Birthers disgust me?

I was over at Gerbil Report™ earlier today looking for something to replace the current worn-out quote of the day, and if you had asked me my reaction to the comments there (including my head Photoshopped onto a nude male cuddling up to Barack Obama), I would have said “disgusting.” I would say that about a lot of birtherism, and my reaction rekindled interest in something I had set aside a couple of weeks ago.

In my article, “Negativity merchants,” I quoted a scientific study that included these words:

A rapidly growing body of empirical evidence documents a multitude of ways in which liberals and conservatives differ from each other in purviews of life with little direct connection to politics, from tastes in art to desire for closure and from disgust sensitivity to the tendency to pursue new information…

I was curious when I published that as to where liberals and conservatives appear within the disgust sensitivity spectrum, but didn’t follow up then; today I did. The results surprised me, who thought nothing was too disgusting for the extreme right wing to say. In an article at the National Journal titled “Gay Marriage and the Political Psychology of Disgust,” the result was presented as the opposite of what I guessed:

Here’s the state of the science of disgust right now. Conservatives are thought to have a greater propensity to be disgusted than liberals do. Many studies corroborate this idea (see here, here, and here).

Now it may be that I use the word “disgust” more figuratively than the scientists. Perhaps my sense of “morally offensive” isn’t what they call disgust.

The real surprise in the article is that liberals answer questions more conservatively when the smell of vomit is introduced into the room. 😯

About Dr. Conspiracy

I'm not a real doctor, but I have a master's degree.
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28 Responses to Birthers disgust me?

  1. john says:

    I guess we know why RC wants to keep quiet.

  2. Joey says:

    I find it interesting that a web site sub-titled “Obama Release Your Records” has almost no posts on Obama’s records and “Birther Report” actually reports very little any more concerning the President’s birth.
    They have been reduced to adolescent playground insults to the President and The First Lady. I think they know that their cause has failed so that anything they can post in the way of an insult relieves the frustration of having been a true believer and lost.

  3. Janny says:

    OK — you got me at Gerbil Report (trademarked) — cracked me up. Opened another bottle of wine – !

  4. bovril says:

    Doc

    The take away here is that Conservatives are easily “disgusted” by things that are not bound within their rather Taliban like mentality. However, just like any other fanatic they don’t allow their “disgust” to get in the way of their own disgusting acts. Falcon/BS Esq passim………

  5. Hektor says:

    Doc, I think that it’s important to bear in mind that the denizens of the Gerbil Report approach disgust completely differently than you or I do. At least with me, if something disgusts me, I generally don’t want to see it ever again. With Falcon, Barry Soetoro and the like, disgust seems to be something that they want to repeatedly indulge in. They seem to enjoy being disgusted and envisioning their perceived enemies in many different disgusting and revolting ways.

  6. Disgust is said to be a behavioral immune response to keep us away from infectious agents such as spoiled food, festering wounds and feces.

    Hektor: Doc, I think that it’s important to bear in mind that the denizens of the Gerbil Report approach disgust completely differently than you or I do. At least with me, if something disgusts me, I generally don’t want to see it ever again.

  7. Notorial Dissent says:

    Actually Hektor, I think you are confusing two totally unrelated emotions here, disgust with fascination. I do not believe it is disgust at all, but a morbid, very sick fascination that drives the Gerbil Report denizens to the paroxysms(that’s a polite term for orgasm for any of the birfer crowd who can’t get past their big word envy and multiple syllables) with the altered pictures and comments. It isn’t that they are disgusted by it at all, but are in fact highly fascinated and titillated by the very thought of it, that and how clever they are about hiding their true reasons and feelings. It’s as close to real sex as most of them are ever really likely to come, so I suppose we should at least be thankful for that. There is quite frankly no other explanation for it. They are living out their prurient fantasies in print as they haven’t the courage to do it in real life, or get out of their parent’s basements either for that matter.

  8. Andrew Vrba, PmG says:

    Gerbil Report. We simply must meme that name.

  9. alg says:

    Birthers are too irrelevant to be functionally disgusting. In order to qualify as disgusting one must have the capacity to make a substantive difference in the first place. If one doesn’t matter, one’s potential for disgusting doesn’t matter either.

