, they're morons! Total
fucking morons!"

"They've got nowhere else to go," Alexander reaffirms with a smile,
"and they always vote."

[saltpoint]

2. Well, it's been downhill since Lincoln.

I like Pete McCloskey. I like Lowell Weicker. Maybe one or two rogue others.

But that's about it.

The modern-day GOP plays to fear, it manipulates emotions instead of solving problems. They align with fear-mongering assholes like Jim Dobson and Jerry Falwell.

A very strong case could be made the Republicans are anti-intellectual.

[treestar]

3. They don't like people they can't lead around by the nose

OR can't control and dominate. That pretty much means intellectuals.

[TheFriedPiper]

4. Is the Pope Catholic?

geez

Republicans are downright SCARED TO DEATH of intellectuals and they don't trust us at all.

[deaniac21]

5. Hmmmm....

>If one stands up and speaks ill of bush and his masters in an intelligent way, he will be accused of being one of those elitist intellectual types, and there side has so, so many of them themselves.<

So it's ok if done in a dumb way? I'm confused...

[Philosoraptor]

11. All of their talking heads are intellectuals themselves

Yet they use the word like a racial slur or insult.

[Jed Dilligan]

6. I'm afraid that doesn't just apply to Republicans

Anglo-Saxon people in general, including the English and America's ruling classes, are known for their strong anti-intellectualism.

[izzybeans]

7. Only whenever information archived by intellectuals contradicts their

mythology, which is pretty much constantly, so yeah. But every now and then they grasp onto two or three tidbits of info. coming from academia that they think justifies their rampages.

[Philosoraptor]

13. Fundamentalist Christians are EXTREMELY anti intellectual

as in 'no such thing as evolution'

[izzybeans]

23. Yep, they have been since the reformation.

"Anti-Intellectualism in America" is a good historic account of this sort of mindset. Very interesting.

[stepnw1f]

8. Not All.... Just the Hangers-On Bush Supporters

Brainwashing is much easier when the head is empty.

[jsamuel]

9. yes, I have posted many times that there is a "war on education"

[Beelzebud]

10. Americans are anti-intellectual.

[Ioo]

12. Are you Just waking up from 30 year nap? Yes, they hate smarts...

because the agenda can not withstand the simple force of thought.

[Philosoraptor]

14. Is it that obvious?

Yes, I just woke up, it was 1976, and all the dope finally caught up with me.

Its like I'm in a whole other world.

[xchrom]

15. anti-intellectualism is a cornerstone of their tactics sinse

ronald reagan.
and it's part and parcel of their attempts to control history.

and the evangelicals love it -- because no one could hate a good education more than them.

[BlooInBloo]

16. It's one reason they get elected so much....

... Their anti-intellectualism reflects the anti-intellectualism of Americans generally.

"I may not have book smarts, I've got common sense/street smarts"

"You don't have to go to college/graduate school to be educated"

"I'm more of a visual learner"


The list of typical DU expressions of anti-intellectualism goes on and on.

[peacetalksforall]

17. The make-up of their voting blocks include a large per cent of

non-intellectuals who are often also anti-intellectuals. What we hear is continuous political manipulation of that base. In some cases, religious faith and religious leaders facilitate the manipulation. If religion doesn't work with some of them, fear and bigotry does the job.

Other segments of their voting base include educated people who are locked in to Republican beliefs from decades past - in some sense, they are dumbed down by tradition, stubborness, and the inability to face their friends should they change.

The rest of their base are those who profit from the deals they are involved in that are government, military, and corporation related and those who operate on behalf of the barons who have decided that control of people and the security of their wealth is worth using politicians, the military, banks, and deal-makers to pursue their agendas.

Then there are some who cross between the bases.

So it's all about appeal to their base.

Three common threads run through it - not thinking for themselves, control of people, profit for a few.

[msmcghee]

18. We are all emotional engines.

We all tend to believe those things that feel good to us when we consider them.

As humans we have an evolutionary adaptation called intellect. Intellect allows us to do a reality check on our beliefs, if we choose to use it for that.

However, our intellectual conclusions usually don't feel as good to us as beliefs not subject to that reality check. (Would you rather believe that you go to heaven when you die and live with all your passed frinds and family forever without trouble or want - or that you just cease to exist as a living animal? Or, would you prefer to believe that those on the right are not very smart?)

Intellectuals (I prefer to use realists) are not any smarter. They just like to use their intellect to edit out beliefs that don't pass the reality test. That's an emotional decision and it's not easy to do. "Facing reality" is never as pleasant as the wonderful stories we can make up about the world.

But, the advantage is that one gets to have a set of beliefs that are much more in tune with reality. Since we consult our beliefs when we make behavior choices - those who continually test their beliefs against reality are likely to make better choices in life.

It is pretty easy to spot the realists from the true-believers. Devoid of the wonderful feelings that come with imaginary belief systems, realists don't express (or hold on to) their beliefs with a lot of emotion. They are ready to see new evidence and adjust their beliefs if required.

