Truth flits around and flirts with everyone, but as they grow wiser, they realize they don’t know her at all – and begin to doubt if Truth is even her real name.

I have to take issue with your characterization of primate following as destructive. It can’t be, because it’s survived millions of years of evolution. Better to ask what the benefit must be, and I think the answer is that once upon a time, the cohesiveness of the tribe and the obedience of the betas to the alpha was truly a matter of survival. Do we band together against predators, or scatter and die one by one? That thought survived to modern times as “We shall surely all hang together, or we shall all hang separately!”.

It’s just that the modern world doesn’t reward tribalism nearly as much, and everywhere we look we see how badly-suited it is to the world we live in now. American wingnuts take tribalism to destructive extremes–50% odds of a government shutdown this week–as do the right wing authoritarians in the Middle East. I frankly can’t discern much daylight between Tea Party and Taliban.

Here’s a bit o’trivia from the world of RWA research: A proposed test for right wingerism is to provoke the startle reflex, and see how high you jump. Literally: The subject is given earphones which emit loud raucous sounds at random intervals. How much the subject is startled directly correlates to RWA, which scientists interpret as an “enhanced threat perception”. Yes, there’s a reason RWAs are always paranoid. They really do perceive enemies in all directions and under the bed.

As for your observation about Bush-Cheney and the support of conservatives, sure, absolutely. A recent poll found that about half of conservatives (a larger group than RWAs, including some RINOs) would support a military coup. Holy Christ on a stick! But that’s classic RWA, lining up behind the Strong Man who will save us from our foes (and ourselves).

One last thought. Remember the show “Falling Skies”? People noticed that it had a distinctly rightwing take on the world, that the whole premise was a metaphor for an America fallen from grace, and never missed an opportunity to shout some empty patriotic platitude.

But what I found most nauseating about the show was its portrayal of leadership and group dynamics. Basically, whoever yelled loudest, got most belligerent, and sprayed the most testosterone, got to be in charge. Smart or dumb, right or wrong, it didn’t matter; what mattered was which guy displayed the strongest signs of primate dominance.

If you want an accurate fictional portrayal of a world run by right wing authoritarians, check out “Falling Skies”.

Humans, too, want a leader in the same way, and will follow even it to it’s own destruction. We see that with various people on these boards.

That following isn’t related to the RWAs well-being, it is simply slavish, and resistant to reason, logic, or honesty. Look at mankinds devotion to kings, a phenomenum which extends across cultures, time and societies. Said leaders often did not have to exert much power to have a lot of power.

Reading histories of the Bush-Cheney times, they made a direct attempt to take over the US government and render the Supreme Court and Congress meaningless. AND THEY HAD THE SUPPORT OF MOST CONSERVATIVES IN THAT EFFORT. It’s very, very similar to the way Hitler took over Germany. (And the Reichstag fire as an excuse to deprive Germans of their personal rights and impose a dictatorial government is very similar to how 9-11 was used by the RWAs.)

Anyway, the RWA gene does exist, and we can see examples right here on these boards. But it’s not any government, it’s the one to which they were imprinted as adolescents, like ducks. Same thing.

Call it a draw

But if you do, Beetlejuice appears.

Ugh. I don’t know which is worse.