[link.political]

[wispfox]

A new study from the University of Maryland supports the thesis that Kerry and Bush supporters apparently live in different universes, complete with different facts and probably different laws of physics. (taken from about halfway down the page on http://www.electoral-vote.com/ - and I think I found this site because of postvixen)

Interesting.

Comments

[lerryn.livejournal.com]

I find it interesting that according to the study, the majority of Bush supporters do not have accurate ideas of what Bush's stated positions are or what independent fact-finding groups have discovered in their research. I had been under the impression that they understood and supported Bush's actual positions. I'm not sure which thought is scarier.

[wispfox.livejournal.com]

I think that supporting him while thinking that he agrees with them, but he actually doesn't, is scarier.

But not by much.

[opalmirror.livejournal.com]

There are people who really want to understand their world and think about where it's going, measuring the various possible outcomes and weighing them. Then there are those that want to play follow the leader. If the leader is shiny enough then all those boring numbers seemingly lose their relevance.

If you find this sort of thread interesting, I heartily recommend you read Suskind's (long!) New York Times article (http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/17/magazine/17BUSH.html?oref=login&oref=login&oref=login&pagewanted=all&position=). It's long and off to a bit of a slow start, but about 1/2 of the way through it pulls together the pieces and begins an amazing analysis. One of the most telling quotes is:

'You think he's an idiot, don't you?'' I said, no, I didn't. ''No, you do, all of you do, up and down the West Coast, the East Coast, a few blocks in southern Manhattan called Wall Street. Let me clue you in. We don't care. You see, you're outnumbered 2 to 1 by folks in the big, wide middle of America, busy working people who don't read The New York Times or Washington Post or The L.A. Times. And you know what they like? They like the way he walks and the way he points, the way he exudes confidence. They have faith in him. And when you attack him for his malaprops, his jumbled syntax, it's good for us. Because you know what those folks don't like? They don't like you!''

Thanks to my pal userfirecat for blogging it and the discussion she has here (http://www.livejournal.com/users/firecat/285073.html) and here (http://www.livejournal.com/users/firecat/285394.html).

[opalmirror.livejournal.com]

Okay, I'm an idiot. Linking to LJ users is done like firecat -- phew.

[wispfox.livejournal.com]

You might be amused to know that I know firecat, from alt.polyamory - although not all that well.

[opalmirror.livejournal.com]

I'm not suprised, firecat is vociferous on alt.polyamory and at the alt.polycon, it would be hard to miss her there. She is not only thoughtful, she is an excellent writer, and an awesome human being.