  10. Arthur says:

    Andrew Vrba, PmG: Gerbil Report. We simply must meme that name.

    I don’t know if you noticed, but Sprint is running a series of commercials in which an eclectic family is headed by a hamster named “Dad.” So the iconic use of small rodents appears to be the new hot thing.

  11. Arthur says:

    On the subject of disgusting birthers, there is Sgt. Major Dan Page of the Ferguson Police Dept. As you probably know, Ferguson is the town in which an unarmed black teenager was shot and killed by one of the town’s police officers.

    Dan Page first came to national attention during an altercation with CNN reporter Don Lemon: http://crooksandliars.com/cltv/2014/08/cnns-don-lemon-pushed-police-during

    However, back in April, Birther Report had an article and video about Dan Page in which he addressed an Oath Keeper meeting in St. Louis. Based on comments made to this group, Mr. Page is a full-fledged birther. Page is a former Army commander who says that while in the military, he took a Lear jet to Kenya because, “I wanted to go find where that illegal alien claiming to be my president, my undocumented president, lives at.” Page also said that he retired early from the Army because of “usurper Obama’s ineligibility to be president.” Here’s a portion of his speech:

    http://www.birtherreport.com/2014/04/sergeant-major-retired-early-due-to.html

    I urge you to listen to Page’s comments so that you can hear for yourself the words of man who is as disgusting and unhinged as any birther commenting at B.R. — and yet, he’s also a high ranking officer in a police department long accused of brutality against African Americans.

    The next time someone wants to laugh away the birthers as an impotent fringe group with no power or influence, ask them to listen Page’s speech. Moreover, if you have any question about whether it’s really possible for the Ferguson Police Dept. to be poisoned by racial hatred and bigotry, I think this tape will resolve any doubt. Page is a Sgt. Major, and my experience has been that the attitudes of those in authority seep into the attitudes of those who serve under them.

    Additional information about Page’s speech is found here:
    http://crooksandliars.com/2014/08/watch-rant-officer-who-shoved-don-lemon

  12. The Magic M says:

    Hektor: With Falcon, Barry Soetoro and the like, disgust seems to be something that they want to repeatedly indulge in. They seem to enjoy being disgusted and envisioning their perceived enemies in many different disgusting and revolting ways.

    You mean like the KKK guys who were found to own large collections of interracial porn?
    Well, you can’t really hate the sin if you aren’t looking at it in regular intervals. In the dark. With your pants down.

  13. interestedbystander says:

    Arthur:
    On the subject of disgusting birthers, there is Sgt. Major Dan Page of the Ferguson Police Dept. As you probably know, Ferguson is the town in which an unarmed black teenager was shot and killed by one of the town’s police officers.

    Dan Page first came to national attention during an altercation with CNN reporter Don Lemon: http://crooksandliars.com/cltv/2014/08/cnns-don-lemon-pushed-police-during

    However, back in April, Birther Report had an article and video about Dan Page in which he addressed an Oath Keeper meeting in St. Louis. Based on comments made to this group, Mr. Page is a full-fledged birther. Page is a former Army commander who says that while in the military, he took a Lear jet to Kenya because, “I wanted to go find where that illegal alien claiming to be my president, my undocumented president, lives at.” Page also said that he retired early from the Army because of “usurper Obama’s ineligibility to be president.” Here’s a portion of his speech:

    http://www.birtherreport.com/2014/04/sergeant-major-retired-early-due-to.html

    I urge you to listen to Page’s comments so that you can hear for yourself the words of man who is as disgusting and unhinged as any birther commenting at B.R. — and yet, he’s also a high ranking officer in a police department long accused of brutality against African Americans.

    The next time someone wants to laugh away the birthers as an impotent fringe group with no power or influence, ask them to listen Page’s speech. Moreover, if you have any question about whether it’s really possible for the Ferguson Police Dept. to be poisoned by racial hatred and bigotry, I think this tape will resolve any doubt. Page is a Sgt. Major, and my experience has been that the attitudes of those in authority seep into the attitudes of those who serve under them.

    Additional information about Page’s speech is found here:
    http://crooksandliars.com/2014/08/watch-rant-officer-who-shoved-don-lemon

    This is genuinely terrifying. Has this appeared in national media and if not can we make it happen? This guy needs to be off the streets now.

