Clipmarks | jleealex's 'bush' clips

Link between mental illness, lack of political awareness, and support for Bush

Wed, 29 Nov 2006 21:34:54 GMT

clipped by: smit2174
clipper's remarks: Ammo to annoy your conservative friends!

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. [...]

“Our study shows that psychotic patients prefer an authoritative leader,” Lohse says. “If your world is very mixed up, there’s something very comforting about someone telling you, ‘This is how it’s going to be.’”

The study was an advocacy project of sorts, designed to register mentally ill voters and encourage them to go to the polls, Lohse explains. The Bush trend was revealed later on. [...]

“Bush supporters had significantly less knowledge about current issues, government and politics than those who supported Kerry,” the study says.

Tags: bush, voters, 2004 election

Doubts about Iraqi Leader

Wed, 29 Nov 2006 16:57:10 GMT

clipped by: jleealex

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

WASHINGTON, Nov. 28 — A classified memorandum by President Bush’s national security adviser expressed serious doubts about whether Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki had the capacity to control the sectarian violence in Iraq and recommended that the United States take new steps to strengthen the Iraqi leader’s position.

The Nov. 8 memo was prepared for Mr. Bush and his top deputies by Stephen J. Hadley, the national security adviser, and senior aides on the staff of the National Security Council after a trip by Mr. Hadley to Baghdad.

The memo suggests that if Mr. Maliki fails to carry out a series of specified steps, it may ultimately be necessary to press him to reconfigure his parliamentary bloc, a step the United States could support by providing “monetary support to moderate groups,” and by sending thousands of additional American troops to Baghdad to make up for what the document suggests is a current shortage of Iraqi forces. (Text of the Memo)

The memo presents an unvarnished portrait of Mr. Maliki and notes that he relies for some of his political support on leaders of more extreme Shiite groups. The five-page document, classified secret, is based in part on a one-on-one meeting between Mr. Hadley and Mr. Maliki on Oct. 30.

“His intentions seem good when he talks with Americans, and sensitive reporting suggests he is trying to stand up to the Shia hierarchy and force positive change,” the memo said of the Iraqi leader. “But the reality on the streets of Baghdad suggests Maliki is either ignorant of what is going on, misrepresenting his intentions, or that his capabilities are not yet sufficient to turn his good intentions into action.”

An administration official made a copy of the document available to a New York Times reporter seeking information on the administration’s policy review. The Times read and transcribed the memo.

Bush Adviser’s Memo Cites Doubts About Iraqi Leader

Tags: iraq, us, bush, war

Bushfeld: the new sitcom about nothing (except destroying the planet) (Satirical Political)

Tue, 28 Nov 2006 19:14:46 GMT

clipped by: anonymology
clipper's remarks: A rather current (in more ways than one) satire on the White House.

Please no one get on my case about how this is Actually Really Serious. It's not. It's satire. Read it as such.

Clip Source: satiricalpolitical.com

SCENE: THE OVAL OFFICE

CHENEY: I think I can sum up the Iraq War for you with one word: NOTHING.

BUSH: Nothing?

CHENEY: (Smiling) Nothing.

BUSH: What does that mean?

CHENEY: The war is about nothing.

COLIN POWELL: (To Cheney) Well, it’s not about nothing.

CHENEY: (To Colin) No, it’s about nothing.

POWELL: Well, maybe in philosophy. But, even nothing is something.

CONDOLEEZZA: What’s the war’s premise?

POWELL: Well, I would go to the U.N., and make a presentation about mobile biological labs and we would pretend there are threats of mushroom clouds, yellow cake and apocalypse.

CHENEY: Yeah, but nothing happens to trigger the war. You see, it’s just like life. You know, you eat, you go shopping, you read. You eat, you read, you invade Iraq.

BUSH: You read? You read about Iraq?

CHENEY: Well, forget the reading; we don’t want to learn about 1300 years of Sunni-Shia fighting.

BUSH: All right, tell me, tell me about the rationale for war. What kind of rationale?

CHENEY: Oh, no. No rationale.

BUSH: No rationale? So, what is it?

CHENEY: What’d you do today?

BUSH: I got up and worked out.

CHENEY: There’s a rationale. That’s a rationale for war.

BUSH: (Confused) How is that a rationale?

POWELL: Well, uh, maybe something happens on the way to your workout, like you find out Saddam has weapons of mass destruction, or his aides met with Mohammed Atta in Prague.

CHENEY: No, no, no. Nothing happens.

POWELL: Well, something happens.

BUSH: Well, why am I starting a war?

ROVE: Because it’ll be on TV, and help your re-election.

BUSH: By the way, where the hell is Rummy?

POWELL: I don’t know, but it seems the raisins are missing … along with a coupla’ hundred thousand troops.

Tags: satire