Here Are the Psychological Reasons Why an American Might Join ISIS | Mother Jones

Here Are the Psychological Reasons Why an American Might Join ISIS | Mother Jones:



Note the similarities of the explanations here with Hoffer's original insights about how people are attracted to mass (fanatical) movements.  The researchers note:

According to University of Maryland psychologist and
terrorism expert Arie Kruglanski, who has studied scores of militant
extremists, part of the clue may lie in that Twitter tagline of McCain's. Not
just its content, but the mindset that it indicates—one that sees the world in
sharp definition, no shades of gray. "These extreme ideologies have a
twofold type of appeal," explains Kruglanski on the latest Inquiring Minds
podcast. "First of all, they are very coherent, black and white, right or
wrong. Secondly, they afford the possibility of becoming very unique, and part
of a larger whole."  (See Hoffer - corporate whole)   That kind of belief system, explains Kruglanski, is highly
attractive to young people who lack a clear sense of self-identity, and are
craving a sense of larger significance. In fact, Kruglanski and his colleagues
have found that one important psychological trait in particular seems to define
these militants who leave their own culture and go off to embrace some ideology
about which they may not even know very much. (We recently learned that Yusuf
Sarwar and Mohammed Ahmed, two British jihadis who went to fight in Syria last
year, ordered Islam for Dummies and The Koran for Dummies from Amazon before
they departed.)  Arie KruglanskiThese young people seem to have what psychologists call a
very strong "need for cognitive closure," a disposition that leads to
an overwhelming desire for certainty, order, and structure in one's life to
relieve the sensation of gnawing—often existential—doubt and uncertainty. (See Hoffer - the disaffected believers)

 According to Kruglanski, this need is something everyone can experience from
time to time. We all sometimes get stressed out by uncertainty, and want
answers. We all feel that way in moments, in particular situations, but what
Kruglanski shows is that some of us feel that way more strongly, or maybe even
all the time. And if you go through the world needing closure, it predisposes
you to seek out the ideologies and belief systems that most provide it.

Fundamentalist religions are among the leading candidates  (emphasis throughout, mine)

Compare this to Hoffer's description of the "disaffected" - which includes rootless youth.  This also echoes the Tea Party need for "security" - the fear that drove them together in the first place - here describted as "gnawing...doubt and uncertainty."





























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Laura Ingraham Tells Radio Listeners That Obama Considers Them, Not Islamic State, The "True Enemy" | Video | Media Matters for America

Another Tea Party darling . . .



Laura Ingraham Tells Radio Listeners That Obama Considers Them, Not Islamic State, The "True Enemy" | Video | Media Matters for America:



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These Wacky Facts About Goats Are A Bleating Good Time

Goats!!

These Wacky Facts About Goats Are A Bleating Good Time:



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Study: Are some people born conservative? - Salon.com

Study: Are some people born conservative? - Salon.com:



Research outcomes in political science study finds that the more fearful people are the more likely they are to be conservative.  Eric found in his study of ideographs that a primary motivator of Tea Party membership was fear and an overwhelming need for "security" - both economic and homeland.  So those results make sense in line with our studies of the rhetoric.  Neat!





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It’s time to stop calling Rand Paul a tea partier - The Washington Post

It’s time to stop calling Rand Paul a tea partier - The Washington Post:



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I Watched Sarah Palin’s Channel So You Don’t Have To | Vanity Fair

I Watched Sarah Palin’s Channel So You Don’t Have To | Vanity Fair:


Author Bruce Handy recounts his experience paying for and perusing the new Sarah Palin channel ($9.95/month or 1 year for $99.99).  In summary of the content he notes that Palin's identity is constructed primarily in anti-thesis to Barack Obama.

"In that regard, as Ian Crouch points out on newyorker.com, Obama is her ultimate foil, what with his Ivy League degrees, his slender, vaguely metrosexual airs, and his condescending habit of speaking in diagrammable sentences. Palin needs him the way the Harlem Globetrotters need the Washington Generals, except that Obama is the one who usually wins, which is his greatest service to Palin. Because imagine an alternate universe in which Palin wins. She herself did, which is why she’s no longer knocking around the Alaska statehouse, and why, it says here, she’ll never run for president. Crusades are more fun than governing, plus you can’t monetize the latter, not legally, anyway. There is a clock on the S.P.C. homepage counting down the days, hours, minutes, and even seconds to the end of the Obama administration, an allegedly blessed day."

Eric and I noted in our review of Palin's keynote speech for the National Tea Party Convention in Nashville, TN (spring of 2010) how well it portrayed Obama as the symbolic devil Hoffer describes.  4 years later, that anti-thesis - and I would argue clear fanaticism - it still driving and defining Palin.

Handy's review and observations fit and illustrate the theory of fanatical rhetoric I've presented elsewhere.



A countdown clock.  Seriously.





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Sarah Palin Gives Conservative Response to Elizabeth Warren's Progressive Commandments

via Breightbart.com:



Sarah Palin Gives Conservative Response to Elizabeth Warren's Progressive Commandments:



WOW.  Just . . . wow.  Seriously?   (= my response to Palin's response)







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Joe Carr vs. Lamar Alexander: The Tea Party's Last Stand in the Senate

Joe Carr vs. Lamar Alexander: The Tea Party's Last Stand in the Senate:



From Breitbart.com:



 Outlines the political capital at stake in this election on the morning of the TN GOP primary.  Includes video of Palin endorsement.

(update:  Carr loses to Alexander by a significant margin).



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The Tea Party Pushes Democrats Towards Victory By Declaring National Impeach Obama Week

The Tea Party Pushes Democrats Towards Victory By Declaring National Impeach Obama Week:


According to PoliticusUSA:

Robert Ogden writing in the conservative Western Journalism (via Talking Points Memo) reported that “National Impeach Obama Week” is coming on August 23! They even have a website titled “Impeach Obama.” Just in case you didn’t hear them the first six years. They claim their effort is “bi-partisan”, even though polls and reality say otherwise.

Here’s the list of reasons why they want to impeach the President (see if you can find the few that have even a remote relationship to reality and then vow that no matter what side of the aisle you are on, you will never only read what you want to hear):
● Governing by dictatorial fiat with lawless executive orders targeting Amnesty, Obamacare, gun regulation, etc.
● Waging illegal wars without the constitutionally-required approval from Congress
● Assassination of three American citizens without due process via drone bombings
● Bald-faced lying to the American people about the Benghazi attack, Obamacare, etc.
● Supporting Al Qaeda and other Jihadist terrorists in Syria and elsewhere
● Encouraging massive numbers of illegal aliens to enter the US for his own political reasons
● Bizarre and erratic behavior, which implies psychological pathology
● Forgery of his identification documents to make it appear that he is eligible for office
● Overall radical and subversive anti-American background, which is confirmed by his actions in office
● Constitutional ineligibility for the office that he holds

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US Sen. Alexander Fends Off Tea Party in Tenn. - NYTimes.com

US Sen. Alexander Fends Off Tea Party in Tenn. - NYTimes.com:



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