  14. realist says:

    john:
    I guess we know why RC wants to keep quiet.

    I know I’m going to regret this, but a) RC has not exactly been quiet. b) Why do you think he wants to be and keep quiet and if so about what (birther nonsense) exactly?

  15. I haven’t written many blog posts or had many radio shows lately because the Birthers have been nothing but boring lately. That is unless you count the breathless anticipation of AZ Day at Gerbil Report™.

  16. Dave says:

    At the risk of being boring myself, let me point out, again, that there is a big story that nobody seems to be making any note of — Taitz wants a judge to stop implementation of a policy of the administration (DACA) and did not argue that it is invalid because it was directed by The Usurper. There is not one word of birtherism in any filing in this case. Why not?

  17. Jim says:

    Dave: Why not?

    Patience Grasshopper…she still has 5 days and another 10 filings before she’s even close to being done. This is the only moving case she has going, gotta give the followers more to think about. 😀

    I have this dream that Orly keeps filing and filing and finally the Judge gets so PO’ed that he just declares no standing for Orly and the oral arguments are cancelled…the morning of the hearing. The Screech Heard Round the World!!! 😀

  18. Page count limit?

    I agree that it is an interesting point. Maybe she’s trying to break into mainstream RWNJ activism.

    Dave: Why not?

  19. Dave says:

    My though exactly. I think she has, at long last, recognized that she might have a better chance at winning a lawsuit if she would just unload the albatross.

    Also interesting that none of her flying monkeys have noticed. I have always suspected that her filings are only read by anti-birthers.

    Dr. Conspiracy:
    Maybe she’s trying to break into mainstream RWNJ activism.

  20. J.D. Reed says:

    Anybody watching CNN as I write Sgt. Major Page is apparently being given a leave of absence. The video is being aired.

  21. J.D. Reed says:

    Page is being required to undergo mental evaluation. Kudos to interesyedbystander for scooping media.

  22. Andrew Vrba, PmG says:

    J.D. Reed:
    Page is being required to undergo mental evaluation. Kudos to interesyedbystander for scooping media.

    I’m reminded of that scene from Dracula Dead and Loving it, where Dr. Steward is having Renfield carried off. …You know the one! 😉

  23. The Magic M (not logged in) says:

    Dr. Conspiracy: Maybe she’s trying to break into mainstream RWNJ activism.

    Maybe she knows she better save the birfin’ for oral arguments, or whenever the judge appears to be friendly towards her, like by not denying her initial motion on the spot.

  24. bgansel9 says:

    As I understand it, rightwingers are authoritarian, and anything that looks like it operates without the aegis of authority is disgusting. Anything that has the approval of the appropriate authority is within bounds for them. Sarah Palin can post crosshairs over Arizona and then when Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords got shot, the right shielded Palin and said it wasn’t her fault. But, authority is only of a certain type, the type that believes as they do. Obama stating that he doesn’t want to take away their guns will not get the same pass.

  25. Andrew Vrba, PmG says:

    Dr. Conspiracy:
    Page count limit?

    I agree that it is an interesting point. Maybe she’s trying to break into mainstream RWNJ activism.

    She’s probably got a ways to go. As I understand it, even the nuttiest RWNJs find her to be “too out there”.
    I don’t think it’s a habit she can break. Her obsession with Obama is so deep that when the woman snores, it’s probably “Zzzzzzz…Obama….Zzzzz…Felony Fraud…Zzzzz…Let Me Feeeenish….”

  26. One hopes the CPAP machine fixed that.

    Andrew Vrba, PmG: when the woman snores,

  27. Andrew Vrba, PmG says:

    Dr. Conspiracy:
    One hopes the CPAP machine fixed that.

    Well, I’m not a doctor, but in my medical opinion, a crowbar to the face will be much more effective, for her snoring problems, than some fancy-smancy machine. But then again, Doctor Nick thinks I’m a quack! So, take my advice with a grain of salt.

  28. Keith says:

    Andrew Vrba, PmG: So, take my advice with a grain of salt.

    Is that anything to do with “rubbing it in”?

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