We have a new crank at the station. He calls himself Ralphie, and sometimes Art. He is the classic Bush-bot, calling in to scream about how Democrats and the media are treasonous by not supporting the president and undermining the war, supporting the terrorists and being evil racist somnabitches in general, Robert Byrd blah blah blah. He screeched the talking points for two straight days of useless screeds, and exhibited what I think is the classic authoritarian follower personality. To review: the authoritarian follower exhibits the following personality traits:
- excessive conformity
- submissiveness to authority
- intolerance
- insecurity
- superstition
- ridged, stereotyped thought patterns And this:
Adorno identified the authoritarian personality type as having these characteristics. The authoritarian personality does not want to give orders, their personality type wants to take orders. People with this type of personality seek conformity, security, stability. They become anxious and insecure when events or circumstances upset their previously existing world view. They are very intolerant of any divergence from what they consider to be the normal (which is usually conceptualized in terms of their religion, race, history, nationality, culture, language, etc.) They tend to be very superstitious and lend credence to folktales or interpretations of history that fit their preexisting definitions of reality (thus the Founding Fathers of the US are conceptualized of as supporters of white nationalism.) They think in extremely stereotyped ways about minorities, women, homosexuals, etc. They are thus very dualistic- the world is conceived in terms of absolute right (their way) Vs. absolute wrong (the "other" whether African American, liberal, intellectual, feminist, etc.)
... or Muslims, for that matter ... Recognize yourself, Bush-bots?
Previous:
Tags: Bush-bots, Authoritarians |
