Expecting A Different ResultVille
When I was a much younger man, but all done college, I found myself working a job that involved sitting in a little cubicle while listening to Ozzy Osbourne cranked up to 'eleven' for hours on end.
Luckily for me, somewhere along the line I had learned to read developmental biology textbooks at maximal volume.
As a result, I was able to make a huge change in career direction by getting myself off to a nunnery* before my ears began to bleed.
When you watch politics south of the border these days you've got to wonder why the Democrats can't turn off the stereo and initiate some real changes of their own.
Could it actually be, as our old friend Richard B. from over at the AllSpinZone points out, by way of Tyrone and John Rogers of the Kung Fu Monkey, that the Dems are actually scared crapless of a small minority of their countrymen and women who demonstrated a definite tendency to tilt towards those who are flat-out batguano crazy three years ago now:
Oh, and just to prove that untreated psychosis does not get better on it's own, especially when it is nurtured by co-enablers like Ms. Coulter and the Falafel Man, it appears that the good Mr. Keye's is ready to run again in 2008.John: Hey, Bush is now at 37% approval. I feel much less like Kevin McCarthy screaming in traffic. But I wonder what his base is –
Tyrone: 27%.
John: … you said that immmediately, and with some authority.
Tyrone: Obama vs. Alan Keyes (Nov. 2004). Keyes was from out of state, so you can eliminate any established political base; both candidates were black, so you can factor out racism; and Keyes was plainly, obviously, completely crazy. Batshit crazy. Head-trauma crazy. But 27% of the population of Illinois voted for him. They put party identification, personal prejudice, whatever ahead of rational judgement. Hell, even like 5% of Democrats voted for him. That’s crazy behaviour. I think you have to assume a 27% Crazification Factor in any population.
John: Objectively crazy or crazy vis-a-vis my own inertial reference frame for rational behaviour? I mean, are you creating the Theory of Special Crazification or General Crazification?
Tyrone: Hadn’t thought about it. Let’s split the difference. Half just have worldviews which lead them to disagree with what you consider rationality even though they arrive at their positions through rational means, and the other half are the core of the Crazification — either genuinely crazy; or so woefully misinformed about how the world works, the bases for their decision making is so flawed they may as well be crazy.
John: You realize this leads to there being over 30 million crazy people in the US?
Tyrone: Does that seem wrong?
John: … a bit low, actually.
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* a.k.a. 'gradual' school.
Which is not to say that there aren't people doing their best to keep the crazies on the train. After all, how else can one explain Fox actually censoring 'The Flying Nun' mid-acceptance speech at last night's Emmy Awards.
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