Touting Study, Cenk Claims Conservatives Like To 'Campaign on Fear'--Ignores 'Death-Trap' Dems

By Mark Finkelstein | April 09, 2011 | 09:02

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It's a favorite liberal parlor game: basking in the belief that they are smarter and more sophisticated than conservatives. Cenk Uygur couldn't have chosen a more inapt moment to play the game than last night. But like a moose to a flame . . .

On his MSNBC show last evening, Uygur had on a co-host of his Young Turks radio show to tout a study claiming to find anatomical differences between conservative and liberal brains. Liberal noggins are allegedly larger in the area that helps process conflicting information. Conservative brains, in contrast, supposedly have larger amygdalas--the area that recognizes threats or fear.

Cenk jumped on the study to claim it explains why conservatives tend to "campaign on fear." Oy, Ugyur. Someone should check the part of his brain dealing with memory. Cenk apparently couldn't recall that Dems spent the last week . . . fear-mongering the Republican budget proposal. Cenk, does Debbie Wasserman-Schultz's immortal "death trap" phrase mean anything to you?

View video after the jump.

Note: in addition to Debbie's "death-trap" classic bit of fear-mongering, let's not forget her fellow Dem, Louise Slaughter, who last week claimed that freshmen Republicans came to Congress . . . to kill women.

Watch Uygur turn reality on its head.

ANA KASPARIAN: A new study published in the Journal of Current Biology suggests that conservative and liberal brains have real anatomical differences. Apparently, the liberal brain tends to have a larger anterior cingulate cortex. Now, that's the part of the brain that helps process conflicting information. And then, the conservative brain actually tends to have a larger amygdala. Now get this: the amygdala is a part of the brain that helps you better recognize threats or fear.

After playing a particularly melodramatic Glenn Beck clip to make his point, Cenk continued.

CENK UYGUR: Look, it's interesting. Cause we always suspect that liberals do nuance. The findings seem to day that liberals do nuance. And we always suspected that the conservatives largely ran their campaign on fear. And this shows the biology of why they do that. It makes sense.

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"Like a moose to a flame" - a classic, Mark!

Submitted by SickofLibs on Sat, 04/09/2011 - 9:28am.

Cenk said:

Submitted by Tugboat Phil on Sat, 04/09/2011 - 9:41am.

Liberal noggins are allegedly larger in the area that helps process conflicting information.

I'm no medical expert, but is he implying that the rectum helps process conflicting information?

President Obama is a Muslim (from his own lips), Kenyan (read it from his publicist) a homosexual (read it on a news magazine cover) and a Socialist (I'm alive and can see it for myself)

While there are several

Submitted by motherbelt on Sat, 04/09/2011 - 10:00am.

While there are several examples of Democrats campaigning on fear this past week, where were Uygur's examples of conservatives campaigning on fear?

Oh, I forgot...liberals don't have to have any supporting evidence for their claims.

Their claims are "fact."

In fairness, Cenk did play a

Submitted by Mark Finkelstein on Sat, 04/09/2011 - 10:03am.

In fairness, Cenk did play a clip of Glenn Beck making an apocalyptic prediction. But surely in the context of the budget battle, it was the Dems who overwhelmingly played the fear card.

I admit I didn't watch the

Submitted by motherbelt on Sat, 04/09/2011 - 10:45am.

I admit I didn't watch the video. I find it faster to just read the transcript.

But libs have the tendency to take one quote and treat it as if it's characteristic of all conservatives, while at the same ignoring multiple liberals who ARE all saying the same thing. LOL

Takes a special kind of mental agility to do that.

What is a CENK UYGUR? Is that

Submitted by ricklail on Sat, 04/09/2011 - 10:33am.

What is a CENK UYGUR? Is that a new STD or virus?

A well regulated militia being necessary to a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.

rick,

Submitted by Dave. on Sat, 04/09/2011 - 11:45am.

LOL - I remember reading somewhere that you can have one removed via an out-patient procedure.

-If you aren't in too big a hurry and don't mind the nurse getting a good look at your hiney. :-)

-Dave

Vote for the American in November

It makes sense?

Submitted by donabernathy on Sat, 04/09/2011 - 10:41am.

Of course ya gotta realize this is the think'n of a fat headed one eye brow caveman named Cenk.

roflmao

As the guy in the T Mobile ad

Submitted by motherbelt on Sat, 04/09/2011 - 12:04pm.

As the guy in the T Mobile ad says:

It make sense....if you don't think about it.

Campaigns of Fear - Look nor further than to Mr. O, and Mr. B

Submitted by Gary Hall on Sat, 04/09/2011 - 12:09pm.

Our national MSM self-censors an inward look at their own party and candidates. Cenk has it dead backwards.

