Friday, November 30, 2007
Republicans less likely to be batshit crazy than Democrats
This is news?
From Gallup:
Remember, a big portion of the people in the Democrat column are made up of perrenial complainers, professional purveyors of outrage, jobless activists, welfare recipients who vote their pocketbook, the permanently unemployable (due to attitude problems and personality disorders) and the pathetic losers who sought mental health services in Boca Raton after John Kerry lost the 2004 election.
Woman, behold your constituency.
Splash, out
Jason
From Gallup:
Republicans are significantly more likely than Democrats or independents to rate their mental health as excellent, according to data from the last four November Gallup Health and Healthcare polls. Fifty-eight percent of Republicans report having excellent mental health, compared to 43% of independents and 38% of Democrats. This relationship between party identification and reports of excellent mental health persists even within categories of income, age, gender, church attendance, and education.
Remember, a big portion of the people in the Democrat column are made up of perrenial complainers, professional purveyors of outrage, jobless activists, welfare recipients who vote their pocketbook, the permanently unemployable (due to attitude problems and personality disorders) and the pathetic losers who sought mental health services in Boca Raton after John Kerry lost the 2004 election.
Woman, behold your constituency.
Splash, out
Jason
Labels: health care, Politics, The Left
Comments:
I saw a study somewhere that people who needed mental healthcare and couldn't afford it themselves trusted Democrats more than Republicans, partly because of their experience with our current healthcare system. No wait - that wasn't what it proved. I think it proved Republicans were more likely to lie about their mental health.
I've seen your posts on financial and stock issues. If a corporate CEO tried to mix up correlation and causation in the same way you do to claim credit for increased annual earnings, you would give him what he deserved.
Oh what do I know. I must be crazy.
I've seen your posts on financial and stock issues. If a corporate CEO tried to mix up correlation and causation in the same way you do to claim credit for increased annual earnings, you would give him what he deserved.
Oh what do I know. I must be crazy.
# posted by 
: 8:57 PM
: 8:57 PM
I have been reading for a couple years. You are familiar with the news ticker? maybe he's not kidding, but I tend to think he is. but then I'm not a humorless Democrat. ;D
Since this poll is based on self-reporting, I'd bet that the difference is due to Democrats and Republicans defining mental health differently.
Without venturing to speculate about anyone's mental health - or about who's right and who's wrong - would it be fair to say that there is a correlation between party affiliation and the degree that that one has bought into the psychotherapeutic model? Since the psychotherapeutic model pathologizes almost anything other than a kind of gray "normalcy", wouldn't someone with any halfway-serious "issues" tend to rate their mental health lower than someone whose definition of good mental health is "not batshit crazy and needing to be locked up for the safety of others"?
Anyway, I tend to take all this with a grain of salt.
What I'm really curious about is whether the commenters are similarly skeptical of the psychological studies that make the case that conservatives are mentally and emotionally defective...
Without venturing to speculate about anyone's mental health - or about who's right and who's wrong - would it be fair to say that there is a correlation between party affiliation and the degree that that one has bought into the psychotherapeutic model? Since the psychotherapeutic model pathologizes almost anything other than a kind of gray "normalcy", wouldn't someone with any halfway-serious "issues" tend to rate their mental health lower than someone whose definition of good mental health is "not batshit crazy and needing to be locked up for the safety of others"?
Anyway, I tend to take all this with a grain of salt.
What I'm really curious about is whether the commenters are similarly skeptical of the psychological studies that make the case that conservatives are mentally and emotionally defective...
# posted by : 4:42 PM
: 4:42 PM
Well David, you're off base in a number of ways.
1.) This isn't a matter of correlation versus causality, because nobody is making an assertion that being a liberal CAUSES one to be crazy, nor is anyone making the case that being crazy CAUSES one to be a liberal. I am only making the observation, borne out by empirical data in this case, that the correlation coefficient between liberals people with mental health problems is higher than it is with conservatives.
All this study does is quantify the anecdotal data. You didn't see conservatives racking up billable hours with therapists after Clinton beat Dole.
2.) I suppose one could make the argument that those who are truly mentally ill are less likely to have insight than the mentally healthy (though in my years of experience working in locked clinical psych settings and addiction programs, that's really only true at the margins.) What that means, however, is that the population of liberals is even more batshit crazy than the study indicates.
Again, not a big surprise.
4.) You are also overlooking the possibility that I am deliberately obsucuring the difference between correlation and causality for comedic effect. Yes, Maggie K is onto something.
5.) You make no attempt to refute the following statement: Remember, a big portion of the people in the Democrat column are made up of perrenial complainers, professional purveyors of outrage, jobless activists, welfare recipients who vote their pocketbook, the permanently unemployable (due to attitude problems and personality disorders) and the pathetic losers who sought mental health services in Boca Raton after John Kerry lost the 2004 election."
I think it's because you can't.
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1.) This isn't a matter of correlation versus causality, because nobody is making an assertion that being a liberal CAUSES one to be crazy, nor is anyone making the case that being crazy CAUSES one to be a liberal. I am only making the observation, borne out by empirical data in this case, that the correlation coefficient between liberals people with mental health problems is higher than it is with conservatives.
All this study does is quantify the anecdotal data. You didn't see conservatives racking up billable hours with therapists after Clinton beat Dole.
2.) I suppose one could make the argument that those who are truly mentally ill are less likely to have insight than the mentally healthy (though in my years of experience working in locked clinical psych settings and addiction programs, that's really only true at the margins.) What that means, however, is that the population of liberals is even more batshit crazy than the study indicates.
Again, not a big surprise.
4.) You are also overlooking the possibility that I am deliberately obsucuring the difference between correlation and causality for comedic effect. Yes, Maggie K is onto something.
5.) You make no attempt to refute the following statement: Remember, a big portion of the people in the Democrat column are made up of perrenial complainers, professional purveyors of outrage, jobless activists, welfare recipients who vote their pocketbook, the permanently unemployable (due to attitude problems and personality disorders) and the pathetic losers who sought mental health services in Boca Raton after John Kerry lost the 2004 election."
I think it's because you can't.
