Why do most Republicans & Conservative's Perfer Ignorance ?

[Homer12]

Really, can some one answer me this question? Facts and evidence against the criminality of Bush & his Ilk blares out.

Are these people like deer in in front of a car with bright headlights?

Or do they just hate liberals so much they don't care whom they give power to on the right.

[Pepperbelly]

1. Get a grip! They DEPEND on it. How else could they win? nt

[brainshrub]

2. It's our own fault.

The Dems have not shown a compelling vision of an alternate future.

[atreides1]

3. Because

Because an ignorant populace is easier to control. Why do they prefer Bush, because he is not a strong personality, he is weak. He still stands in the shadow of his father and even his brother Jeb, Bush was the governor of the one state that has the weakest governor, his father really flew in harms way, sonny boy only flew from bar to bar.

Bush was picked by the Republican hierchy because they knew that they could control him.

[EVDebs]

4. "The unexamined life is not worth living" and they don't have time

for introspection being Marlboro men and all, so there you have it.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

5. Because they can't handle the truth.

It's called cognitive dissonance. They have been told by Pox News and their fundie churches that the "truth" is what the Bush Regime says it is. And, of course, Bush is a good Christian and a nice guy we'd all like to go to a barbecue with, and we were attacked by bad people who aren't Christians so of course we have to defend the Homeland by invading their country and killing them (never mind that we're not killing the same "them" that attacked us). And the bigger picture is that the U.S. is, and always has been, the Good Guys. We don't do bad things simply because this is America, which God likes more than he likes the other countries. Considering all this, to accept the truth -- Bush lied about the WMDs, Iraq didn't do 9/11, Americans torture people, the government is utterly corrupt and favors the rich at the expense of everyone else, including most of the Bush-loving fundies -- means to have to reject everything they believe, which would cause all kinds of mental distress. That's basically why they just flatly refuse even to consider anything but the party line.

[DismayedDem]

13. So true

Everyone i try and talk to here in Texas won't even consider for a second that anything they've heard is not true.

My own mother went off and started yelling (YELLING!) at me on the phone when I asked if it was okay to invade Iraq when there was no evidence to support the claim of their involvement in 9/11.

She told me that I was "misinformed". HA! You can send people new articles from CNN, show them the 9/11 commission's report, you name it, and nobody here cares. They already know the whole truth and anyone else who says otherwise must surely be lying or on crack.

It's almost like putting on a coat for these people - they've already got their information, so why consider putting another on? "No thanks. I already know the truth. Saddam is totaly responsible for 9/11, Bush is a good Christian, there was no voter fraud".

Once they have an opinion or a believe, it's cast in stone and cannot be undone.

Absolutely and totally astonishing!!!

[Been Fishing]

16. Too True, Sad, but True

I had an experience with a cousin that you had with your mother: I already know the truth, and I'm not going to believe anything you said.

[blackangrydem]

18. The attack on Iraq had nothing to do with 9-11. That was never the case.

It's that doggone * doctrine.

[hfojvt]

23. They are assimilators

I think there were four classes, but I only remember assimilators and accomodators. That given a new piece of information some people will change what they believe in order to accomodate the new information. Others will twist and re-shape and reject the information in order to assimilate it into what they believe.
I think most people are like that though. I still remember the quote, if not the author - "Given a choice between changing their mind and proving that there is no need to do so, most people will get busy on the proof."

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

6. Fear

they are so afraid that they have laid out their little fiefs of 'safety' which is surrounded with walls of hate.

[whistle]

7. They just prefer to ignore the elephant in the living room

[Astrochimp]

8. Because it is easy. N/T

[Skittles]

12. Ignorance is bliss, right Astrochimp?

I see it every day in the dipwads I work with.

[msongs]

9. hmmm maybe the would not know

truth if they saw it looming over them.

Msongs
Riverside CA

oops wrong url

[quinnox]

10. Because it is a brain disorder

I remember reading about a British study that showed right wing thinking was linked to a brain disorder.

