That was a good article. Thanks. By the way, I said earlier we should understand the opposing mindset, but I don't think that's entirely necessary. I think it's enough to acknowledge that an opposing mindset exists, even if we don't understand it. Understanding that mindset, as Greenwald attempts to do there, can help one avoid the inclination to dismiss the opposing viewpoint outright. But even if you simply started with the assumption that opposing ideas, no matter how stupid they seem to you, come from an honest place, I don't think you really need to "get" that place. I think the idea behind the myth of pure evil applies here. If you aren't so quick to assume these people are liars, then maybe you have an easier time explaining to others (and to them) why what they say is not true.
CNN Rick Sanchez Health Care Lobbyists! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWwOOkZrDgI <object width="560" height="340"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/ZWwOOkZrDgI&hl=en&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/ZWwOOkZrDgI&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="560" height="340"></embed></object>
"...when the excesses of business interests and their political proteges in Washington leave the regular guy broke and screwed, the response is always for the lower and middle classes to split down the middle and find reasons to get pissed off not at their greedy bosses but at each other. If ever there was a textbook case of peasant thinking, it’s struggling middle-class Americans burned up in defense of taxpayer-funded bonuses to millionaires. It’s really weird stuff." The rich and powerful, in their alliance with the Religious Right and others, have been during yoeman's work very effectively, for many, many years, aimed squarely at doing just that. "Divide and Conquer" has rarely been so obvious a tactic to anyone that pays attention. It works beautifully for them. The rich and powerful have been able to get misguided middle and lower class Americans to fight for them to preserve their wealth and the political power needed to preserve the status quo. The Religious Right get support (and funds-I'll refrain from saying what I think a lot of those funds are used for.) for their agenda. One might think it's a match made in Heaven, except for the problem of tens of millions Americans going through the Hell of their sick child, spouse, friend, or relative trying to deal with health problems without insurance. It brings to mind the hundreds of thousands of Southerners during the Civil War putting everything on the line to support the aristocracy of the South. Irony abounds.
There's an interesting report from a Democratic research group discussing the thoughts and motivations of the Republican Base. It's mentioned in a blog on the HuffingtonPost. The pdf of the report is posted there, too. It's pretty interesting read. I'm sure a few conservatives here might see a lot of their own viewpoints in the quotes provided from the focus groups. And perhaps liberals can better understand the mindset of the anti-Obama crowd. A basic summary is that this group of people wants Obama to fail because they truly believe he is secretly trying to destroy the country and make it socialist and they feel it is their patriotic duty to fight for their country. Race is only a factor for them (at least consciously) in that they feel that his race is being used to shout down valid criticism by claiming it is racist. And of course Glenn Beck is a hero. Anyway, it's worth a quick look if you're interested in these kinds of things.
