Ignorance isn't just the GOP's friend, it's the lynchpin of the entire GOP strategy.

[Kber]

THE IMPORTANCE OF EDUCATING VOTERS.... Several recent polls have asked Americans for their opinions on the House Republican budget plan, which, among other things, ends Medicare and replaces it with a privatized voucher scheme. The results have been one-sided: the mainstream isn't buying what the GOP is selling.

But then there was that Gallup/USA Today poll that didn't match up at all with the other data. Americans were asked, "Which do you think is the better long-term plan for dealing with the federal budget deficit -- the Republican plan put forth by Congressman Paul Ryan or the Democratic plan put forth by President Barack Obama?" The results: 44% backed Obama's vision, while 43% backed the GOP plan.

How is it possible that some polls show 80% disapproval of the Republican agenda while Gallup shows that agenda tied with the president's plan? It's surprisingly easy to understand -- while GOP officials were giddy with the Gallup poll, the truth is, the question assumes most people know who Paul Ryan is and what his plan entails. They don't.

snip

Ignorance isn't just the GOP's friend, it's the lynchpin of the entire GOP strategy.

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2011_04/029186.php

[niyad]

1. as I have been saying for decades, it is not possible to control an educated populace. this isn't

just about educating voters, it is about a direct, intentional destruction of education that teaches people how to think critically, to know facts, to understand propaganda. sheeples, on the other hand, are very easily led and manipulated.

[RandomThoughts]

3. decades?

It got into some interpretations of Genesis. Where people think of Knowledge of Good and Evil as having sentience, or smarts instead of judging things.

And the idea of Big Brain Doctrine, where the curse given to people for taking knowledge of Good and Evil was pain in child birth, big brain size, not monkey brain, and having to work the fields, side effect of ambition.

There have been some people that have interpreted that as meaning people should be dumb not smart, or that people should not think and feel.

Other people interpret it as desires above moderation, or thinking a person can judge if another person has worth of value by saying they are good or bad. Desires above moderation are things like greed with no end, or wanting what your neighbor has, that cause social issues in society, and strife in ones own life. Although there are forms of justice that can say your neighbor should be in more moderate conditions, that is not saying you should have what they have. It can be saying what can help society by fewer consolidations and more moderation.


Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCQTr8ZYdhg


Side note, that is why the Nazi's sent people around the globe measuring size of peoples heads.

[emulatorloo]

2. Steve Benen is one of the most insightful columnists out there

especially when it comes to the "Big Picture" Republican strategy.

Thanks for posting this - recommending.

[emulatorloo]

4. P.S. And Karl Rove's Crossroads is about to launch a huge DISINFORMATION campaign about the Ryan

budget. When it comes to educating voters, Turdblossom and the Kochs have unlimited money to push lies, innuendo as fact. No doubt there is going to be lots of lizard brain appeals that might be very successful with low-info voters (see 2010)

It is going to be tough as hell to get the word out over all that noise. We have to do it somehow.

[tanyev]

5. The ignorati are the GOP's bread and butter.