I often engage with Stupidparty disciples on Twitter or Facebook and occasionally even on this website. Very quickly a pattern emerges. They post some thought that can usually be put on a bumper sticker. I ask for substance, some evidence of intelligent thinking. 99% of the time, in spite of thrice repeated appeals, nothing is forthcoming—they literally have nothing—no substance, no intellect and ultimately once stripped bare it can be seen that they have lost all decency, their humanity and if there is such a thing—their very soul.
I will soon be posting a explanation of how to achieve a checkmate against any Stupidparty disciple in five moves—checkmate being declared once the disciple’s arguments have devolved to such a point that they reveal some form of outed bigotry, intolerant hate, revealing a soulless individual—a wraith.
But how did we get to this point—of almost half the country falling into a cult of hate, or if not hate, then a total loss of critical thinking? We debate with facts, they retort with slogans. They literally have nothing. Hence the horrendous quality of Stupidparty presidential candidates in 2012 and now 2016. It’s gotten so bad that Stupidparty chumps are wantonly economically cutting their own throats by trying to eradicate healthcare, social security, education—all in order to further enrich the top 158 families that now control democracy itself. It has gotten so bad that even though each Stupidparty conspiracy theory not only gets nailed, but the perpetrators consistently get caught with their pants down—whether this be the Benghazi “Wally World” road trip, the IRS emails, Kim Davis and the Pope, the Pope’s Christian values—all in a short time frame—but few bother to connect the dots. The Stupidparty is a scam, it is a pyramid scheme.
Now we must know that brain washing people en mass is not so tough. 50% of Utah are Mormon, 80% of Evangelicals voted for Romney, an asset stripping, serial lying misogynist, the polar opposite of Jesus, Hitler captured the hearts and minds of the people, in China they still honor the memory of Mao—the Russian people love the bare chested barbaric actions of Putin, the genocide of the Serbians, the Hutu, ISIS—all being totally liberated from the pain of actual thinking, the pain of knowledge, what better than the bliss of a good old fashioned manly massacre of your imagined enemies. The conservative brain (yes it is always the conservative brain, and yes that includes incorrectly supposed communists Stalin and Mao) is pre-programmed to act in this way, all it needs is some one to light the fuse.
So how did this happen with the US political process? How did so many people get so badly brainwashed—who lit the fuse?
“Many of us understand the damage that has been done by the likes of Rush Limbaugh, FOX News, and Hate Media. You can hear the promotion of blatant racism, homophobia, misogyny and bigotry just by turning on the TV, radio or computer. Malicious lies are perpetuated until they are believed, by those who have been sucked in and who now use right-wing media as their only source of ‘news.’ Jen Senko is a filmmaker who watched the transformation of her father as he slowly came to believe the extreme right-wing propaganda. Senko is now making a documentary about it called The Brainwashing Of My Dad.”
Must See:
Do you notice who is always the enemy of people like Hitler, Stalin, Mao, or actions such as War, Genocide, False Information, Environment Destruction, School Shootings, Poverty, Disease and various forms of Bigotry. Yes it is always the same group of Educators, Professors, Writers, Artists, social workers, Liberals—these are the people who must be vilified. Ring any bells?
This dumbing down of America has meant that candidates do not have to make any sense and are not accountable to facts.
Because of this ineptitude, this lowering of the bar, this is how the New York Times should be reporting the news:
This was an excellent piece. It represents everything that I have been thinking but would be unable to verbalized as comprehensively and concisely as you when the opportunity presents itself. All of our friends are small town, NRA conservatives with closed minds that can’t be changed. They are not interested in facts. It is very frustrating so we just don’t go there with them. People like these, as much as we love them, are this country’s greatest challenge. I will be interested in reading your suggested responses to these types of people. I am always at a loss for words when I hear them discuss politics. Our local newspaper echoes their opinions.
