Can anyone help me understand Repub's blind allegiance to Bush?

[mcctatas]

Despite abysmal approval ratings (only 35% think the country is heading in the right direction, 41% of his handling of jobs and the economy, and 48% of his handling of Iraq), all of the Republican congress members stand behind his agenda, and generally conduct themselves like total assholes to get him what he wants. It is so frustrating, and really kinda scary
I am tempted to attribute it to either pure evil or mental illness, but it can't be that easy...can it?

[shraby]

1. Maybe.....they don't have to worry about

re-election anymore because of the machines.

[quiet.american]

29. Uh-huh, that's my theory. n/t

[dusty64]

33. Mine too!

x

[deadparrot]

2. Embarrassment?

Personally, one of the hardest things for me to do is admit that I'm wrong.

[LostInAnomie]

3. There is a little something for everyone in the GOP.

Since he is so EXTREMELY right everything he does is prime rib for some bigot out there.

White racists love him because he is strongly against affirmative action. Fundies love him because he is blurring the line between fundamentalism and the Constitution, and because they see the Iraq war as a strike against Islam. The rich love him because he is doing everything he can to break the security of the underclasses.

There is a little something for everyone.

[mcctatas]

5. But aren't some of those interests mutually exclusive?

I just don't see how he can be all things to so many people...evil little smirking chimp asshole that he is.

[LostInAnomie]

18. Absolutely not.

Remember that the basic ideology behind conservatism is the preservation of power in the hands on those who already have it. Howard Dean was correct in saying that the Republican party has monolithically been white conservatives (around 89%). These white Christians are admittedly interested in the preservation of their own groups power.

When Bush throws the bait out these groups bite at it because it is giving them something that they have been craving for a very long time. They know everything he and they stand for will be dismantled if a real Dem were to get into office.

[noahmijo]

4. I think at this point it's only the fundies that still back him

I've noticed the moderate repukes aren't so quick to jump to defend * anymore....at least around here

[Nikki Stone 1]

6. The fundies have the dubious benefit of believing in miracles

It keeps them loyal

[Carolab]

7. It's MONEY and POWER.

They've been paid off, promised "things" and threatened.

[Carla in Ca]

13. That is the correct answer, Carolab

Money and power. I don't believe that a lot of R's particularly like or respect him. They see the missteps and attitude. But he was put in there so they could change and control EVERYTHING.

[firefox]

8. The Republicans are a tightly controlled group

They very seldom abandon the party line because the Republican Party will replace them if they don't. They are puppets to the same force as Bu$h. They are distributed books to tell them how to answer questions. They are all but robots.

Ed Rosenthall was a big person in the medical marijuana movement in California and an expert grower that wrote several books and contributed to magazines on the subject. I believe it was him that was asked how cannabis prohibition would end. He said one day a group of men would say it is time to legalize pot and that would be that.

It may be hard to appreciate that answer, until you are somewhat a wonk on the subject, and I have come to agree with him. Now somebody else in a DrugSense chatroom and I were discussing the Republicans and he is the one that pointed out that they are highly controlled by the leadership. He said that on ending prohibition, that one day there would be a small group of Republicans met in a room and one of them would tell the rest, that prohibition is over.

I would read on the Bilderbergers- http://tinyurl.com/dzm2d and the Federal Reserve- http://www.realopinion.com/realboards/showthread.php?t=7

[FreedomAngel82]

23. It's a brainwashed cult

[Proud_Lefty]

38. BINGO, THAT'S IT!

Through media and religious organizations, these people have been manipulated for years. Since they are conditioned to rely on faith (word of their leader) and not use their own common sense, they now believe that white is black, up is down, backward is forward, Bush is a man of God and will make you rich, Democrats are evil and will take your money away from you and get it to undeserving poor people.

[Catherine Vincent]

9. One word: Clinton

They hated him so much that any republican was perfect in their eye. In fact, after that murdering jackass is out of office, they will convince themselves that at least he was better than Clinton.

[mcctatas]

16. Yeah, poor bubba is responsible for everything from 9/11 to the state

of the economy today according to the repubs!! And it is true that they are a tightly controlled and highly organized group. I quess Molly Ivins was right when she said "Trying to organize democrats is like trying to herd cats"...But at least if a democrat does something I donn't like I have the moral fortitude to say "What an Asshole":evilgrin:

[FreedomAngel82]

24. I wonder

how it feels to have all that power to be able to do all this stuff when he's been out of office since 2000....

