Are Republicans Retarded? (Seriously)

[ChoppinBroccoli]

I was recently at a seminar in which one of the segments was given by a psychologist and concerned diagnoses of mental retardation. Among his prepared materials was a sample checklist of some of the telltale signs that a person might have some form of mental retardation. Check out this list, then let your mind boggle at all the examples you can think of to illustrate each one (Bush, Palin, Teabaggers, Paliens, et al.) Apologies to anyone offended by the term "retarded," but the psychologist giving the lecture used it as a clinical term, so I thought it would be OK.

1. The mentally retarded will often have the following behavioral characteristics:
A. Dependency on others & need to seek approval
B. Poor social skills
C. More impulsive
D. Inability to delay gratification
E. Poor frustration tolerance
F. Often acquiesce to the wishes of other individuals whom they perceive to be in positions of authority
G. Attempt to hide their disability to avoid the likely stigma associated with it (aka the "cloak of competence")
H. Concrete thinking (difficulties with abstractions)
I. Follower, not a leader
J. Poor judgment
K. Difficulty generalizing learning
L. Needs "artificial supports": e.g., has a job with a well-defined routine not requiring decision-making skills, or has a significant other taking care of finances, etc.
M. Placed in Special Education, or multiple grade retentions, or drops out of school early

2. The mentally retarded will often suffer from the following skill deficits:
A. Difficulty in understanding emotions (labeling own emotional state, knowing how to handle intense emotions appropriately)
B. Difficulty in taking the perspective of another person ("reading" the facial expressions of others, anticipating emotional reactions of others, etc.)
C. Credulity and Gullibility

3. Red flags that the client may have MR
A. Language
1. Speaks and understands primarily in concrete terms (inability to think in abstractions)
2. Misuses larger or more abstract words
3. Overly agreeable to anything that is said
4. If he/she uses more complex language, he/she repeats it almost verbatim and has trouble repeating it in his own words
5. Has conversational "scripts" which are overused and lack depth
B. Reading & Writing skills: has difficulty with material that is over the third grade level
C. Personality/Behavior:
1. Looks to others for how to handle difficult or new situations
2. Limited social skills
3. Acquiesces to the wishes of other individuals
4. Attempts to hide shortcomings even when not to his/her advantage
5. Difficulty in understanding the emotions and the perspectives of others

[Dreamer Tatum]

1. Unrec for fatuous use of an actual mental condition nt

[Richardo]

3. I'm reccing your unrec

OP is in bad form.

[TheCowsCameHome]

2. Not to go off topic here, but I love the "Paliens" label.

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[Stinky The Clown]

4. "retarded" .......

...... trust me. That's insulting and inappropriate.

[ChoppinBroccoli]

17. Tell That To The Ph.D. Psychologist Who Prepared The Materials

A lot of people in this thread are just WAY too sensitive. I figure if mental health professionals use the term "mentally retarded," maybe, JUST MAYBE, you ought to realize that it's a medical diagnosis and not an insult. Would you be equally as offended if someone told you you had lupus? It's a term used in the mental health field. Get over yourselves.

[arcadian]

5. ibtl

[kenny blankenship]

6. Differently abled!

Don't hate them because they are murderously stupid.

[BlueCaliDem]

7. It is a clinical term. People are the ones that bastardized it

and made it into a derogatory epithet.

[Posteritatis]

21. Sorta like the OP's doing. (nt)

[timeforpeace]

8. They must be to lose to the likes of us.

[HughMoran]

13. Yes, the Democrats can only win elections against "retards"

Nice :smoke:

[Xipe Totec]

9. Only some are seriously retarded

Most are only slightly retarded.

[Posteritatis]

10. Yay, let's politicize mental disorders some more! Unrec for 1930s-style ignorant bullshit. (nt)

[pscot]

11. I think it's a chemical imbalance

in their brains. They have an exaggerated fear response. It make them more aggressive. Most of them could be helped by medication, but few seek treatment. Once President Obama has his re-education camps up and running, they will be rounded up and treated.

[Name removed]

12. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[historian]

14. not so much retarded

as suffering from a severe lack of intellectual curiosity and the ability to understand anything which is beyond their own little box. To top it all off, they have no idea how their behavior contradicts their beliefs. If the prophet they believe in (in this case jesus) who was against the accumulation of wealth for its own sake, against violence when possible, against hating your neighbor ect...thats what they should do but they vicious nasty small minded and above all HYPOCRITES!!!!

[JohnnyLib2]

15. This use of "mental retardation" is hurtful in ways you may not understand.

Good time to learn.

See post 12.

[backscatter712]

16. That's really insulting.

How dare you drag the mentally disabled down to the level of Republicans...

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

18. Yep

[OnyxCollie]

19. They are broken, for sure.

Here's a site worth checking out:

www.neuropolitics.org

[liberalmuse]

20. No. Just stupid.

If ignorance is bliss, they've gone beyond Nirvana.

[RagAss]

22. People who live in fear will exhibit most of those traits as well.

[StarfarerBill]

23. No, just willfully and proudly ignorant...and content to stay that way, it seems.

:shrug:

[HuckleB]

24. Instead of demeaning people with developmental disabilities you could have just killed a dog.

Oh, wait. That's what Steelers fans do. Maybe you could go after a mouse instead.