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Friday, October 22, 2004

Here's why Bush is ahead
Posted by Jill | 3:33 PM

...because too many Americans live in the delusional state of mind required for membership in the Cult of the Codpiece. From the PIPA (Program on International Policy Attitudes) Knowledge/Networks poll (via Winning Argument):

– 75% believe Iraq was providing substantial support to al Qaeda.

– 74% believe Bush favors including labor and environmental standards in agreements on trade.

– 72% believe Iraq had WMD or a program to develop them.

– 72% believe Bush supports the treaty banning landmines.

– 69% believe Bush supports the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty.

– 61% believe if Bush knew there were no WMD he would not have gone to war.

– 60% believe most experts believe Iraq was providing substantial support to al Qaeda.

– 58% believe the Duelfer report concluded that Iraq had either WMD or a major program to develop them.

– 57% believe that the majority of people in the world would prefer to see Bush reelected.

– 56% believe most experts think Iraq had WMD.

– 55% believe the 9/11 report concluded Iraq was providing substantial support to al Qaeda.

– 51% believe Bush supports the Kyoto treaty.

– 20% believe Iraq was directly involved in 9/11.



From the report's summary:

...why are Bush supporters clinging so tightly to beliefs that have been so visibly refuted? As discussed, one possible key explanation for why Bush supporters continue to believe that Iraq had WMD or a major WMD program, and supported Al Qaeda is that they continue to hear the Bush administration confirming these beliefs.

Another possible explanation is that Bush supporters cling to these beliefs becaue they are necessary for their support for the decision to go to war with Iraq....To support the president and to accept that he took the U.S. to war based on mistaken assumptions is difficult to bear, especially in light of the continuing costs in terms of lives and money. Apparently, to avoid this cognitive dissonance, Bush supporters suppress awareness of unsettling information.

[snip]

So why do Bush supporters show such a resistance to accepting dissonant information? While it is normal for people to show some resistance, the magnitude of the denial goes beyond the ordinary. Bush supporters have succeeded in suppressing awareness of the findings of a whole series of high-profile reports about pre-war Iraq that have been blazoned across the headlines of newspapers and prompted extensive high-profile and agonizing reflection. The fact that a large portion of Americans say they are unaware that the original reasons that the U.S. took military action--and for which Americans continue to die on a daily basis--are not turning out to be valid, are probably not due to a simple failure to pay attention to the news.

The roots of this resistance to this information very likely lie in the traumatic experience of 9/11...Large numbers of Americans had a powerful bonding experience with the president -- a bond they may be loath to relinquish.

[snip]

Bush appears to assume that his support is fragile. He refuses to admit to making any mistakes....to remain bonded to him means to enter into [this] false reality.



Obviously 48% of Americans are NOT part of the reality-based community.

Look, I can understand the need to believe that the president is honest, that he's protecting us, that he's doing what he honestly believes is the right thing to do -- and that it IS the right thing to do. But you can call a pig a horse all you want to, and even put horseshoes on it, but the fact of the matter is that it's still a pig, albeit a well-shod one. Believing that Iraq had WMDs when it didn't doesn't make it so. Believing that Saddam was behind 9/11 doesn't make it so. Believing that bombing the shit out of people is going to stop terrorism doesn't make it so. And believing that George W. Bush has a fucking clue what the hell he's doing certainly doesn't make it so.

And there's only so long that people will be able to delude themselves. There's only so long you can run from consensus reality before it smacks you in the face.
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