Let's allow the liberal FactCheck.org do the leg work here (we might recall that the MSM missed this fact check.):

Scaring Seniors

September 19, 2008
An Obama-Biden ad says McCain supports "cutting benefits in half" for Social Security recipients. False!
Summary
A new Obama ad characterizes the "Bush-McCain privatization plan" as "cutting Social Security Benefits in half." This is a falsehood sure to frighten seniors who rely on their Social Security checks. In truth, McCain does not propose to cut those checks at all.

Obama's Social Security Whopper

September 20, 2008
He tells Social Security recipients their money would now be in the stock market under McCain's plan. False.
Summary
In Daytona Beach, Obama said that "if my opponent had his way, the millions of Floridians who rely on it would've had their Social Security tied up in the stock market this week." He referred to "elderly women" at risk of poverty, and said families would be scrambling to support "grandmothers and grandfathers."
That's not true.

They played the same game with health care reform, the stimulus bill, and of course in their intolerance of the 70% majority in the country who supported the Arizona illegal Immigration Bill.

(;~/ gary

That doesn't suprise me.

Submitted by CobraMan on Sat, 04/09/2011 - 12:32pm.

"Liberal noggins are allegedly larger in the area that helps process conflicting information."

That doesn't surprise me, for that is where our "ego" is located.

The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States. The US Constitution

Unless you're a fetus. The US Supreme Court

Or Anwar al-Awlaki.

Cenk Uygur's Prefrontal Cortex is on fire..

Submitted by Gary Hall on Sat, 04/09/2011 - 12:49pm.

That would suggest that Cenk Uygur lies a lot. Does he really want to play this game? If so, he'll have to lie his way out of it; however, the evidence will show how easy that may be for him.

So many studies - so little interest in what's really going on here. In a 2005 study, "Liar, Liar, Your Prefrontal Cortex Is On Fire," appearing in the British Journal of Psychiatry:

"researchers found was that the liars had significantly more "white matter" - the wiring in the brain - and slightly less "gray matter", than the truthful subjects. The researchers explained that white matter is the "networking" tissue that holds together and links the grey matter. Apparently, pathological liars have a surplus of white matter and a deficit of gray matter, meaning they have more tools to lie, coupled with fewer moral restraints. When compared to the normal control subjects, liars had a 22 percent increase in white matter and a 14 percent decrease in prefrontal gray matter. [..]

"Our argument is that the more networking there is in the prefrontal cortex, the more the person has an upper hand in lying. Their verbal skills are higher. They've almost got a natural advantage," said Raine. In normal people, it's the gray matter - or the brain cells connected by the white matter - that helps keep the impulse to lie in check. "They've got the equipment to lie, and they don't have the dis-inhibition that the rest of us have in telling the big whoppers," he added.

Hmm.. "Big Whoppers." See my comment just above.

"When people make moral decisions, they are relying on the prefrontal cortex. When people ask normal people to make moral decisions, we see activation in the front of the brain," he explained. "If these liars have a 14 percent reduction in gray matter, that means that they are less likely to care about moral issues or are less likely to be able to process moral issues. Having more gray matter would keep a check on these activities."

Hang on here. Which are you having an easier time visualizing here; what may define conservatives, or what may define liberals?

What researchers, here and elsewhere understand is that with more white matter, i.e., absence of gray matter, the signals - the thought process - is firing rapid fire. There is too much going on and there is confusion. Everything is debated and the subject has a difficult time coming to an absolute black and white decision on issues in front of them. They tend to argue it to death - "well we could respond and do what is right.. but is it right... what will they think.. what will the other people say.. what if this ..what if that..

So much confusion may reign that the final spoken word simply may not be true. On the other hand, the subject will not realize that he/ she has lied, as the confusion which reigned within allowed them to convince themselves that it was now true. Elsewhere:

"..The seat of such poor judgment might be found in the white matter microstructure in the brain’s prefrontal cortex, says Marisa Silveri, PhD, a psychologist in Yurgelun-Todd’s lab. The frontal cortex is associated with decision-making, insight, judgment and inhibitory control. Silveri, Yurgelun-Todd and colleagues use diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) to examine white matter microstructure, the part of the brain that’s responsible for relaying signals between neurons in the gray matter. During adolescence, particularly in the frontal cortex, unneeded gray matter is pruned away and white matter, made up of axons covered by a lipid membrane known as myelin, increases."

The confusion may lie within and/or some of us just never grow up..

From a LATimes column in 2007, "Getting inside their heads ... really inside:"

President Clinton's moral lapses and problems with bad judgment and excitement-seeking behavior -- indicative of problems in the prefrontal cortex -- eventually led to his impeachment and a poisonous political divisiveness in the U.S. The prefrontal cortex houses the brain's supervisor, involved with conscience, forethought, planning, attention span and judgment.

