Delusional party mascot
-Headline of the day-
"Conservatives Happier Than Liberals."
That's the conclusion of new research by Jaime Napier and John Jost of New York University. The reason that conservatives are so damned happy?
They're basically delusional.
According to the report, "Conservatives rationalize social and economic inequalities." The study asked people to agree or disagree with statements like "It is not really that big a problem if some people have more of a chance in life than others" and "This country would be better off if we worried less about how equal people are." What we're talking about here is the less than admirable ability to ignore the suffering of others.
"Our research suggests that inequality takes a greater psychological toll on liberals than on conservatives," the researchers reported, "apparently because liberals lack ideological rationalizations that would help them frame inequality in a positive (or at least neutral) light."
In other words, injustice pisses lefties off. You know what? Good on us. (LiveScience, via reddit)
-They're also blindingly white-
Politico notes that the current crop of GOP candidates aren't just delusional and unmoved by injustice, they're also pretty damned caucasian. According to the report, "the GOP is heading into the 2008 election without a single minority candidate with a plausible chance of winning a campaign for the House, the Senate or governor."
Although Republicans are fielding a handful of minority candidates, the article notes that of those, "none... seem to have a prayer of victory." In fact, the GOP has gone six years without having an African-American candidate elected to the House, Senate, or a governorship.
I'm sure they're happy with that record. (Politico)
-Bonus HotD-
"On Fox News, Rove and Ingraham Criticize MSNBC For Blurring The ‘Line Between News And Commentary’."
Picture this if you can; Karl Rove complaining to right wing talk radio nut Laura Ingraham (filling in for fellow nut Bill O'Reilly) about how biased MSNBC is. And he managed to do it without exploding in a big flaming ball of whiny hypocrisy.
That's a pretty good trick. (Think Progress)