[Erika]

10. It is money and power

Bush has big corporate donors who can make or break campaigns. The GOP will bleat as much as Bush wants them to to get those $.

[firefox]

11. Republican Congressmen are robots

They very seldom abandon the party line because the Republican Party will replace them if they don't. They are puppets to the same force as Bu$h. They are distributed books to tell them how to answer questions. They are all but robots.

Ed Rosenthall was a big person in the medical marijuana movement in California and an expert grower that wrote several books and contributed to magazines on the subject. I believe it was him that was asked how cannabis prohibition would end. He said one day a group of men would say it is time to legalize pot and that would be that.

It may be hard to appreciate that answer, until you are somewhat a wonk on the subject, and I have come to agree with him. Now somebody else in a DrugSense chatroom and I were discussing the Republicans and he is the one that pointed out that they are highly controlled by the leadership. He said that on ending prohibition, that one day there would be a small group of Republicans met in a room and one of them would tell the rest, that prohibition is over.

I would read on the Bilderbergers- http://tinyurl.com/dzm2d and the Federal Reserve- http://www.realopinion.com/realboards/showthread.php?t=7

[Jade Fox]

12. Power.....

The Republicans have learned to unite so they can get in power in this
country, something we Democrats can't seem to do.

Of course, the great conservative alliance is starting to fall apart as we
speak, but they still remain remarkably united. By rights any sane,
moderate Republican should be distancing themselves from Bush like
he is a black hole that will suck them all into oblivion. And he will, if
he hangs on long enough. If the Republicans were smart, they'd
jetison him now for the sake of their future.

[firefox]

14. Republican Congressmen are robots- really

They very seldom abandon the party line because the Republican Party will replace them if they don't. They are puppets to the same force as Bu$h. They are distributed books to tell them how to answer questions. They are all but robots.

Ed Rosenthall was a big person in the medical marijuana movement in California and an expert grower that wrote several books and contributed to magazines on the subject. I believe it was him that was asked how cannabis prohibition would end. He said one day a group of men would say it is time to legalize pot and that would be that.

It may be hard to appreciate that answer, until you are somewhat a wonk on the subject, and I have come to agree with him. Now somebody else in a DrugSense chatroom and I were discussing the Republicans and he is the one that pointed out that they are highly controlled by the leadership. He said that on ending prohibition, that one day there would be a small group of Republicans met in a room and one of them would tell the rest, that prohibition is over.

I would read on the Bilderbergers- http://tinyurl.com/dzm2d and the Federal Reserve- http://www.realopinion.com/realboards/showthread.php?t=7

Republican Congressmen are robots of the party. Like they say about politics- nothing is an accident. The robots are orchestrated by a larger power and might say and do different things all by design. But they will vote the party line or they will be replaced with challenges in the primaries with support from "the Dark Force."

It is great to see the issue of the media raised to such prominence. There are five major players that everyone should know. It is important to understand we have the media by design. It is wrong for us as the public, but it serves the real powers of the country. When Direct TV went up for sale a few years ago, anybody would think that it was logical not to let it go to one of the five big players and that was when Westinghouse was considered a player because it owned CBS and not Viacom/Redstone. Well, who did it go to. It went to Ruppert Murdock of Newscorp that already had Fox. But Ruppert is a protector of the real power that has dominated us for some time and he by himself could bring down governments and that is why he got Sky TV in England too. He is a team player with the fascists.

[Jade Fox]

15. dupe

The Republicans have learned to unite so they can get in power in this
country, something we Democrats can't seem to do.

Of course, the great conservative alliance is starting to fall apart as we
speak, but they still remain remarkably united. By rights any sane,
moderate Republican should be distancing themselves from Bush like
he is a black hole that will suck them all into oblivion. And he will, if
he hangs on long enough. If the Republicans were smart, they'd
jetison him now for the sake of their future.

[leftofthedial]

17. fascism

raw power has been used to compel them to think and act in lockstep

[Nite Owl]

19. He makes them feel like

all the hate that they feel is ok.

[FreedomAngel82]

20. They think

he really shares their values and he cares. They've been fooled hook, line and sinker.

[Pachamama]

21. Bush Co. are sociopaths & they are able to convince people who are unable

to think for themselves about how they (Bush Co) are right and need to be followed.