As a lifelong Alabamian, I feel your pain. Here are a few suggested rebuttals:
“Obama’s gonna take your guns”. I had a brother-in-law who SERIOUSLY believed this and let us know his Christmas 2008 budget would be spent stocking up on the guns and ammo that was DEFINITELY going to be illegal to purchase come January 2009. And he used money his family could ill afford to invest in more guns and ammo.
When any NRA nut starts on their “Dems will confiscate your guns” rant, pause and pose as a serious question, as if you need them to provide important details “has President Obama’s gun patrol visited your house yet?” Or comment that Obama is running out of time in his presidency to organize that gun-take-back program. Ask “will this Christmas or next be the last time Walmart is allowed to sell guns?” “How many guns has the Obama presidency causes you to give up or not be able to buy?”
My niece sincerely believed that Obamacare meant now doctors would only be paid what other people were paid, despite having to go through years of extra schooling. I assured her that was not the case. She respects me and listened to my explanation of Obamacare (I tried to keep it simple) and how doctors would not be government employees nor would the health insurance sold on Healthcare.gov be government managed policies. Doctors would still work for themselves, or a hospital or a medical group and health insurance policies would still be sold by insurance companies. I asked her who told her doctors were now going to be paid like clerks and she said “Daddy” while sounding exasperated like only a teenager can with their parents. And “Daddy” is afore-mentioned brother-in-law who was conviced gun sales would be illegal starting in 2009.
When they act like Obama/Democrats are horrible on the economy, just quote job #s from the past several presidents: Carter, Reagan, HWBush, Clinton, WBush,Obama. WAY more jobs created during Democrats’ presidencies than Republican ones.
Stock market numbers and GDP growth numbers reveal similar trends.
Take the time to arm yourself with some simple facts and try for those rebuttals. But you make an excellent point that when folks don’t care about facts, it’s hard to make a logical argument stick.
Thank you -always good to hear of life from a deep stupidparty State – if you would be interested in expanding a bit – a paragraph about what it is like, what hope there might be, who is primaraly responsible, role of schools and relgion couple of extra bullets points an interesting image or two that reflect your life experiences— ie. about 750 -1000 words -then I would like to post as a guest blog
I too make it a priority to scrutinize and be wary to accept all information accessible by TV news, and online posts, and articles. But even with all my efforts to try to avoid being too trusting, even I get “fooled” and sucked into something not quite accurate, or verifiably true. It’s almost easy to suspect Fox News and Republican rants as untrustworthy, but not all sources are easy to pick up as inaccurate or totally false. I guess the best thing I can say, is that I keep seeking the truth, and when and if I get sucked into some false or inaccurate data, that I can correct my views quickly, or that someone will politely guide me back onto the correct path. PEACE.
Fine -just be aware of false equivalence. https://stupidpartyland.com/1/post/2015/12/to-those-who-say-a-pox-on-both-your-houses-i-say-a-pox-on-you.html
The republicans want people who don’t think!
I blame corporate controlled media. Journalists across the country have let us down, by refusing to correct blatant lies with facts. Beginning most markedly with the racist attacks on the President before he was even elected. The media just lets these asshats blather nonsense and people believe it. It’s infuriating.
Yes! The first time I realized this, I was working at a customer’s home and had to listen to about an hour’s worth of Fox news. I left there thinking, “If all the horrible rhetoric they were saying about Democrats were true, I’d hate me, too!”
This crap all started with Reagan! And the asses in his admin.!
I couldn’t agree more!
The public’s brainpower has been steadily going downhill since BfB . . .
This is supposed to be a serious article? It contains nothing but absurd falsehoods (half the nation wants to “eradicate healthcare, social security, education”?) broad generalizations, and insults. How does a writer like Andendall graduate from journalism school? (Perhaps he did not.)
