Conservatives and liberals don't seem to agree about much, and they might not agree about recent studies linking conservatism to low intelligence and "low-effort" thinking.
As The Huffington Post reported in February, a study published in the journal "Psychological Science" showed that children who score low on intelligence tests gravitate toward socially conservative political views in adulthood--perhaps because conservative ideologies stress "structure and order" that make it easier to understand a complicated world.
"People endorse conservative ideology more when they have to give a first or fast response," the study's lead author, University of Arkansas psychologist Dr. Scott Eidelman, said in a written statement released by the university.
Does the finding suggest that conservatives are lazy thinkers?
"Not quite," Dr. Eidelman told The Huffington Post in an email. "Our research shows that low-effort thought promotes political conservatism, not that political conservatives use low-effort thinking."
For the study, a team of psychologists led by Dr. Eidelman asked people about their political viewpoints in a bar and in a laboratory setting.
Bar patrons were asked about social issues before blowing into a Breathalyzer. As it turned out, the political viewpoints of patrons with high blood alcohol levels were more likely to be conservative than were those of patrons whose blood alcohol levels were low.
But it wasn't just the alcohol talking, according to the statement. When the researchers conducted similar interviews in the lab, they found that people who were asked to evaluate political ideas quickly or while distracted were more likely to express conservative viewpoints.
"Keeping people from thinking too much...or just asking them to deliberate or consider information in a cursory manner can impact people's political attitudes, and in a way that consistently promotes political conservatism," Dr. Eidelman said in the email.
The study was published online in the journal "Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin."
WASHINGTON — A group of high-profile Republican strategists is working
with a conservative billionaire on a proposal to mount one of the most
provocative campaigns of the “super PAC” era and attack President Obama in ways that Republicans have so far shied away from.
Timed to upend the Democratic National Convention in September, the plan
would “do exactly what John McCain would not let us do,” the
strategists wrote.
The plan,
which is awaiting approval, calls for running commercials linking Mr.
Obama to incendiary comments by his former spiritual adviser, the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr., whose race-related sermons made him a highly charged figure in the 2008 campaign.
“The world is about to see Jeremiah Wright and understand his influence on Barack Obama
for the first time in a big, attention-arresting way,” says the
proposal, which was overseen by Fred Davis and commissioned by Joe
Ricketts, the founder of the brokerage firm TD Ameritrade. Mr. Ricketts
is increasingly putting his fortune to work in conservative politics.
The $10 million plan, one of several being studied by Mr. Ricketts,
includes preparations for how to respond to the charges of race-baiting
it envisions if it highlights Mr. Obama’s former ties to Mr. Wright, who
espouses what is known as “black liberation theology.”
The group suggested hiring as a spokesman an “extremely literate
conservative African-American” who can argue that Mr. Obama misled the
nation by presenting himself as what the proposal calls a “metrosexual,
black Abe Lincoln.”
A copy of a detailed advertising plan was obtained by The New York Times
through a person not connected to the proposal who was alarmed by its
tone. It is titled “The Defeat of Barack Hussein Obama: The Ricketts
Plan to End His Spending for Good.”
The proposal was presented last week in Chicago to associates and family
members of Mr. Ricketts, who is also the patriarch of the family that
owns the Chicago Cubs.
Brian Baker, president and general counsel of a super PAC called the
Ending Spending Action Fund, said Mr. Ricketts had studied several
advertising proposals in recent months and had not signed off on a
specific approach to taking on Mr. Obama.
“Joe Ricketts is prepared to spend significant resources in the 2012
election in both the presidential race and Congressional races,” Mr.
Baker said in an interview Wednesday. “He is very concerned about the
future direction of the country and plans to take a stand.”
The document makes clear that the effort is only in the planning stages
and awaiting full approval from Mr. Ricketts. People involved in the
planning said the publicity now certain to surround it could send the
strategists back to the drawing board.
But it serves as a rare, detailed look at the birth of the sort of
political sneak attack that has traditionally been hatched in the
shadows and has become a staple of presidential politics.
It also shows how a single individual can create his own movement and
spend unlimited sums to have major influence on a presidential election
in a campaign finance environment in which groups operating
independently of candidates are flourishing.
Should the plan proceed, it would run counter to the strategy being
employed by Mitt Romney’s team, which has so far avoided such attacks.
The Romney campaign has sought to focus attention on the economy, and
has concluded that personal attacks on Mr. Obama, who is still well
liked personally by most independent voters surveyed for polls, could
backfire.
Mr. Ricketts has become an increasingly active player in Republican
politics through several political action committees, including Ending
Spending. He has a son, Pete, who is a member of the Republican National
Committee from Nebraska and a daughter, Laura, who is a top contributor
to Mr. Obama’s re-election campaign. She has not been involved in her
father’s political efforts.
The 54-page proposal was professionally bound and illustrated with color
photographs, indicating that it is far beyond a mere discussion. The
strategists have already contacted Larry Elder, a black conservative
radio host in Los Angeles, about serving as a spokesman, and the plan
calls for a group of black business leaders to endorse the effort. The
strategists have also registered a domain name, Character Matters.
Read the Rest of the article at the NEW YORK TIMES here - http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/17/us/politics/gop-super-pac-weighs-hard-line-attack-on-obama.html?_r=1
The conservative magazine National Review has fired John Derbyshire, a prominent columnist who provoked outrage Friday with a column published in the webzine Taki's Magazine, which warned white people to avoid "large concentrations of blacks," among other nuggets of racially tinged advice.
Derbyshire has a history of controversywhen it comes to race — he even proclaimed himself a racist, though a "tolerant" one, in a 2003 interview — but he had managed to avoid any real firestorms. His latest piece, though, proved to be a step too far. Written in response to articles about the "talk" black parents were having with their children about the dangers of racism in the wake of the Trayvon Martin shooting, Derbyshire wrote about some of the offensive advice he had allegedly given his own children. Just a few of the examples:
(10a) Avoid concentrations of blacks not all known to you personally.
(10b) Stay out of heavily black neighborhoods.
(10c) If planning a trip to a beach or amusement park at some date, find out whether it is likely to be swamped with blacks on that date (neglect of that one got me the closest I have ever gotten to death by gunshot).
(10d) Do not attend events likely to draw a lot of blacks.
(10e) If you are at some public event at which the number of blacks suddenly swells, leave as quickly as possible.
Read more by clicking on the link above for the Huffington Post article!
