In other words...Republicans

I found an interesting passage in an e-book I am reading. It was eye-opening for me and a tad disconcerting. It almost sounds like the description of a psychological problem or dysfunction, but it describes many of my friends and neighbors.

From - The Party Is Over: 
How Republicans Went Crazy, Democrats Became Useless, and the Middle Class Got Shafted
August 2, 2012
by Mike Lofgren

"It is not difficult to find examples in everyday life of acquaintances and associates whose ever-present sense of persecution is nothing more than a rationalization of their own anger and hostility. According to Canadian psychologist Robert Altemeyer, who has written extensively about the characteristics of the authoritarian personality, fundamentalists exhibit a high quotient of authoritarian traits:

They are highly submissive to established authority, aggressive in the name of that authority, and conventional to the point of insisting everyone should behave as their authorities decide. They are fearful and self-righteous and have a lot of hostility in them that they readily direct toward various out-groups. They are easily incited, easily led, rather un-inclined to think for themselves, largely impervious to facts and reason, and rely instead on social support to maintain their beliefs. They bring strong loyalty to their in-groups, have thick-walled, highly compartmentalized minds, use a lot of double standards in their judgments, are surprisingly unprincipled at times, and are often hypocrites."

In other words...Republicans. (empahsis - mine)