Probably Just Paranoia

Bourdieu has a term, allodoxia, that  refers to a socially structural misapprehension -- that is to say, a misperception of reality that serves as the basis for a certain kind of social identity. In contemplating homo wingnutticus identity formation, probably nothing is more crucial than to examine the role played by the misrecognition of how the media actually operates in regard to political and economic power. But that is not to say that other factors are unimportant: the ways in which wingnut identity politics is structured in relation to science, for instance, as in the case of global climate change denialism. Or, in another arena, the idea that Saddam Hussein and Al Qaeda must have been in cahoots. Such misperceptions are, again, the foundation of an entire category of social being, and so to challenge them is, to a group member, to challenge the legitimacy of her or his entire existence. To wit, this comment from the link above:

I am going to love it IF a democrat gets in office and royally screws things up and we get hit by another terrorist attack ... but im sure you guys will come up with some way to blame bush for that as well.

Which is of course nutpicking, but still illustrative of the perceptual categories intrinsic to homo wingnitticus social identity. The data in this regard are frankly overwhelming.

Curious specimens, these li'l fuckers, ain't they?

Comments

[merlallen]

these fine patriots are praying for another terror attack.
they also don't think that bush's ignoring warnings about an attack means that he more or less allowed 9/11 to happen.
and, yes i will blame chickenshit george bush for another one.

[Jay C.]

That pretty much crystallizes what happens when I try to talk basic policy with the office wingnuts. Thers, you're setting up to one day write the definitive character study of homo wingnutticus.

"Field Notes from a Liberal Fascist."

[Nora]

There's very little in wingnuttia that can't be explained by reference to projection, racism or misogynism, or a combination of all of them.

["Fair and Balanced" Dave]

There's very little in wingnuttia that can't be explained by reference to projection, racism or misogynism, or a combination of all of them.

You forgot to include homophobia in your list. Fear of teh gay is one of the pillars of modern conservatism.

[MikeJ]

You're still defining their fears too narrowly. Yes they fear women and blacks and gays, but they also fear "intellectuals" and New Yorkers and latte drinkers. Easier to simply say they have a fear of "other".

[Gummo]

There's very little in wingnuttia that can't be explained by reference to projection, racism or misogynism, or a combination of all of them.

You forgot to include homophobia in your list. Fear of teh gay is one of the pillars of modern conservatism.

True as far as it goes, but it's a very specific kind of homophobia -- it's a self-loathing fear of their own sexuality.

Have so many self-hating closet cases ever been gathered in one place?

[low-tech cyclist]

If it was just that one commenter, it would be nutpicking. But we've seen countless instances, over the past few years, of various wingnuts' practically yearning for another 9/11-style attack.

There's no doubt that their real enemy is the American left. As far as they're concerned, another 9/11 would be an acceptable price to pay - nay, a real bargain! - if it provided them with the means of shutting us up for a decade or so. They have no interest in actually defeating al-Qaeda: it would be useless as a club to bash liberals with, if it were gone.

Just the way they're happy to spend the lives of hundreds of our troops in Iraq each year, plus a couple hundred billion dollars a year, to avoid having to admit they were wrong about invading.

[LittlePig]

Whereas if McCain becomes President and another domestic attack occurs, the wingnuts will say "Gosh, you guys were right, it's all our fault".

Riiiiiiiiight.

[lew hussein bowski]

Of course if another attack happens, whoever is preznit, it will be the fault of:

> the left

> the demmycrats

> the aclu

> moveon

> progressive blogs

> teh gay

> uppity negroes

> uppity wimin

> all mooslems everwhere

> the librule media

> everone elst but not the wingers or the gop

As with the recent nie, they're even willing to throw the pentagon under the bus when it conflicts with their identity shaping beliefs. The must do some impressively limber mental gymnastics to convince themselves that the pentagon report debunking claims of a hussein-al qeada link was, in actuality, written by some pinko leftist gay black secret muslim who's really a woman reporter.

[K. Ron Silkwood]

Would wingnuts ignore preparations for a terrorist attack, or even fake one themselves, to inject a little fear into the populace, to support their warmongering, and to take a little power?

[SenderC]

The conservative culture's disdain of lattes is so weird and outdated. With Starbucks and other chain coffee shops providing caffeine for millions of Americans, we can't say lattes (or practically any other coffee-based drink) is foreign. Hell, even other supposedly fey drinks like white wine are sold in gas stations across America. Conservatives need a new beverage-based insult.

[SteveB]

Conservatives need a new beverage-based insult.

Yes, they need shift their scorn and derision from lattes to maté (As in yerba maté). All good lefties here in Madison drink the stuff.

And let me tell you, it's hard work constantly coming up with new stuff for the wingnuts to hate (plus the hempen clothing really itches).

[Halloween Jack]

Blaming W for such an event would, of course, be qualitatively different than blaming Clinton for 9/11, which they've done plenty of.

[wmforr]

"The conservative culture's disdain of lattes is so weird and outdated. With Starbucks and other chain coffee shops providing caffeine for millions of Americans, we can't say lattes (or practically any other coffee-based drink) is foreign. Hell, even other supposedly fey drinks like white wine are sold in gas stations across America. Conservatives need a new beverage-based insult."

That silly stereotype is not a talking point, it is just a standard insult. I watch Fakes News and hear O'Lielly and all their other pundits snear about "elite, liberal, latte drinking..." And I think, these guys are going home to their insular mansions, trading their million-dollar stocks, sipping their Chateau Rothchild, and then thinking that merely by being pro-business Repugs they are somehow less "elite" than those jobless people in Ohio voting in the Democratic primaries?

[coozledad]

Well, Republicans know the raw material they've got to work with. Amoral, hoglike creatures with underdeveloped forebrains. Thing is, after Bush is done, a significant number of even these bastards will have the wolf at the door. If they've got a fucking door.

[winfernal]

I long for the last century when we were all chablis sipping hot-tubbers.

[ec1009]

Bunch of cheeze whiz eating white whiners, the lot of them. Damn closet cases piss me off.

[Davis X. Machina]

Would wingnuts ignore preparations for a terrorist attack, or even fake one themselves, to inject a little fear into the populace, to support their warmongering, and to take a little power?

I don't know, but I live in rural Maine, and as I drank my coffee this morning, I saw a conga line of bears heading for the woods, each carrying a roll of toilet paper and a copy of the Portland Press Herald.

If it turns out the Pope also said Mass this morning, be very afraid.

[Poicephalus]

JFC, thanks for the final sentence. The science was cutting through the Prine and Cuba Libres.

Harshed the buzz, almost.

C

[Me]

but im sure you guys will come up with some way to blame bush for that as well.

"As well". This is truly a reality-defying worldview. Because blaming Bush for what occurred during his presidency is obviously the equivalent of blaming him after he's left office, right?

I'm not sure what else can be said about the cognitive dissonance of these people. But I'm sure you'll do it anyway, and for that I am grateful.

[klevenstein]

I'm not as well-versed, so I have a simpler formulation for the w-nuts: they are sociopaths; that is why they think individuals should only fend for themselves and never act in community with anyone else (unless it's ME AND MY FAMILY); plus everything you say MUST be "patriotic", proving that you will always submit to authority, and you must never resolve an international crisis in anything resembling a mature, rational way, etc, etc.

Oh, and (Mr or Ms)

I am going to love it IF a democrat gets in office and royally screws things up and we get hit by another terrorist attack

will never be capable of seeing the utter irony of that statement, given that the biggest terrorist attack in recent American history happened on HIS HERO's FRIGGIN' WATCH.