The mind of the bush supporter--avoiding cognitive dissonance???

[Moonbeam_Starlight]

Cognitive dissonance:

1. A condition of conflict or anxiety resulting from inconsistency between one's beliefs and one's actions, such as opposing the slaughter of animals and eating meat.

2. Psychological conflict resulting from simultaneously held incongruous beliefs and attitudes (as a fondness for smoking and a belief that it is harmful)

Source: Merriam-Webster Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.

Imagine you've been going along for the past three or four years supporting President X. You think he's an ok guy, you don't understand his critics or why so many people seem to dislike and disagree with him. You find the chorus of disagreement to be getting louder and louder and harder to avoid, so you try harder to avoid it.

If you give in and start listening and reading you might get a bad case of cognitive dissonance, what you believe not matching up any more with what you know to be true....anyone ever experienced this?

Do you think it is relevant when applied to bush supporters who are uninformed?

(I'm not talking about bush supporters who are VERY well-informed and STILL voting for bush, they are just evil and get off on his shit, right?)

[GreenPartyVoter]

1. Yes, avoiding cognitive dissonance is a major factor in denial.

[mandyky]

2. shrub supporters can't comprehend 3 sill-ab-ull words

like cognitive dissonance! LOL

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

3. I'm sure seeing it up here.

Plano. People kind of realize that shrubya is in trouble (some more than others), but I'm surprised how vague their knowledge and understanding of anything is. If my personal idol and hero was about to get tossed out on his as, I figure I'd suddenly get real interested and find out some stuff about what's going on.

Lunchroom conversation:

I heard that Ron Reagan Jr. spoke at the Democratic convention! What was he doing speaking at the Democratic convention! I mean, that is so WRONG!

These are people with graduate education.

[merh]

4. You hit the nail on the head!

For a good many of the * supporters, this is exactly what they are experiencing.

[ContraBass Black]

5. Fox news and other conservative media

Prevent cognitive dissonance by confirming the incorrect beliefs of Bush's performance.

[xray s]

6. My experience; January, 1991

Just before the first Iraq war, I was watching CNN (back when it was still a news network). A staff sergeant was talking to about 20 troops sitting around him in a circle. In the middle of the circle were about a dozen different types of land mines. He was describing what each would do and warning our troops that Saddam had millions of them in the desert, waiting for one of our guys to step on them.

The sergeant said we knew Saddam had millions of them because they were all made in the USA and we had the receipts to prove it.

Up to that day I considered myself to be a Republican. Not after that day. Never again.