If I have made a false statement -then please refer to it. This was a very short post that did include some easily observable satire. But I have reread this piece and can not find any of the statements that you say that I have made. So your comments are vacuous and dishonest. But I will say that I estimate that 45-47% of the nation would vote for a fake christian who believes that he Pyramids were built to store grain, the earth is 6,000 years old and that kangaroos leapt from Australia to join the ark; I insult people like you because you actually deserve to be insulted -apparently you have no ability to bring substance integrity or intelligence to the debate. Prove me wrong.
I see it differently. Since your bringing up intelligence (or lack there of, as it relates to political parties), I bet the majority of Democratic voters couldn’t pass a civics test let alone understand the underlying issues of the economy…. just saying!
By the way wasn’t Robespierre a liberal ?
Actually I am not really focusing on intelligence but I am not surprised that you are getting the wrong end of the stick. When I was first coming up with the title of my book, I knew that many people might get put off -I might lose potential readers, but he problem for me at the time was that this was clearly the correct name for this party, and thus my book. Calling it anything else would have just been dishonest. Stupidparty being one word, a new word, means that I get to explain what this word means. Stupidparty is simply a euphemism for far worse sins than stupidity. One can not really be faulted for stupidity, but one can be faulted for ignorance, bigotry, hypocrisy, lying and being disingenuous. I do not tackle corruption as a general rule, unless we are talking about a “values” politician – because corruption is a bi-partisan issue.(as is Stupidity in the voter base, but so much at the political leader level, Dems do not have the Palins, Bachmmans, Cain’s Thomas’s, Carson’s, and the ultimate definition of truly stupid— Kathy McMorris, the most senior stupidparty women in Congress. Now to contradict myself a bit just bear in mind that it is is the Stupidparty base who are voting against their own interest s (re healthcare, education, labor protections, social security) which is genuinely stupid -where as the minorities (that you are referring to in code) -who get a lousy education and often find their lives ruined by the time they are 13 -well at least they know which side is actually trying to help. And before you think moocher -just bear in mind that only about 4 or 5% of the electorate are actually moochers and no one likes moochers.
Secondly – your Robespierre analogy -a character from 1792 -you really think that is relevant. However another 20 years of Stupidparty devolution and I am not sure that I would object to having your puppet masters dealt with -however I do not support capital punishment -because that is also just silly.No progressive as general rule are less apt to chop people heads off -the the French Aristocracy were pretty damned obnoxious – and that is where the USA is headed -towards the hunger games.
I beg your pardon. I am a Democrat and it’s more often than not TRUMPSTERS with their fat guts hanging out between waistband and tee shirt that are NOT smarter than a 5th grader. Many of them are missing teeth that can now be addressed with the availability of Obama care.
Watching the trailer was like watching the transformation of my father-in-law all over again. It was a very trying time to deal with his constant rants and endless stream of essays “proving” all the BS we have been hearing since Obama was elected. And all as his health failed so no one pushed back. He had been so loved his whole life and suddenly there was this stranger in our midst. Can wait to see the entire documentary. I have bookmarked the home page for it. Thank you for this post, Patrick
It’s called Authoritarian Personality Disorder, and is largely responsible for how Nazi-ism became so popular in Germany in the late 30’s. Do you think it’s better because we are scapegoating Muslims and not Jews? Or happy about slaughtering 100,000 Iraqi citizens?
http://www.psychologistworld.com/influence_personality/authoritarian_personality.php
I am not sure who your question is directed at.
I’m trying to answer your question of how people are so easily brainwashed. Authoritarian Personalities typically compensate for their inadequacies by scapegoating groups of people (e.g. Jews, Muslims, blacks, etc.) Also, they run away from information that goes against what they want to believe. They use logical fallacies such as ad hominem attacks or strawman arguments to help them deny reality. I believe understanding this is useful in dealing with conservatives.
Got it -thanks for the clarification.