True believers express their beliefs with a great deal of emotion, especially when those beliefs are challenged. Instead of being open to new evidence - they will interpret any contradictory evidence as false or fabricated, regardless of its logical merit - and will often attack the person who presents that evidence. Realist is a better term because true-believers can have powerful intellects too, and often do. The difference is that they use their intellects to justify their irrational beliefs - rather than test them against reality. Some of them are pretty good at that - like Michael Behy, for example.

There are probably just as many true-believers on the left as on the right. Realists tend to hold some beliefs from each end of the spectrum. That's because nature doesn't hand us problems that are always best interpreted through an exclusively left or right prism.

For that reason realists are often despised by all - because they will tend to hold some beliefs that are opposite what either those on the right or the left believe strongly. True-believers hate that.

[porphyrian]

27. I don't equate "intellectual" with "realist."

That seems to discount all forms of imagination and creativity that aren't applicable to the real world. Fiction isn't automatically non-intellectual, and it certainly isn't real, by definition.

[msmcghee]

28. I was limiting my discussion to . .

. . belief systems that are the basis for behavior decisions.

All forms of art are informed by intellect - just as there are many kinds of intelligence.

[zbdent]

19. Well, with every attack on teachers, public school funding, etc.

it becomes clearer and clearer ... they don't want an educated populace ... just imagine if their workers find out that they could be making much more ...

[undeterred]

20. Its a "leave your brain at the door" party

I used to say about certain churches: its a "leave your brain in the narthax" church; now I think the Pukes deserve that title too. Leave your brain, bring your fear.

[Mr_Spock]

21. Yes

It's so obvious when you talk to the people who are being screwed by them and supporting them all at the same time.

[MadHound]

22. Most Americans, of whatever political stripe, are anti-intellectual

It's just that neo-cons have actively tried to discourage people with intellect and brains, while the rest of the country let's the intellectuals go their own way.

[Strawman]

24. Yes and it's successful because Americans are cynical about gov't

If one has no faith in government's ability to do anything worthwhile, effective governance is no longer a factor in political decision making. So why not spend one's vote saying fuck you to the "elites," and the "know-it-alls?" For many people, I think that is all that they believe they have left in the political process. Everyone's a liar and the politicians who cultivate the electorate's resentments best win.

[porphyrian]

25. Corporations are, so fascists are by extension.

The Good Consumer can be told what the best erectile dysfunction medication is and know that he should buy some. The Good Consumer trusts what a commercial says four out of five doctors agree is true. Good Consumers don't ask questions they aren't told to ask by A Trusted Authority, such as a brand name or a celebrity.

Intellectuals are bad consumers. They ask too many questions and don't automatically accept what they're told. Intellectuals often recognize the neon-gilded cattle chute they're being directed by self-serving morons to mosey on down in an orderly fashion so that their life can be more efficiently converted into someone else's profit. Intellectuals have a memory, are surprised at how few realize the extent to which we are all being deceived. With that realization goes blind trust for self-appointed authority, usually replaced with some form of rebellion, even if only on a subtle, personal level. And that just isn't an efficient way for corporations to convert you into profit.

Edit:...must use spellcheck...must use spellcheck...

[warrens]

29. Shade of gray make them nervous and confused

To really be anti-intellectual, you have to be intellectual to begin with. These guys are the used car salesmen and telemarketers of the world. Now I know some here probably work in those fields, but I doubt you started out with that as a GOAL. These nimrods think they're in hog heaven, bilking the suckers for $30K.

[Arugula Latte]

30. They don't like fancy book learnin'.

:eyes:

[Mrs. Overall]

31. I was the only one in my family to attend college and therefore

I am one of the only Democratics in my family. They would constantly deride me for being in school. An example: one Thanksgiving I couldn't get the can opener to work and they joked all day about the "educated girl" who couldn't use a can opener. My sister-in-law would also warn me, "Be careful, you can learn too much."

[Odin2005]

32. It's a result of the Pukes using populism to win elections.

Populism is inheirently anti-intellectual because intellectuals are viewed as part of "the Elite."

[Armstead]

33. They're conflicted about intellectuals...

In general the answer is "yes."

But it's not quite that simple. I think many of the have a love-hate relationship with the idea of intellectualism.

It's probably a case of IQ Envy that Republicans pander to the dumbest instincts of people while simultaneously trying to package their simplistiuc nonsense in the cloak of intellectualism.

People like Newt Gingrich, Anne Coulter and bill Bennett and the Neo-Cons are always trying to play the intellectual game....That's why, for eample, Anne Coulter is always bragging about the "footnotes" in her books.

[Spinoza]

34. In my experience

Republicans, as a group, are definitely anti-intellectual and deeply distrust complexity and nuance which is the hallmark of intellectual discourse. On the other hand, it has to be admitted that some Neo-cons ARE intellectuals and intellectually inclined. Bill Kristol is one obvious example. Being an 'intellectual', or being comfortable with intellectual discourse, does not necessarily mean one is a liberal or progressive. After all, the eminent philosopher Heidegger was a Nazi. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Heidegger