DebateGate
General Category => 3DHS => Topic started by: Brassmask on November 28, 2006, 05:14:10 PM
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A ‘direct link’ between mental illness and Bush support
Posted By Carpetbagger On 28th November 2006 @ 10:24 In General | 23 Comments
This probably won’t come as a big surprise to any of you, but it’s nevertheless helpful to have empirical data on the subject. (via Tom Tomorrow)
A collective “I told you so†will ripple through the world of Bush-bashers once news of Christopher Lohse’s study gets out.
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.
In this case, Lohse isn’t saying that conservatives are inherently psychotic, only that “psychotic patients prefer an authoritative leader†like Bush. “If your world is very mixed up, there’s something very comforting about someone telling you, ‘This is how it’s going to be,’†Lohse said.
Apparently, it’s not an entirely new phenomenon — Lohse also noted a 1977 study by Frumkin & Ibrahim found psychiatric patients preferred Nixon over McGovern in the 1972 election.
What’s more, it’s not just limited to mental health; Rakfeldt, who backed Lohse’s study, found another noteworthy correlation.
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.
Raise your hand if you’re surprised.
Tags: Bush, mental illness, psychotic
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URL to article: http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/9175.html
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Being psychotic is only one aspect of a wide scope of mental illnesses. The conclusion that people who suffer from psychoses prefer a leader who sees things in more black and white terms is not surprising.
Honestly, this "article" (and I use the term loosely) and your title with the word "psychos" is really offensive and just promotes a lot of the negative stigmas associated with those who suffer from mental illnesses.
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Why do "psycos " prefer a authoritarian state?
I would suppose that these sorts of people could not want a real conservative who wanted a smaller government.
A Nanny state would be preferable.
Or am I misunderstanding these "Psycos"?
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Being psychotic is only one aspect of a wide scope of mental illnesses. The conclusion that people who suffer from psychoses prefer a leader who sees things in more black and white terms is not surprising.
Honestly, this "article" (and I use the term loosely) and your title with the word "psychos" is really offensive and just promotes a lot of the negative stigmas associated with those who suffer from mental illnesses.
My tone and the "article" are presented with my tongue firmly planted in my cheek.
Does this help?
;)
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plane:
<<A Nanny state would be preferable [from a psychotic POV.]
<<Or am I misunderstanding these "Psycos"?>>
You may have misunderstood Bush and thought he was representative of the Nanny State.
Or you may have misunderstood the survey, which showed that the deeper the psychosis, the stronger the preference for Bush.
The only thing you apparently didn't misunderstand was what a "psycho" was.
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Actually, judging by the posts of some of the Bush supporters, past and present, in this group, I didn't need to read the survey to come to the same conclusion.
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MT does it make sense that someone would prefer a “ an authoritative leader†and thus would choose President Bush?
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<<MT does it make sense that someone would prefer a “ an authoritative leader†and thus would choose President Bush?>>
Yes of course. I didn't say that everybody who supports Bush is a psychopath. Bush appeals to certain needs that are fairly common but in certain individuals those needs are much more demanding than they are in normal folk. The survey indicates that the stronger the need for authority, the more support for Bush. (I'm talking of course of psychological need, not objectively necessary need.)
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<<MT does it make sense that someone would prefer a “ an authoritative leader†and thus would choose President Bush?>>
Yes of course. I didn't say that everybody who supports Bush is a psychopath. Bush appeals to certain needs that are fairly common but in certain individuals those needs are much more demanding than they are in normal folk. The survey indicates that the stronger the need for authority, the more support for Bush. (I'm talking of course of psychological need, not objectively necessary need.)
And what authoritarian quality was lascking in Gore or Kerry?
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And what authoritarian quality was lascking in Gore or Kerry?
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The Democrats have been more democratic than the Republicans for a very long time. When you get a flyer from the Democrats, it asks you to prioritize several issues, and leaves a blank for you to name some issue that was not named.
The Republican flyers tell you that Juniorbush is doing a great job and tell you to send money. There is no questionnaire, and they do not ask for any opinions. It's like a corporate stockholders elections. Approve our candidates, period.
Gore and Kerry were both Democrats. I don't think either of them would have invaded Iraq without major support from Europe, if at all.
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So the Leadership more tipical of the Democrats doesn't present a platform in a authoritarian way?
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. When you get a flyer from the Democrats, it asks you to prioritize several issues, and leaves a blank for you to name some issue that was not named.
The Republican flyers tell you that Juniorbush is doing a great job and tell you to send money. There is no questionnaire, and they do not ask for any opinions. It's like a corporate stockholders elections. Approve our candidates, period.
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So you have been getting these e-mails?
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The Democrats have been more democratic than the Republicans for a very long time. When you get a flyer from the Democrats, it asks you to prioritize several issues, and leaves a blank for you to name some issue that was not named.
The Republican flyers tell you that Juniorbush is doing a great job and tell you to send money. There is no questionnaire, and they do not ask for any opinions. It's like a corporate stockholders elections. Approve our candidates, period.
Funny, my experience has been the opposite.
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The Democrats have been more democratic than the Republicans for a very long time. When you get a flyer from the Democrats, it asks you to prioritize several issues, and leaves a blank for you to name some issue that was not named.
The Republican flyers tell you that Juniorbush is doing a great job and tell you to send money. There is no questionnaire, and they do not ask for any opinions. It's like a corporate stockholders elections. Approve our candidates, period.
Funny, my experience has been the opposite.
Is this a good habit?
It looks like leadership by polling.
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Is this a good habit?
I'm guessing that in places that routinely elect Democrats - like Maryland - the Republicans conduct informal polling to see what the voters want, and the Democrats just send out "we're doing such-and-such for you" type letters, because they assume they're already doing what the voters want.
In areas that routinely elect Republicans the opposite could be true.
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<<And what authoritarian quality was lascking in Gore or Kerry?>>
and the lobbed softball comes slowly, slowly wafting right into the strike zone . . . Thanks, plane!!!
Torture. War crimes. Atrocities. They're against the torture of prisoners and against atrocities against civilian populations. Kerry actually spoke out eloquently, courageously and to great effect against U.S. atrocities in an earlier war. Gore spoke out eloquently against U.S. atrocities in the current war.
They are also against arbitrary arrest, detention without trial or charges, extrajudicial punishment.
They are for women's right to choose, and for gay marriage as well, where Bush is actually in favour of Constitutional amendments curtailing the civil rights of gay people to marry, primarily because he wants to force his religious values down the throats of the public. Similarly his nomination of anti-abortion judges. Bush favours legislation and policies restricting sex education and the distribution of condoms in high-risk areas, prohibiting or curtailing use of human stem-cells in federally funded research projects - - in all areas seeking to use federal power to enforce religious views on others in a wide variety of scenarios, something that Gore and Kerry do not do.
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Your welcome !
But the President is not at all against research on human stem cells.