Your ridiculous spout on republicans was insulting. My premiums have gone up 300%, 6 months to get a doc app. Taxes on my cell phone for free Obama phones. Free education by taxpayers to educate illegals. Benghazi lies/video. Hilary: reset button with Putin failed! LYBIA is now 1/3 under some terrorist group. Growth of The JV team. Democrats skew facts to brainwash the general public who are stupid followers of “Hope & change”
Incoherent nonsense. I guess this is the best quality criticism we can expect from a stupidparty disciple. But here is my response to just one of your garbled stream of consciousness points…something about Dem skewing facts -well as it happens we have the low down on that. https://stupidpartyland.com/1/post/2015/12/to-those-who-say-a-pox-on-both-your-houses-i-say-a-pox-on-you.html I am glad to have made a bad guy mad.
Ok, Patty. I’ll say it. Your post about affordable healthcare is a lie. Plus, what am I supposed to think about a person that believes someone shouldn’t receive medical care if they are poor? Every modern country in the world provides healthcare for its citizens. The GOP is the only party that doesn’t believe healthcare is a human right. In the world! There is no way you can not know that you are wrong. You just don’t care. Also, thinking people living in poverty shouldn’t have the ability to dial 911, That’s pretty sick, also.
You nailed it
What the hell are you talking about?
I’ve not noticed any of that.. honestly, where do you come up with this stuff? OAN OR FAUX NEWS?
I like this article and look forward to seeing the movie The Brainwashing of My Dad. Yeah, definitely, many of us are asking ourselves the same questions.
I used to work with people who didn’t “believe” in climate change. These were educated individuals with a bachelor’s in science degree. It was a lot like talking to someone with the suit on in your illustration.
I agree with the premise of “stupid party,”but I hope we can reach people without demeaning them. MLK advocated love and the results were powerful. I hope we can still reach those in the so-called stupid party, I would prefer “brainwashed party.”
People in the brainwashed party are up against a lot. There is an attack on their/our freedom from all angles. People are working too hard to put the effort into educating themselves and thinking critically. We have double earners barely squeezing by. Enormous amounts of money is funneled into the service of consumerism, which further stupifies, wastes resources, keeps people working harder to aquire more. Money is stripped from our education system — what fight do we have for critical thinking without an education (or with a skewed education, for example climate change is not discussed in many schools). The brainwashed party is a trap people have fallen into. I hope we can reach them because we need each other.
Just bare in mind I use the term Stupidparty not stupid party. This new word should not be taken literally -it is in fact a euphemism for far worse sins in many /most cases. Feel free to try and reach out to them – but as far as I am concerned they can only be reached after their hateful ideology has been defeated. Only when they lose will they ask why. presently they are grieving their loss of comprehension and we are still only in the second stage – Anger. next will be bargaining which will lead to depression -before we can hope for acceptance of Math over Myth. Best case scenario being this Country can not move move forward until the second term of the next Dem President who has brought back control of the congress congress on a pledge of taking money out of politics and ending voter suppression and Gerrymandering. We are teetering on – have entered into an era of an oligarchy,
“Ridicule is man’s most potent weapon.” There is no defense. It’s irrational. It’s infuriating. It also works as a key pressure point to force the enemy into concessions.”
Saul Alinsky
Rules for Radicals: A Pragmatic Primer for Realistic Radicals
In truth the methods of the right are applied to intentionally blurr the issue, if not avoid the altogether. That way the nonthinkers are easily taken in by rhetoric and vote on emotion or single issues. The leading Repub candidate is a master of manipulation and fact avoidance, but the rest are not far behind.
One of the biggest problems for anyone wanting to have a rational discussion with a person of the right is it is impossible to even begin until the lies they either have made up or have swallowed are dispensed with. That is very often impossible because the propaganda machines of talk radio, Fox, the Falwells of the world have worked over time to perpetuate their mythology to the non thinkers. Non thinking is so gloriously easy and you can vent all you pent up anger and scapegoat whomever you want till the cows come home and youv’e got a lot of company to do it with. I am not American and find it incredible the amount of stinginess, bitching and whining that goes on there over money, or rather lack thereof, in a country that has fhe 11th highest GDP per capita in the world and most who are ahead are the oil rich despots whose financial glory is starting to wane.