And other than the Fundies who support Bush Co., I'd say the next group of people are the ignorant or people lacking critical thinking and the ability to ask questions and research. Also, think about how many people even when young, and you ask them "what are they" (politically), do you think that they answer because they have thought long and hard about all the different issues and studied the different points of views? No - they answer what their families are (this by the way is true for many Dems also). I think that any person in this country claiming that they are Republicans needs to remember what the GOP used to stand for and that they need to be asked if they really think this administration represents that. They need to think about what it "means" to be a Republican and why they support this President.

Finally, I think its about money - I know a lot of people where I live that are very wealthy and very progressive in their thinking socially (gay rights, environment, woman's right to choose, etc.) but will vote for Bush...because.....of TAXES! Yep, it comes down to money for them...And then you have the poor middle class and lower middle class that want so desperately to have the "American Dream" that they buy the Bullshit from the Bush administration that they too will be better off and "make it" because of Republicans....little do they realize that they are not better off simply because of the Bush tax cuts (most of which went to the very wealthy) and that meanwhile their cost of living and many programs have gone up or gone away....

[lonestarnot]

22. Zombies which are possessed by de devil

[Hand]

25. Fear and spite nt

[Lexingtonian]

26. they know that if they didn't have him

it all falls apart, and on their own heads too.

No, it's not all evil and mental illness. But close. A decision was made among conservatives a long time ago to ignore reason and to try to do everything by willpower, to follow on desire without bothering to account for and respect reality.

Reality is not kind to such behavior. And most of the American People is practical and realistic enough to not trust the method to achieve much.

Occultic religion, which is not entirely distinguishable from political movements, has a doctrine of omnipotence of the Will. When will"power" fails and reality does not comply, the dogma says to apply more will and 'energy' to the object.

The Religious Right is for the most part occulticized versions of Christianity and all parts of it conform to the three dogmas of the occult identified by Constant. The Dean movement of 2003 was an outbreak of occultism in the Democratic Party...and it was rejected by much of the rest of the Party for that very reason. The 2004 Republican Convention was a choreographed occult ritual in which George Dubya did all the things an occultic group's High Priest/Magus does- solemn incantations and invocations to distract critical thought, an affirmation of the Faith (easily parsed into the three dogmas of Constant), an assertion of the sufficiency of this Faith to achieve Everything Desired, the enumeration of all the things Desired, an obloquy of the oppositional Magi, the casting of a curse upon the opposition as Evildoers, and the casting of a spell of prosperity on themselves. Then a declaration of the inherent sacredness and infallibility of the Assembled.

So...they're a "faith-based" group. There is nothing Democrats can truly say that affects their, uh, thinking. But when their leader and Savior keeps on not meeting his/their goals, and no Demon(or Democrat) can be found to explain the failure, then doubt creeps in. At some point the energy and excuses required to maintain the "faith" becomes unbearable and there's a collapse.

After the Crisis of Faith they set some sort of criterion for giving up trust. Moderate Republicans set it at 'when nothing positive can come of it anymore', and that explains their extraordinary effort to find positives in the news and ignore or avoid direct dealing with negative developments...i.e. watch Fox News exclusively, claim to believe that fighting in Iraq is achieving results against Al Qaeda, falsely level partisan behavior as equally corrupt or equivalent transgression and/or excuse Republicans' abuses by Democrats' infractions. But when giving further benefit of the doubt becomes irrational, makes them feel they're setting themselves up to be abused further, that's when they give up.

Hardline Republicans set the criterion at 'as long as it hurts Democrats'- and they're the ones who watch Fox News for its putdowns of Democrats, who like seeing Democrats demonstrating but no one in Washington reacting to it, who don't care what kind of people the Bushies want in as judges, ambassadors, etc. as long as Democrats say their interests will be hurt by them. They persist until Republican leaders change policies because the results are beyond defense. Bush Sr. raising taxes was such a moment- the hardliners fomented and squealed in pain and rage at the ride they'd been taken on, and deserted and demonized him rather than admit that they'd been suckered.

Bush Jr. is going to have to bail out of Iraq, will have to beg the UN to save him there, will get victimized by bin Laden again, will have to raise taxes, will have to renounce his best servant Tom DeLay as a criminal, and will have to stand by as gay marriage legalization takes place on his watch. The next two or three years are going to be rough on the True Believers. Very rough. Investment in mental health care providers and straitjacket manufacturers should pay off handsomely- demand for their products and services is going to skyrocket.

[jobycom]

27. You know how when you are four your parents can do nothing wrong?

Republicans are basically four years old.

[laugle]

28. One thing about the reptillicans

is they know how to stick together, even though they all know Bush is a moronic birdbrain. THEY ARE STUCK WITH HIM!!!! But there are some cracks starting to show. When the ship begins to sink, watch how they go for the blood!!!

