Reply #11: I don't know that there's any one common thread

[MajorChode]

But the simple reality is that 50% of the people are dumber than the average person, and while intelligence has finite limits, stupidity doesn't. The bell curve has a far left side and there are people who live there, and most of those call themselves Republicans. Those idiots are indeed useful as the RW knows fully well as masters of demagoguery.