Naomi (Klein?) Has a TED talk where she shows how the Republican talking and political strategy matches, item by item, the EXACT strategy the Nazis used to take over Germany WITH popular consent. Worth watching. Every once in a while I’ll send a link to a particularly intransigent stupidparty member in the hopes that the sheer deluge of obviousness might kick start some rational thinking!
WOW !!! Nice information!!!
The article doesn’t mention Confirmation Bias, a favorite mechanism of the Conservative brain (sic) in denying and deflecting arguments that do not favor their worldview. When presented with empirical evidence about topics such as evolution, climate change or Supply Side Economics (sic) not only do they not adjust their thinking (sic) to allow for a different perspective, they move the sliders on their Magic Right-Wing Bias Blaster further right to harden the shell against nasty librul heathens.
Correct on all counts- we do have a different post explaining how a conservative brain differs (fearful) and I will posting a blog soon on how such Conservative brains reject facts -defying gravity itself.
> Who Lit the Fuse?
Here you go:
How Billy Graham paved the way for the rise of the Christian Right:
http://www.salon.com/2013/12/18/the_modern_gops_fundamentalist_godfather_partner/
How corporations hired ministers to spread “free enterprise”
http://www.wbur.org/npr/396365659/how-one-nation-didnt-become-under-god-until-the-50s-religious-revival
How Republicans Convinced White America That Government Was Out to Get Them
http://www.alternet.org/tea-party-and-right/how-republicans-convinced-white-america-government-was-out-get-them
All the tit-for-tat aka facts & prepared rebuttals will fail, because the root cause is ignored. Simply: some people are glass-half-full v glass-half-empty tend also to fall into I-fear-thefuture/change v I-embrace-thefuture/change and conservatives v progressives.
Conservatives tend to build walls and arm themselves when fearful. Progressives tend to form groups (functional and dysfunctional) and seek (way too much) information. I have long believed (since 1980s when I gave up the holiday table arguments) are rooted in brain structure, where the limbic brain is more active with Conservatives and perhaps Progressives have more gray matter.
Both can get along cheerily enough when environmental stress is low, and can appreciate the areas of excellence that each type develops. Things go south, as soon as stress reaches a critical point they head to their own proclivities and really do not understand one another. Thus the ammunition each stock piles is impotent upon changing hearts-and-minds.
We need create a unifying story, when fear raises our hackles. Rather than making ‘the other’ the problem; let us name the fear together and fight this bigger monster with our unique strengths and skills.
Am I to suppose that by labeling Republicans as “dumb” that the logical next step is to assume that Democrats are “smart”? Here’s a thought: Democrats and Republicans are the flip side of the same coin, and neither party has a lock on the truth. I call this my “WWE Theory”: In professional wrestling, you’ve got your “good” guys, you’ve got your “bad” guys. Occasionally they switch sides, just enough to keep it interesting. Stick a camera and microphone in their face, and you will get some meandering nonsense about how great that guy is, how bad the other guy is, and what this guy is going to do to that guy to resolve the situation. People are glued to this show, either not knowing or not caring that the entire thing is fake. That’s modern American politics. If you’re watching this show, and you’re cheering for one side over the other, then you’ve missed the point completely.
Actually you are supposed to use your brain and if you really believe that both parties are the same – then you are a mental midget. How about getting some of your facts correct instead of expressing utterly worthless opinions. People like you are actually worse than stupidparty disciples… here are the facts – get a grip and take some personal responsibility for being feeble minded and stop being a total waste of time. https://stupidpartyland.com/1/post/2015/12/to-those-who-say-a-pox-on-both-your-houses-i-say-a-pox-on-you.html Now having figured that out – consider the group of people who are actually less useless than you… https://stupidpartyland.com/the-67. So yes you really are meant to believe that you are an idiotic. I am so glad that I was the one who has brought this to your attention.