[cleveramerican]

30. its has to do with an aging people

As you grow older your identity becomes more set , more closely tied to your republican ( or democratic) leanings. Any attack on your party is seen as a attack on everything you think you stand for.This is completely untrue but a very easy trap to fall into.Some of the more rapid right wingers will still be taking their victory lap three years firm now.They won, they're not that interested in what happens afterward.Some people are just potato heads.

[Broken_Hero]

31. Its an easy one, Money and Power....

They support him cause of the station of power that they have, while GWB is in the White House. They stay the course with him because they basically have to, cause if they don't then they will get pooled into the same pot that democrats/liberals stew in, the if your not with him, your against him mentality. It boils down to power/money/station...but a lot of the republicans who are coming up for re-election have to start watching their asses, so you will see less support of the Pres on certain issues, when their election processes start....

[kentuck]

32. Because he kicks Democrats' ass...

basically.

[four more wars]

34. I have no idea at all

I can only assume it's because some people either only watch Faux news, or no news at all.

[OneTwentyoNine]

35. Ain't much pride when your stuck inside a slowly sinking ship.....

To borrow the words from a Jim Stafford song.

[Jose Diablo]

36. Unstated threats, IMO

I doubt anybody in the beltway is fooled by Bu$h's 'aw shucks' demeanor. Behind Bu$h is standing a proletarian guard ready to do whatever he orders them to do.

He IS a dictator. The media is just playing along to make this look legitimate.

It is fear that is keeping them in line.

Remember the anthrax?

Political assassination is a method operandi to the Bu$h clan.

[erosartbymaia]

37. religious rights power over our leaders

The religious right has such a firm hold over the Republican party that the two are now interdependent. The religous right has the money and the power to control the Republican party......how that happened I'll never know. Just like the religous fanatics, our leaders seem able to justify everything they do because it is the "correct" moral thing to do.....whether it makes any sense or not. This view allows them to somehow be able to justify seemingly conflicting beliefs. Does any of this seem familiar.....kind of like the extreme Islamic beliefs?

[ldf]

39. republican voters show up in lock step for three reasons

1. hate (prejudice).

they are allowed to vote their prejudice. can't stand the colored people, of any shade. and they HATE HATE HATE the gays. they will vote at all costs.

think about it. who do you think the closet redneck/kkk/aryans/nazifucks are voting for? democrats? i think not. and they make sure to make it to the polls.

2. greed (privilege).

the "i got mine, screw you" crowd. they will vote their pocket book over the nation's interest every time. the dollar talks. they don't care if the nation falls apart, as long as they get that tax break/get that tax loophole passed.

why should they care? they will be living in gated communities. they won't have to deal with it.

the greedy POOR are delusional in that they think that one day THEY will be the greedy rich. they are just practicing their voter patterns on the assumption they will one day become the true privileged. stupid fucks don't even feel the heel that is on their neck, holding them down.

3. so-called christianity (piety). (the bible said it. that settles it. end of conversation.)

if you got god telling you to go vote, (especially every sunday, from the pulpit) damn it, YOU GO VOTE.

and besides, you can use the bibles convoluted contradictions to back up just about any ridiculous argument you can come up with.

it is SOOOO flexible.

republican politicians KNOW these are the core of the republican party. THEY are the ones that get people elected. they are they ones they cater too.

and republicans DON'T break ranks. they speak in one voice. none of this criticising/admonishing/backstabbing going on in the republican party.

that's why they win.

republicans = GOPPP Guardians of Prejudice, Privilege and Piety

edit for spelling, probably missed some.

[steve2470]

42. great summary nt

[DuaneBidoux]

40. It is the very nature of conservatism that leads to blind allegiance.

[gulliver]

41. The sharks and remora are still feeding.

Bush was just the tip of the blade that monied interests used to open up a vein in America. Right now the money folks and their political wing, the Republican party, are in a feeding frenzy. They don't notice anything when they are like this. They just swim around and bite whatever moves.

Clinton starved the sharks; Bush feeds them. They remember when they had to worry about causing pollution, mining by blowing up mountain tops, cutting down trees, starting wars... They remember being forced to make reasoned arguments and obey "regulations" when all they wanted was to chomp up America and roll their eyes like good little sharks. Life is good for sharks under Bush.

[agincourt]

43. to accept someone like bush as president,

proves they didn't have much going for them beforehand. Facts and evidence are not going to have much impact now.