The term “stupid” has various meanings, but it generally refers to a person lacking basic intelligence or reasoning skills. It can also suggest a lifelong inability to reason or a constant state of slowness. But no matter how the word is defined or used, it's often associated with Republican supporters, especially those who are not part of the wealthiest one percent of income earners.
In the past week, while urging people to vote in the midterm elections, it became clear that the level of stupidity among people inclined to support Republicans is beyond understanding. As an educator, it's alarming that so many voting-age individuals lack the fundamental reasoning skills of a second-grader and are even less informed than a kindergartner. These are exactly the type of voters Republicans rely on to win elections. It doesn’t matter what issue or policy the typical GOP voter supports or opposes; they base their stance on whatever absurdity their favorite Republican candidate espouses, regardless of reality.
One of the most peculiar ideas held by Republicans living in drought-stricken California is that the lack of rainfall, leading to a non-existent snowpack in the mountains and dried-up wells, is due to the Clean Water Act and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Just as a reminder, a drought is a prolonged period of below-average precipitation, or as Republican voters see it, a no-rain situation. Despite this, local Republicans like Koch-teabagger Jeff Denham have convinced the uninformed that the reason it hasn't rained in California for the past three years is because the EPA regulates the amount of toxic chemicals the oil industry releases into the air and water. Shockingly, more GOP voters are convinced that getting rid of the EPA will bring back normal rainfall to the region and create millions of high-paying jobs.
Another strange notion embraced by Republican voters is that keeping the minimum wage at poverty levels, or eliminating it altogether, will put more money into the pockets of working people and eliminate poverty. What's astonishing is that those most in need of better wages believe the Republican lies that the reason they are impoverished is not due to low wages, but because of “socialist” workplace regulations such as overtime pay, 40-hour work weeks, OSHA, and of course, the dreaded minimum wage. This delusion is accompanied by a strong belief that cutting retirees’ Social Security and giving their retirement accounts to Wall Street will create millions of jobs and eliminate struggling senior citizens depending on their Social Security pensions and food stamps to survive. In fact, a significant number of Republican voters, including white seniors, are convinced that Democrats and President Obama are responsible for their poverty because they oppose privatizing Medicare, something Republicans convinced them is a Marxist plot to destroy America’s renowned “free market capitalism.”
The group known as the ‘values crowd’ are obviously convinced to support the economic plans of the Republicans because they think that Democrats and President Obama are attacking marriage, and only choosing Republicans will fix this. They refuse to believe that marriage does not need protection because no one is attacking it, or that anyone cares if a man and woman decide to marry. The same group of evangelicals is persuaded by Republicans that President Obama has taken away their religious rights, and some are getting ready for the potential government attack on their churches. The religious Republican supporters who missed eighth-grade biology class or their Sunday School lesson about the Genesis creation account need to understand that a zygote is not a living human being with constitutional protections like the woman carrying it.