Congratulations! That reply actually made me laugh! You have no idea who I am or anything about me, yet because I came near to challenging your belief that the Democratic Party reigns supreme, you call me names and try to pigeonhole me as some sort of imbecile. Because you are at a disadvantage here, I’ll try to give you a little insight: I am a Vietnam baby boomer, raised in a Democrat union home. My first job was in the United States Navy. I currently have a good job, and am a union member in good standing. In my spare time, I read a lot, mainly American and family history, mostly from the 19th Century, but also some WWI and WWII. I have ancestors who came from various parts of the original thirteen colonies, traveled west by various means, and settled different areas of the West. My family is a reflection of the history of America in all its greatness, and with that in mind I can share with you this truth: The greatness of America lies not in her government, but in her people and the God-given rights we hold. All modern politicians, including those in your vaunted Democratic party, are apart of the same cult of personality, continually believing and congratulating themselves on how awesome they believe they are. Some of our greatest presidents were Democrats, such as Jefferson, Jackson, and Truman. How disappointed they must be with how far your beloved party has fallen.
You should not invent stuff -that would be dishonest -who ever said that I was a Democrat, much less a “vaunted” one, may be I am, may be not. -When some one drones on about American exceptionalism and some form of nebulous invented God Given rights, then you know that they have reached the limit of their rather short intellectual Horizon. And when some one can not recognize that only one party is fundamentally bigoted, in denial about Science and facts, is pro War, pro -death in virtually every respect, pro religious Myth, pro trickle down -then we know that that person has been successfully dumbed down. Facts hurt. But for you it is worse, because people who fall for false equivalence are somewhat worse than your run of the mill stupidparty disciple. https://stupidpartyland.com/1/post/2015/12/to-those-who-say-a-pox-on-both-your-houses-i-say-a-pox-on-you.html
1) Which party has just succeeded in getting 20,000,000 people healthcare Coverage
2) Which party put Scalia, Thomas, Alito and Roberts on the Supreme Court?
3) Which party is therefore responsible for Citizens United?
4) Which parties lies are 1,000% more voluminous
5) Which party is guilty of Voter Suppression
6) Which party is focused of Trickle-down economics to the exclusion of all else
7) Which Party created the Great depression and the great recession
8) Which Party is trying to eradicate Trade Unions and worker, environmental protections
9) Which Party is pro death?
You are responsible -more than most – for America’s slide into and idiot based Oligarchy. Yes you are making your much vaunted America great again -greatly diminished – well done you.
The biggest culprits were Ronald Reagan, who made greed and stupidity not only fashionable, but into virtues to be cultivated, abd fundymentalpatient protestant churches, where the real creed is “sit down, shut up and believe everything you’re told, even if it goes against you know and every scientific law discovered since Eratosthanes.”
The question is do imbeciles gravitate naturally to idjit religion or does idjit religion turn normal people into drooling cretins? A classic chicken or egg question.
really nice comments paul B.
you forgot to mention the idiots who cheered when cheney, rice & bush decided to invade a nearly random muslim country and a totally random muslim country after 911.
goals: lots of short-term and mid-term profits for halliburton & others.
more goals: sending the whole region into long-lasting turmoil to enable long-term profits for halliburton & others.
and who’s paying for it? ppl who make 7-8$ an hour in republican states.
the US is the only country where the upper 1% want to be taxed more!
74% of Republicans in the U.S. Senate and 53% in the House of Representatives deny the validity of climate change despite the findings of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences and every other significant scientific organization in the world
this blog is nice and contain valuable info..thanks for sharing..
We have been hearing since the Obama was elected..
Nice Post ,,,…
Thanks for Sharing…
The brain washing people en mass is not so tough…
Nice Post..
I’d love to debate you!!! It should be a good time had by all