Party polarization is tearing at the fabric of American society. The partisan reaction to sexual assault allegations against Brett Kavanaugh demonstrates how far the threads have frayed. An Economist/YouGov poll shows Democrats by about an eight to one margin believe that Kavanaugh committed assault, while Republicans by a similar margin believe he didn’t.

Republicans, for example, have demonstrated an incredible capacity to see, hear, and speak no evil even when it comes to President Trump’s most questionable actions and assertions. According to a Quinnipiac poll in January 2018, about three-quarters of Republicans think he’s a good role model for their children.

Democrats, for their part, don’t seem willing to acknowledge inarguably positive developments for the country. A Gallup poll from July 2018 found that Republicans were more than twice as likely as Democrats (78 to 36%) to rate the economy as “excellent” or “good,” realizing full well that Trump and the Republicans benefit from the strong economy.

Before the 2016 e******n, a survey asked Americans which came closest to their view – “our lives are threatened by terrorists, criminals and immigrants, and our priority should be to protect ourselves” or “it’s a big, beautiful world, mostly full of good people, and we must find a way to embrace each other and not allow ourselves to become isolated”. About 80% of Trump supporters chose the first. About 80% of Clinton supporters chose the second. Talk about worlds apart.

On the Republican side of the worldview divide sit those who prefer children who respect their elders, are obedient, have good manners, and are well-behaved. They have what we call fixed worldviews. Because the world is dangerous to them, traditions and conventions should be fixed in place to maintain order. This worldview sees male authority figures such as Judge Kavanaugh sympathetically because male authority has always stood at the top of the cultural hierarchy. As such, they are concerned about new immigrants and threatened by the prospect of unconventional groups such as t*********red people sharing their bathrooms.

On the Democratic side are those who prefer independent, self-reliant, curious, and considerate children. They have what we call fluid worldviews. Because the world is, to them, safe to explore, challenging old folkways is feasible. Sometimes-discriminatory traditions and hierarchies must be swept away. This worldview sees traditional male authority as an unfair privilege that has allowed men to get away with anything and everything, including sexually assaulting women, without punishment. Fluid types celebrate new approaches and champion those who challenge old norms.

Worldviews operate at the gut level, shaping opinions before conscious thought begins. When it comes to the Kavanaugh allegations, specifically, fixed-worldview Republicans reflexively want to believe the man and will search for evidence to support that first impulse. Fluid-worldview Democrats reflexively want to believe the woman and will perform the same biased search for information to buttress their first impulse.

The fluid tend to be city dwellers, secular in their approach to religion and prefer the vanguard in both their politics and consumer choices. Biryani and a pinot gris sounds nice. Their grandparents’ coffee is boring to them and light beer is swill. And they’re predominantly Democrats.

When feelings are this deeply negative, it is little wonder that partisans seem so blind to obvious t***sgressions of their own leaders and that one side roots for the other to fail when that side is in power. The dynamics should be familiar to any reader who has ever h**ed another person. You always see yourself as virtuous and your enemy as villainous. And, if the feelings are sufficiently strong, you may even root for bad things to happen to your nemesis.

When worldviews divide partisans, it is best not to expect much to change. All the hatred has caused partisans’ political identities to become central to how they see themselves. The cognitive dissonance associated with giving an inch to their opponents overwhelms Americans’ rational selves. Partisans will perform Olympic-caliber mental gymnastics to maintain their beliefs and will seek information sources not in order to discern the t***h, but to reinforce their existing beliefs, even – perhaps especially – when a lifetime appointment to the Supreme Court is on the line.

Marc Hetherington and Jonathan Weiler are the co-authors of Prius or pickup: How the answers to four simple questions explain America’s great divide (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt), which is out on October 9 2018

Its official Judge Kavanaugh is now Justice Kavanaugh!!!!........One more victory for President Trump!!!!

What is going on in the world that is likely far more important than this fiasco of an appointment of A supreme court nomination???
Obviously merit has nothing to do with how a v**e is reached so can we take a few minutes and talk about something else?

Are we still fighting with ISIS and/or an Al Qaeda? What’s North Korea up to, are they still making nuclear weapons? Any resolution to what China and the United States is doing in their trade work? Or how about Mexico and the NAFTA agreement???

Is Iran building a secret area for their nuclear capacity later on? Who’s helping them do that by the way? And what the heck is Russia doing with all the stuff we had so much going on about??? Did Russia just drop off the face of the earth too?

What about the upcoming November e******ns?? Is all these ridiculous, ad nauseam discussions really leading us up to the November e******ns,? If so how?

Aren’t you just a little bored looking at how many discussions there are over this appointment? Nothing more important to you about our country? Wow!!!

Our laws, our morals, our principals, our practices could readily be sorted into what is “righteous” and what is “evil.” We have become a very confused nation, with the advent of the new liberalism that “anything goes”, thanks to the likes of the Clinton’s and Obama’s. With their wicked ideas, evil behavior, corruption and deceit, they have molded and shaped our confused nation. Their policies have been promoted by the main stream media adding further to the confusion as to what constitutes appropriate behavior. The answers are clear, they are contained in scripture. They just need to pick up the Bible and read it!

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and---and---and Hurricane Flora is Donald Trump's fault too!!!

Liberals crap where ever they live. Just like Muslims who leave a **ithole of a country to immigrate to a better place then do their damnedest to make it just like the **ithole they left. Liberals do the same thing. This has happened in Colorado.

Liberals are "Bat-Schlitz" Crazy. Liberalism is truly a mental disorder.
Democrats, Progressives, Liberals, Muslims, C*******ts, Socialist>>>>>they ALL are stupid, untrustworthy, anti American “LIERS”

The 3 most dangerous things facing the civilized world are:
1 Political Correctness
2 Liberals
3 Islam

Here we're free to pursue happiness as each of is sees fit. Here one person's opinion is as good as the next guy or gal's opinion is. Hollywood and the NFL are entertainment venues. The actors and players make big money because these venues make bigger money for the owners. If I don't like the NFL I don't have to watch it. The same holds true for Hollywood. It seems to me we've been wasting time and energy on small matters when we should be focusing on who is benefiting from destroying our republic from within.