Enjoy This! (Scary, but science confirms what we've all thought.)

[snot]

From http://www.ctnow.com/custom/nmm/newhavenadvocate/hce-nha-1123-nh48bushbash48.artnov23,0,1695911.story :

Bush Nuts
Are George W. Bush lovers certifiable?
November 23, 2006
By Andy Bromage

(snip)

Lohse, a social work master’s student at Southern Connecticut State University, says he has proven what many progressives have probably suspected for years: a direct link between mental illness and support for President Bush.

Lohse says his study is no joke. The thesis draws on a survey of 69 psychiatric outpatients in three Connecticut locations during the 2004 presidential election. Lohse’s study, backed by SCSU Psychology professor Jaak Rakfeldt and statistician Misty Ginacola, found a correlation between the severity of a person’s psychosis and their preferences for president: The more psychotic the voter, the more likely they were to vote for Bush.

(snip)

“Our study shows that psychotic patients prefer an authoritative leader,” Lohse says. “If your world is very mixed up, there’s something very comforting about someone telling you, ‘This is how it’s going to be.’” The study was an advocacy project of sorts, designed to register mentally ill voters and encourage them to go to the polls, Lohse explains. The Bush trend was revealed later on.

(snip)

“Bush supporters had significantly less knowledge about current issues, government and politics than those who supported Kerry,” the study says. Lohse says the trend isn’t unique to Bush: A 1977 study by Frumkin & Ibrahim found psychiatric patients preferred Nixon over McGovern in the 1972 election.

(snip)

For his part, Lohse is a self-described “Reagan revolution fanatic” but said that W. is just “beyond the pale.”

[Erika]

1. Bushbots are sheeple, scared, needing to be be led

I've seen that since 9/11. They cower hoping for a big brother government who will keep them safe even if it means losing their rights. They obsess on fear and see themselves as children and government as the saving parent.

I've never read a more accurate read of the bushbots. Thank you.

[Vexatious Ape]

2. Great.

Maybe now I can get a few of my loved ones sent to the loony bin.

[rumpel]

3. thanks, enjoyed and recommended #5

:)

[Random_Australian]

4. Tread carefully.

Science says those with a mental illness are more likely to vote repuke, but watch the correlation and how representative a sample it is (Of outpatients, it is a representative sample, not republicans)

Basically, I'm saying this does not mean republicans are insane or anything like that.

And if you wanna tell me that I'm supporting the enemy, get stuffed. I'm saying this from a desire for accuracy - I'm a scientist before I'm left wing.

[hfojvt]

5. looks to me like the study does not fit the title

The study says that psychotics are more likely to be Bush voters, not that Bush voters are psychotics.

It also means that Bush voters are more likely to be psychotics, but that can be true if 2% of Bush voters are pscyhotics vs. 1% of Kerry voters. That still could leave alot of Bush voters as non-psychotic.

BTW is it okay to say 'psychotic' or am I going to hear from AMI?

[Hav]

6. .

I think so, too.
But I guess it's just a thing to have fun with. To annoy some Repubs, one can still say something like "This study says that if you are mentally ill, you are more likely to support Bush. So how about you?" ;).


Also, probably the more important point of the article:
“Bush supporters had significantly less knowledge about current issues, government and politics than those who supported Kerry...”

[hfojvt]

7. again, with that last statement

I am not sure if they are talking about all Bush voters, or if they are only talking about the Bush voters among the psychotics that they studied.

I would argue, I suppose, that not only do Bush voters have less knowledge, but they also believe things that are false - such as, that Iraq had something to do with 911, or that the Reagan tax cuts increased revenue.

[Igel]

9. Just the subjects.

"The study used Modified General Assessment Functioning, or MGAF, a 100-point scale that measures the functioning of disabled patients. A second scale, developed by Rakfeldt, was also used. Knowledge of current issues, government and politics were assessed on a 12-item scale devised by the study authors.

“Bush supporters had significantly less knowledge about current issues, government and politics than those who supported Kerry,” the study says.


It's hard to read that any other way in context.

[symbolman]

8. I suspect it's related to the

Stockholm Syndrome, but exacerbated by the media, and on a Huge Scale. Especially with the Terror threat that ONLY Bush can protect you from, WHILE he holds us Hostage...

Look it up, tell me if I'm wrong :)

[bahrbearian]

10. That may explain Lieberman.

[xchrom]

11. all this says to me is that americans -- or some americans --

love john wayne.

not a real charismatic, ''straight talking'', ''straight shootin'', macho kind of guy -- but the appearence of one.

and our love of that image is some kind of mental weakness.

[maine_raptor]

12. Like..........Duh

You'd have to be insane to support Bush. And aren't the insane dis-qualified to vote?

So if you vote for Bush you're insane, but if you're insane you can't vote for Bush, but if you don't vote for Bush, you can't be insane...........

I smell a book plot here; maybe disguise it by setting it in some past time, say WWII, at a bomber base in North Africa..........

Have to come up with a catchy title though. :rofl:

[Brazenly Liberal]

13. The problems with this study - and how I fixed it.

This study has a VERY small population. And, as others have said, you can have a proportionately huge increase in mental illness while still talking about a very tiny percentage of Americans.

So I asked myself "Self, how would you resolve this conundrum? How do you, without the funding of a university or a major drug company, design and conduct a study of a group large enough to yield inarguable results?"

My Self answered "If those who support Bush show a willingness to kill many thousands of people - and destroy the freedoms they are supposedly fighting for - out of a combination of hubris and a complete disconnect with reality, would you say that indicates mental illness?"

"One would think so."

"Is 122,293,332 a large enough sample?"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._presidential_election,_2004

[political_outcast]

14. but are American political activists in general hierarchy-lovers?

I would say that the American political actists in general (GOP and Dem) like hierarchies, like the status quo,.are blind to independent thought and act as echo chambers for whatever ideology comes from the top of their respective hierarchies.

They are like soldiers in the Crusades. Fighting for their masters' goals.


Just a theory. See Somit's book on democracy and dominance for more on this....yeah, an actual book by an actual academic, instead of a blog by a wannabe politician. Go figger.