Reply #36: The cognitive dissonance is so bizarre [View All]

Was just asking the in-laws why they can still support Bush after everything. They are not religious, so that's not the reason. They said my sister-in-law will stay home and not vote. Her husband says he hates apathy, so he will vote for Bush and my in-laws say they will too. They say they cannot vote for Kerry. They listen to Fox and believe lies about his purple heart.

They see the problems with Bush, but feel the Democrats are worse. I believe they have been brainwashed because they cannot come up with one reason why Kerry is bad besides lies about his war record or made-up thing about France. They have wrong information about everything, it's like an alternative reality. They say Kerry and Bush are equally bad and nobody can fix anything, so they will vote Bush.

I said, "Do you want a one-party state? Don't you want two parties and checks and balances in the government?" They said that they did, but they will still vote for Bush. My husband's brother spent two hours last night and we spent an hour today trying to convince them, but they just enjoy hating Democrats too much. The weird thing is they will admit to all the horrible things Bush has done and said, but they act like they are helpless to vote otherwise because they say the Democrats are worse. But yet, they can't give one reason why Kerry would be worse.

So I agree with many reasons given here - willful ignorance, pride and brainwashing.