In other words, they can't help it.

[Skittles]

11. they are people that like to be told what to do

they don't think for themselves. If they did, they surely could not stomach trash like FOX "News" and Sean Hannity. And by the way, most of them know Bush is a complete dipshit - it's just that they put the interests of their party above the interests of their country.

[dolstein]

14. Why do so many DU'ers prefer to think of the opposition as ignorant?

I suppose it's easier than dealing with the very real problems the Democratic Party has, both in terms of image and substance. But simply writing off Republicans and the people who vote for them as a bunch of dimwits won't get a Democrat in the White House. Of course, for many DU'ers, that's the whole idea -- better to wallow in the righteousness of political impotence than to make the kind of difficult and often unpleasant decisions that are frequently needed to achieve political success.

[lewiston]

24. Be careful....

You're getting close to the truth.

[housewolf]

15. Because....

For 15 or so years they've had people telling them that the media is in the grips of the "liberal elite" and is manipulating the news in order to promote it's culture-destroying agenda.

But NOW, after years of hard work, they have THEIR OWN media! They now have radio stations and tv news and internet news and blogs - and they call it "New Media." And it is telling them "The Truth." While of course all the rest of the media is still the liberal propaganda machine. But they think that they own "The Truth."

Just like Bush tells the "The Truth," so does their "New Media."

Someday, something traumatic will occur that will cause such a disconnect that they'll have to wake up...

[Been Fishing]

17. You would think...

that "something" has already happened: the Iraq War falsely justified on WMDs, Saddam-9/11 link, Saddam was evil, prisoner abuse, the Patriot Act, poor war planning, not enough armor, move to privatize Social Security, plans to open Alaska to oil drilling, refusing to protect the environment (Kyoto treaty), slow to provide AIDS funding, pretend to support education with No Child Left Behind, TAX CUTS TO SPECIAL INTERESTS...

How much more evidence does anyone need?

[OhioBlue]

19. I agree 100%

I am also shocked that some people have not "seen the light". I was sure 8 months ago that it would be a land slide to eject the chimp. However, when I started talking to people, I realized that the propaganda machine has totally got them. I hear excuses like "Well, he is just a bad speaker" or "Well, the President doesn't control anything anyway, the Congress does", or "He is just listening to the people that advise him" There is absolutely no sentiment of "The Buck Stops anywhere" in their minds right now.

[housewolf]

20. Let's call it their "faith-based news media"

It's like a religion to them - in fact it IS a PART of their religion! Rush Limbaugn and Bill O'Reilly have as much credibility with them as their preachers do.

I don't think we know what's going on in those churches. I think they are very powerfully shaping the whole life and reality of some right-wingers. I think that their preachers bring news events into their sermons and basically tell them what's going on and what to think about it.

I heard numerous stories about preachers basically threatening their congregations against voting for John Kerry - like they were a bad christian if they voted for Kerry. I've never heard of that kind of political activity happening within churches before in my lifetime! Yes, churches addressed issues but I don't remember them ever telling people who to vote for, or threatening those who thought about voting differently, do you???

[hfojvt]

22. Yes, in 2000

when the recount was still up in the air, some guest speaker from Texas spoke at the Christian Church in Iowa and said that the next 4 years were critically important, that is why the Devil was trying so hard to make the wrong man President.
Back in 1896 plant managers were telling their workers "If Bryan is elected, don't bother coming to work tomorrow, because you will not have a job." That's a little bit more serious than what pastors said.

[Lexingtonian]

21. Because it's easier

"He who makes a beast of himself gets rid of the pain of being a man."
-Samuel Johnson

[opihimoimoi]

25. Those in charge WANT an Ignorant people, TO FOOL IS TO RULE

[0007]

26. That's a good question that I've often wondered about.

The only thing that I can conclude is that ignorance begets ignorance.
:shrug: