29% of Americans Think We're Probably Headed for an Armed Revolt

(Note. I put these videos first just to remind us why people in America is weird.) Glenn Beck weighs in on the crazy sounds going off in his head:

You don't have to listen to all of either video, as mesmerizing as Beck is...

Holy crap.

I just flagged this post at Talking Points Memo:

Three in 10 registered American voters believe an armed rebellion might be necessary in the next few years, according to the results of a staggering poll released Wednesday by Fairleigh Dickinson University’s PublicMind.

The survey, aimed at measuring public attitudes toward gun issues, found that 29 percent of Americans agree with the statement, “In the next few years, an armed revolution might be necessary in order to protect our liberties.” An additional five percent were unsure.

Eighteen percent of Democrats said an armed revolt “might be necessary,” as compared to 27 percent of independents and 44 percent of Republicans. Support levels were similar among males and females but higher among less educated voters.

Of other discoveries in the poll, one stood out, that 25% of Americans believe we're being lied to about Sandy Hook in order to support a political agenda. This tracks well the conspiracy theories I generally find when sifting through comments on any gun-control issue. It doesn't matter if I counter with facts that show guns are unsafe or kill and wound thousands a year in the U.S., I'm generally met with comments like "Liberals make up those statistics to support their agenda. The truth is meaningless to them."

(One libertarian gun lover on Google+ asked me, "Please tell me the place of your gun statistics so I can refute them." Not "so I can compare them to what I know in order to make a reasoned judgment," or "so I can test their accuracy against my own research." No, just "so I can refute them.")

It's very difficult to have a conversation with people who won't believe a damned thing you say unless you tell them exactly what they already believe. Why, it's almost like talking to a Fox News or Rush Limbaugh fan.

I would remind you that the 23% or 28% of people who liked George W. Bush at the end of his presidency are the Bush dead-enders and can be counted on to stay in the far-right conservative base.

There's more to it than that. Yes, the dead-enders are still in the base, but it's the ones who religiously get their news from Fox, Limbaugh, Breitbart, and WorldNetDaily and only from them that have their heads located in a totally counterfactual alignment. Oh, well.

And, you know, these people are not new, and they won't be going away anytime soon. Take Bryan Fischer radio commentator for the American Family Association:

Here's Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council explaining that gay marriage might lead to revolution:

Here's the soft-spoken, heart-wormingwarming Ted Nugent:

People "resist that statistic" because it's not true, Ted. Of course, why would you believe statistics? But you do seem to look forward to the revolution.

Let's check in on the sounds rattling around in Glenn Beck's head to see if he's "adding to the conversation:"

OMG, I just found an ordinary citizen who understands exactly who the Bush dead-enders are:

JaclynGlenn, you nailed it. You must be one of the other 71% that are, maybe, better educated, at least enough to have passed your Civics class.