From researchers from the University of California, Irvine and the University of New Mexico:

Gray [matter] is central to processing information and plays a vital role in aiding skills such as mathematics, map-reading, and intellectual thought. White matter connects the brain's processing centers and is central to emotional thinking, use of language, and the ability to do more than one thing at once.
White matter has to do more with the wiring in the brain (how it communicates and at what speed), while gray matter [brain cells] has more to do with actual IQ.
Interestingly, studies indicate that those with more white matter tend to be more liberal [teachers, writers, journalists etc.].

Duh?

(;~/ gary

Gary

Submitted by Boil It Down on Sat, 04/09/2011 - 2:06pm.

Thank You for the research. bidn

bidn

Submitted by Gary Hall on Sat, 04/09/2011 - 2:14pm.

thanks.. my white matter was rapid firing .. and the gray matter pulled it together. All white and black.

(;`> gary

I don't know what this has to do with anything.

Submitted by motherbelt on Sat, 04/09/2011 - 12:55pm.

Apples and oranges.

Now get this: the amygdala is a part of the brain that helps you better recognize threats or fear.

Since when does the ability to recognize threats or fear mean that one is more likely to use threats or fear as a tactic?

I would say it just means that conservatives better recognize the threat that liberals pose, and liberals' fear of losing their power.

Only in Uygur's parallel universe does it make sense in the way he sees it.

You just proved their point

Submitted by dscott on Sat, 04/09/2011 - 6:25pm.

You just proved their point MB, liberals have what they have BECAUSE they practice cognitive dissonance. A person is not physically disposed to being a liberal or a conservative, the body changes in response to the environment. And Conservative thinking people constantly responding to the threats/consequences posed by illogical people like liberals have to constantly walk on eggshells or watch for the traps thus the body responds to this hyper vigilance by adapting the brain to cope with such circumstances. Uygur's universe creates conservatives as a balance to preserve the whole. The Ying to the Yang as it were. Liberals if left to themselves would never see the danger to their thinking and thus would extinguish themselves. In an ironic way, conservatives are enablers of liberals as codependents. Without conservatives, liberals would have nothing to screw up!

Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid, starving the poor one gallon of ethanol at a time. Fill your tank with E85 and cull a village.

I'm just continually amazed that NBC can't hire

Submitted by WarEagle01 on Sat, 04/09/2011 - 1:02pm.

any better talent than this. Seriously, this is a major company and they get clueless hacks like this guy.

The Liberal Brain

Submitted by mrt721 on Sat, 04/09/2011 - 1:27pm.

It's not a toomah.

Cenk Made An Excellent Point

Submitted by Boil It Down on Sat, 04/09/2011 - 2:06pm.

Those who use outrageous lies in their political fear mongering have something drastically wrong going on in their brains. I've said this all along about liberals and it's gratifying to have it confirmed, even if that confirmation comes from someone so obviously lacking in the mental arena.

Do you suppose some of Cenk's viewers will assume that all of the politicians who are now fear mongering with their over-the-top apocalyptic raving must be Republicans? He's liable to get some Democrats voted out of office this way. Some may realize who really does campaign on fear because of this and come to include Cenk as one of those liars who use fear.

Adding Cent Uygur to the their line up lowered the collective IQ for MSNBC even further. bidn

Liberal Brains? err I know it sounds stupid but..

Submitted by QMCS on Sat, 04/09/2011 - 8:47pm.

Wow this one is just too easy,
Please correct me if I am wrong on this but the way I read this is; these morons are really saying that liberals brains are slightly deformed, ergo this leads me to believe that they are in fact confirming what I have always suspected,
1, That liberals really are mentally deranged.
2. When the revolution comes we can root out the firing squad volunteers with a simple brain scan?

Is there a down side to this?

Dear Prez, the village called, they want their idiot back.

No surprise on the junk science and the left.

Submitted by drsamherman on Sat, 04/09/2011 - 9:00pm.

They are obsessed with bad research. The rubbish is so clinically useless that it might as well not exist at all. Yet health care professionals are told every day that we should apply this garbage to the diagnostic and treatment of patients because some ivory-tower academic convinces the Sunday newspaper supplement crowd that is is relevant. By that rendering, everyone would still be eating three pounds of oats per day and bathing in fish oil. And lest we forget some ancient cultures considered Mercury to be a cure-all.

In my own study I have found

Submitted by TerryWest on Sun, 04/10/2011 - 12:46am.

In my own study I have found Liberal noggins are larger in the area that helps distort reality and fabricate data

my other study results : At least 4 out of the 6 viewers of MSNBC may now believe the last 2 years of dysfunction and failure is due to higher intellect.

Coming from an

Submitted by Thoreau on Sun, 04/10/2011 - 12:07pm.

Coming from an islamo-communist, I think I'll take my chances. What has your culture invented? The number Zero, genocide, antisemitism, and enslavement? Par for the course. Yes, please, let's hear more about your eugenic theories islamic d-bag.

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