Confirmation of the relentless idiocy of the Republican electorate continues to unfold as the primary season heats up. With each new day there are fresh examples of the trademark asininity that is emblematic of America’s wingnut demographic.
The latest revelation comes from a survey by Public Policy Polling that provides a profile of the GOP’s current voter base. It’s a sad picture of a sector of the population that is hopelessly lost and consumed with blind hatred. Here is what PPP had to say about their survey results:
“Our new poll finds that Trump is benefiting from a GOP electorate that thinks Barack Obama is a Muslim and was born in another country […] 66% of Trump’s supporters believe that Obama is a Muslim to just 12% that grant he’s a Christian. 61% think Obama was not born in the United States to only 21% who accept that he was.”
And furthermore…
“Trump’s beliefs represent the consensus among the GOP electorate. 51% overall want to eliminate birthright citizenship. 54% think President Obama is a Muslim. And only 29% grant that President Obama was born in the United States. That’s less than the 40% who think Canadian born Ted Cruz was born in the United States.”
So 40% of Republicans overall (not just Trump supporters) think that Ted Cruz was born in the U.S. (He wasn’t. He was born in Canada). But 51% of the same meatheads think that Obama wasn’t born in the U.S. (He was, of course, born in Hawaii). Meanwhile, 54% of Republicans (and 66% of Trump’s supporters) also believe that Obama is a Muslim, despite the fact that they criticized him mercilessly for all the years that he was a member of the Trinity United Church of Christ led by the now infamous Rev. Jeremiah Wright. Whatever you think of Wright, there is no question that he did not preside over a mosque.
To make matters worse, Trump supporters are comfortable with his assertions that he is a devout Christian even though he says that he has never asked God for forgiveness. Due to his spiritual perfection he said “Why do I have to repent? Why do I have to ask for forgiveness if you’re not making mistakes?” I thought that Christians believe there was only one perfect person and he died on a cross a couple thousand years ago. Is The Donald the Second Coming? Additionally, Trump was unable to cite a single verse from the Bible when asked last week. And the pastor of the Church to which he said he belongs denied that he is an active member.
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But this isn’t about Trump. It’s about the whole of the Republican electorate whose absence of easily available knowledge borders on clinical dementia. It would be bad enough if they were merely ignorant of common facts. But it’s much worse than that. These people are convinced of things that are provably false. And as George Bernard Shaw said “Beware of false knowledge; it is more dangerous than ignorance.” Which begs the question, how did Shaw know about the Tea Party so many years before it existed?
RightWingers are so ignorant & willfully stupid they think the entirety of the Federal Government allows anyone to waltz in and take over….they seem to think one raises 1 billion+ dollars, runs for President, gets elected, & then hands over a doctored up birth certificate & the Government collectively says “OK!”.
With the right, it is apparent that ignorance is bliss. Particularly with the lobotomized tea party ingrates, ignorance is to be revered.
When has right wing politics ever been about facts?
It depends on the specific issue I would argue. It also depends on the specific politician – a religious nut will depend on the bible for his facts. Most of us in the real world live by the facts and not by the propaganda. Unfortunately the GOP today is more about fear than anything else, so you are correct on some level.
Wow, that article took some real anger to pump out. Between the fear and anger evident in the writing – it’s clear you would make an excellent Sith lord.
Look, it’s obvious you have it bad for Mark for some reason or another, but I’m just not seeing the evidence of anger or fear you espouse. You’ve used those terms before and it just seems to be wishful thinking on your part. I’m sure it has to do with some bias you have; that much is clear.
However, the first sentence of this post sets the tone for what’s to follow (isn’t that what good writers are supposed to do). Hell, the first WORD gives you a hint. It’s not speculation Mark is talking about–it’s confirmation of what we know. For anyone who isn’t wearing blinders, this post contains what I and many others consider obvious observations of republican primary voters and those on the right in general. (Look at who and what they support and who and what they hate) And among all the words used to describe these people, idiocy and hypocrisy would be near the top of my list.
I don’t think anger and fear are necessary when assertions like “water is wet” and ” the sky is blue” are made. They kinda speak for themselves.
It’s more about the Donald Trump angle – that is the focus of supporting information. Fear of him winning given his strength at this point. Although I’m not in anyone’s “camp”, I’m applying my observations from 2008 – when Barack Obama came out of nowhere kind of like this guy. I know how I felt watching that disaster slowly play out – so I’m thinking we’re watching something similar here – of course I really don’t know what’s going to happen, but the amount of attention Donald Trump and his campaign is getting on this site suggests he could be for real, and that would be to you and people like Mark what BHO is to people like me – and it’s not a good feeling.
And re-read the title “The unbearable dumbness of being republican” Not sure how you can’t draw the conclusion – maybe hateful is better than angry. Fear goes hand in hand with anger of this type.
“Hyperbole” is probably the word you’re looking for, not hateful. Although I don’t think “The unbearable dumbness of being republican” is that much of an exaggeration. (At least with the current crop of republican candidates and primary voters is concerned.) You don’t seriously think Trump has anything substantial to offer do you? I think the reason he’s in the news all the time is he knows how to play the media. He’s a reality star and understands how to get and keep attention. He even admitted he was going to have to keep coming up with outrageous things to say to keep the media covering him. I also think one of the reasons the establishment candidates don’t care for him is he’s beating them at their own game. They’re all jockeying for position, trying this out and trying that out to see what will give them a leg up on the competition and nobody seems to be listening just yet. Sore losers, at least, so far.
On your question about what Trump has to offer – one thing I’ve been clear about in several posts – I am not pro or anti anyone at this point – I’m just enjoying the entertainment – he is fun to watch. It’s September 2015 – I can’t even begin to care yet. I don’t support candidates based on their party affiliation – more than anyone here can say. He is what he is, but don’t underestimate him – I learned that from watching Barack Obama. I would argue the support for Barack Obama was just as dumb in 2008 as you’re claiming support for Trump is today. That’s the scary part, you can ridicule today’s republican primary voter, but they are looking for something new in much the same way democrat voters were in 2008. Yes, the democratic primary voters are looking to something very different in terms of policy – but beyond that there is very little difference.