Tuesday, February 16, 2010

GOP and al Qaeda Depend on Fear

I have read in a couple of places over the last couple of years that people with more fearful personalities tend to be more conservative and, accordingly, to vote for the GOP. People who have more fearless personalities tend to be liberal and to vote for Democrats. Those in the middle are sometimes capable of being frightened enough to tilt them toward GOP candidates.

This is why it sometimes seems that the GOP and al Qaeda are in cahoots. They both want to frighten Americans, so there is a convergence of interests. If al Qaeda did not exist, the GOP would have to invent it. In a sense, the GOP did invent the version of al Qaeda that many of its dupes have bought into, the one where al Qaeda is an existential threat instead of a bunch of yahoos in some caves.

1 comment:

Joe said...

I don't know. People who vote donkey seem to be driven at least as much by fear. I heard more than one Democratic voter say "I'm worried about social security" during the '08 campaign. Fear of being turned into corporate slaves is another common refrain of liberals. GOP voters strike me as more sadistic than fearful. Of course, they're all statists, which means they're all motivated by some combination of fear and a desire to stick it to their perceived enemies.