Pundit Country

If you’re like me and wondering how people can still possibly hold on to the idea that Obama is not an American citizen despite an irrefutable abundance of evidence to the contrary, then this piece by Steve Mirsky in Scientific American may shed some light on the issue for you.

Undoubtedly following in the footsteps of Malcolm Gladwell’s seminal work, Blink, in which she explains a concept known as social cognition:

A part of the answer may lie in what’s called implicit social cognition, which involves the deep-rooted assumptions we all carry around and even act on without realizing it. Harvard University psychologist Mahzarin Banaji is a leader in implicit social cognition research. She excavates the hidden beliefs people hold by measuring how fast they make value judgments when shown a rapid-fire succession of stimuli, such as photographs of faces.

At a talk she gave in October 2008 to a group of science journalists, Banaji discussed research she did with Thierry Devos, now at San Diego State University, that examined bias against Asians. They found that volunteers linked white Americans more strongly than Asian-Americans with, well, America. Banaji and Devos then decided to do what even they thought was a “bizarre” study: they had people gauge the “American-ness” of famous Asian-Americans, such as Connie Chung and tennis player Michael Chang, versus European whites, such as Hugh Grant.

It’s a surprisingly quick read, but now has me interested in further research on the subject. If you’re as fascinated by this topic as I am, then I’d give the article a go.

Yes, these are some awesome patriots here. I am in awe of the awesome patriotism here. Yessiree, simply awesome. (photos from Flikr)

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Daniel Goldstein (aka “Goldy”) over at HorsesAss.org grabbed the story, but it appears that while going through Hutchison’s new Facebook page, either she or Taitz reached out to one another.

Taitz, as you may or may not know, has been the unofficial spokesperson for the folks who believe that Obama wasn’t born in the U.S., but rather in Kenya and can’t legitimately claim to be the President.

This isn’t exactly the move one would make in order to shore up their nonpartisan credentials, but you almost have to admire the way Hutchison lets her freak flag out loud and proud. Well done ma’am.

I wonder how much longer it will be before listeners of Limbaugh, Beck and Malkin take to the street with visions of being their own version of V, Guy Fawkes, or Neo to protect America by killing Americans indiscriminately. It sems to be the direction they’re heading (or rather WANT to be heading).

How the Teabaggers (now healthcare reform protesters) view themselves:

A revolution is taking place in America. It’s as intangible as the whispering wind. Yet as ineluctable as mounting gale. To the politicians, it’s still but a passing breeze rustling the hair at the nape of the neck. To the grassroots masses, it’s rushing torrent destined to sweep the elite from the Halls of Power.

America is at the very incipience of a Leaderless Revolution. One could see it at the hometown Tea Parties disclaimed by politicians as ragtag assemblies and disdained by Barack Obama who speciously claimed not to have even known they even occurred. One can sense it in the polls, as one after another shows plunging support for this president and his policies.

And one can hear it loud and clear in the angry outpourings at “Town Hall” meetings where sputtering politicians are driven from the podiums and forced to seek shelter behind a phalanx of guards.

…The real problem the politicians face is that there is no opposition leader. In fact, there are no leaders at all. The hallmark of the grassroots uprising now befuddling and deflating the Washington political elite (and their mainstream media factotums) is that they are flying in the face of a Leaderless Revolution soundlessly inundating the very air they breathe.

It is amorphous. It is dauntless. It is unyielding. And it needs no person or party to state its case or fight its cause.

Carried in a purse, a brief case, or a backpack; wielded in the palm of the purveyor’s hand; as easy as aps; and summed up in 140 characters or less; this is the Leaderless Revolution that Bill Gates predicted was coming at the “Speed of Thought” on the wireless wings of the wind.

Unfortunately for the Washington establishment, in America today – just as in Iran, Honduras, and Moldavia — the thought has now become an action. The words have become deeds. They have begun to sew the wind. And the tone-deaf political elitists are about to reap the whirlwind.

-editorial from Americans for Limited Government

Huh? It seems funny to me that the same group that only months ago were deriding the abilities of community organizers are all now claiming to be just that in the cause of opposing a program that 72% of Americans want, according to recent polling. My, how times have changed.

The problem is these groups are no more grassroots that the “Brooks Brothers riots” that broke out in Florida during the Bush v Gore recount at the behest of the GOP (then a wholly-run Rovian operation) in 2000. I’m all for grassroots protest, but this isn’t it. No way these rent-a-riot mobs have this level of coordination without corporate assistance. Much like their Tea Party protests, the deeply over-romanticized symbols are merely excuses for their corporate enablers to put pressure on members of Congress as they head home for the recess (note to those MoC’s: if you had settled this matter before you left, you wouldn’t be dealing with these people at all, so good job). Without astroturf groups like Freedomworks, Americans for Prosperity, Conservatives for Patients Rights and the big money and logistical support they bring in, these “protests” would amount zip.

Additionally, what doesn’t help is how some media outlets are covering these protests. Sadly, in their quest to remain neutral, they are leaving out whole sections of the truth when giving reports of the town hall disruptions. Nothing is mentioned of Freedomworks trouble with the law, the how-to memos they use to coordinate efforts and strategize messaging, or their connections to big corporate financial backers (which is always the sign if your group can genuinely claim that it’s grassroots. Any bottom-up movement worth it’s salt cannot possibly have corporate sponsorship. Movements like they are purporting to be are always anti-establishment, always opposed to the current STRUCTURE (not just the people who are running it) of power. They are by their very nature against what corporations are for).

Even dday, over at Hullabaloo, noticed the coverage when he noted,

To extend this a bit, 15 million people protested the Iraq war and the coverage was virtually nil. Lobbyists bus 100 people into a Congressional town hall and the media hypes the “Tehran-like” atmosphere of them. Groups of people at town hall meetings are not perfect indicators of the overall attitudes of a population, and even among the town halls, traditional media highlights and politicians respond to very selective segments of those groups.

It’s something for the MoC’s to keep in mind as their meetings with constituents take place of the next few days and weeks. Start questioning what’s going on, is there an atmosphere of manufactured anger? Are the “protesters” repeating what sounds like complex messaging soundbites over and over again? Are they calling for violent repercussions if their demands aren’t meant? If so, these jokers are to be taken just as seriously as the birthers and dismissed just as quickly.

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