allen; since you are fixated on 'nut cases' i thought I should check just what definition is given to 'nut cases'
So I find quite a range from a deranged, lunatic person to an whimsically eccentric person.
So since you think there is a certain % that fall into this category I tried looking for data to support that % you quote.
Well I did not find and info on that so have nothing to support your opinion that 50% are 'nut cases' whichever definition you are using.
I did find this link that came up in my search and so I pass it on for your perusal.
It references a number of polls that show how US citizens compare to others around the world and poses some tings that would make many of your political leaders 'nut cases' in the sense they are promoting programs that are way out of touch with society in reality.
Interesting facts are pointed out like there is less class mobility in the US than other wealthy countries.
That working harder is not an answer to moving up the class system
that students from the top universities are mostly from the top 20% of income families.
So does this clip from the article show why you think there are so many 'nut cases' in the USA?
If in America’s collective vision, getting ahead is mostly a result of getting the most done, falling behind is the deserved consequence of not working hard enough. Therein lies the root of American ideas about the poor being lazy, shiftless do-nothings. Throw a bit of racism in the mix and you have the perfect toxic fertilizer for growing policies and practices that openly flaunt hostility for the poorest and most vulnerable U.S. citizens. And in a country where everyone believes they’ll be rich someday—an opinion many Americans hold despite every contradictory indication—inequality becomes someone else’s problem. The social safety net be damned: nearly 60 percent of Americans told Pew it is “more important that everyone be free to pursue their life’s goals without interference from the state [than] the state play an active role in society so as to guarantee that nobody is in need.”
http://www.alternet.org/media/compared-rest-world-americans-are-delusional-prudish-selfish-religious...
Or maybe this explains all those 'nut cases'
Red states, the poorest and neediest in the country, are the recipients of the most federal dollars. Those conservative sections of the country vote overwhelmingly for politicians who want to cut Medicare and Social Security or who believe we should increase the retirement age, a craven work-around for screwing over people who already work too much for too little. A sizeable portion of working-class Americans oppose higher taxes on the rich and their corporations, funding education programs that would keep America competitive, and “socialist” institutions such as unions, the slow demise of which has greatly contributed to income inequality. Only in America could politicians convince so many poor people that universal healthcare—which isn’t “free” since their own hard-earned tax dollars would largely underwrite it—is some sort of Soviet takeover.
