NSF: Liberals insensitive to human suffering

A NSF-funded study exposed test subjects to disturbing images, such as "a dazed person with a bloody face" or "an open wound with maggots in it" and measured their responses. According to this summary, the researchers found people's responses fell into two groups. The first group, seemingly the conservatives, were found to be more sensitive to pictures of human suffering and responded accordingly:

The first group believes the greatest threat to them and their communities comes from other people; they want to arm themselves and their government to defend against those threats.

The other group, seemingly the liberals, were less sensitive to images of human suffering and are more techno-phobic, seeing threats as coming from inanimate objects:

The latter group sees less threat from people and more technology and inanimate objects such as guns that can kill or harm innocent people. They want policies in place to protect their individual privacy and safety: They oppose the death penalty and favor strong gun control.

The study was conducted by Prof. John Hibbing of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

This week, Sen. Obama released an ad complaining about the closing of a vacuum tube factory: Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) screens are being replaced by LCD and plasma but Obama wants to preserve the CRT factories.  Is this an example of the fear of 'technology' that Prof. Hibbing suggests that liberals have.  Similarly, Sen. Obama was proud of voting to de-fund US soldiers while the soldiers were in the field fighting.  Is this an example of liberal insensitivity to real humans?

Newsbusters finds many examples of the media taking this story and trying to spin it to liberal advantage.