Some Folks Just Don't Get It...

JoeTheJuggler said:
Sorry, you lost me. Do you mean you want to legalize rape?

(Abortion is already legal. The various state "shame" laws are merely attempts to make it more difficult since they can't criminalize abortion as they want to.)
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Abortion is slowly becoming not legal in practice, and it upsets me.
 
this pregnancy caused by normal relations in a marriage, or was it truly caused by a rape
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That is one heck of a false binary.

Cleon said:
Whenever Georgia appears in the national news, it's always for something stupid.
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See also: Florida.

TubbaBlubba said:
Ah, yes, the elusive true conservative. It has been hunted to extinction in at least 49 states, I hear. Never even seen a picture of one.
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I hear one was seen in Minnesota, next to a True Occupier and a True Scotsman.

Almo said:
Abortion is slowly becoming not legal in practice, and it upsets me.
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Do you mean "in effect"? Because the only way it could be illegal in a practical sense would be if it were out and out illegal.
 
JoeTheJuggler said:
I just saw a pickup truck with a bumper sticker reading, "Don't blame me. I voted for the American!"

I so wish I had a little sticker to add to it, "The one born in Panama, that is."
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I have seen this one twice also.
 
Brown said:
I'll say it again: it's buffoons like this, who are NOT conservative, who give true conservatives a bad name.
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True "I got mine, so screw you guys" conservatives or true "all those minorities don't need all those rights" conservatives?
 
Brown said:
I'll say it again: it's buffoons like this, who are NOT conservative, who give true conservatives a bad name.
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That holds true for pretty much all american conservativism. It is comparative radical right wing ideology now.
 
Brown said:
I'll say it again: it's buffoons like this, who are NOT conservative, who give true conservatives a bad name.
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How true are "true conservatives", anyway, if they are only a handful of folks who pretty much never dare open their mouths in public?
 
fishbob said:
True "I got mine, so screw you guys" conservatives or true "all those minorities don't need all those rights" conservatives?
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I've previously written about the differences between true conservatives and the phony-baloney blowhards that have hijacked that name:
Brown said:
It's guys like that who give the word "conservative" a bad name. There are quite a few folks out there who consider themselves to be "conservative" who are knowledgable, articulate, thoughtful, and important contributors to political discourse.

Unfortunately, folks like these don't seem to get radio shows. People are more interested in listening to so-called "conservatives" who spout bigotry and empty slogans, who don't bother to educate themselves, and whose idea of a debate is to see who can shout the loudest or hurl the most stinging or clever insult.
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Brown said:
I wish the folks who say these things wouldn't be branded by the liberal media as "conservatives." They are not "conservatives," they are (1) stupid, (2) full of [crap], (3) [extremely] nuts or (4) a combination thereof. These three criteria come from the late George Carlin. Real conservatives ought to strive not to qualify under any of the three Carlin criteria.

Real conservatives do not make up facts, nor do they try to pass off opinion as fact. On the contrary, real conservatives base their opinions on the facts ... and they are always willing to learn new facts and to learn whether a fact previously believed was in error.

Real conservatives consider hypocrisy and double-standards to be evils, and strenuously avoid them.

Real conservatives do not oppose all changes to the status quo; rather, they tend to oppose changes unless they are supported by a proper showing of need and a probability that the proposed change will make things better.

Real conservatives place principle over loyalty. If an ally makes an error, a real conservative will not perpetuate the error in the name of loyalty to the person in the wrong.

Real conservatives do not believe that government is evil; rather, they believe that government has its place. Consequently, every proposed law must be supported by a justification that it is government's place to institute such a law.

Real conservatives favor liberty for everyone, not just for themselves.

Real conservatives recognize that with legally enforceable rights come legally enforceable responsibilities. This means that responsibilities attach to all rights, including Second Amendment rights.

Real conservatives support financial responsibility, not just of government, but of their own houses and companies.

Real conservatives support accountability, including criminal accountability, for wrongdoers. No favoritism should be given merely because the wrongdoer is a white collar criminal rather than a blue collar crook, and no one should get a break merely because of who his friends are.

Real conservatives do not idolize any anyone. They recognize that even the greatest leaders were imperfect, and that a principle is not necessarily just merely because a great leader uttered it.

Real conservatives support long-standing (some would say traditional) notions that financial success is best derived by honest, hard work; that one’s reputation for integrity must be maintained; that trustworthiness is a virtue; and that courtesy is for everyone.

Real conservatives do not belittle the poor merely for being poor. They are reluctant to help those who are freeloaders, but they have sympathy and charity for those who become poor through circumstance.

Real conservatives feel that personal responsibility is of exceptional importance in all aspects of life, including sexuality. One must recognize that acts have consequences.

Real conservatives do not seek government favoritism of their religion… or of any religion. Taking a stand on religious issues is not government’s job.

Real conservatives understand that military action has a place, but military action is not a viable solution for many problems.

Real conservatives are tough on crime but they do not wish to let the desire for toughness exceed the need for justice.

Real conservatives do not obstruct progress for the sake of obstructing, nor do they obstruct for petty purposes.

Real conservatives understand basic economics, including the notion that the free market in some circumstances will not be self-regulating, and that one legitimate purpose of government is to supply benefits that the free market cannot provide.

So many of the so-called "conservative" leaders and celebrities today do not apply these principles. Instead, they say stupid things, they put forth ideas that are completely full of fertilizer, and they propound insane nonsense. These folks are not "conservatives."
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Brown said:
I sympathize with this. I used to consider myself somewhat conservative (although others might have deemed me liberal in some respects), but now I do not feel that I can use the word "conservative" to describe myself. The so-called "conservative" talking heads and "leaders" have poisoned the label.

The word used to mean that one tended to favor not making a change unless there was a good reason to make it. Generally speaking, the more extreme the change, the more compelling the reason had to be. A conservative tended to be less risk-averse, because a conservative did not want to jeopardize losing what is good. A conservative did not oppose all change, because doing so would be the height of folly. Things will change whether people want them to or not. A conservative would strive for prudent and reasoned responses to changes.

That is not what the term means today.

Today's "conservatives" play to people's stupidity (as well as their racism and bad urges), engage in shameless hypocrisy, promote ghastly fear-mongering and unrealistic scenarios as factual, encourage cliquishness and cronyism, and behave as though "the end justifies the means." None of these is a conservative principle.
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The last of these quotes is from a thread called "True Conservatives, (And That Doesn't Include Limbaugh or Beck.)", in which our Original Poster had quite a bit to say.
 
Spindrift said:
So what your saying is that a real conservative is purely mythical?
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No, no, no, not at all. The "real conservatives" are not mythical. They existed, and I grew up knowing many of them. And I've seen several recently; they are still out there. They are not extinct. But many of them do not call themselves "conservative" now because that label has been taken over by loudmouths and cowards who do not embody the actual ideals of conservatism.
 
Who´s the coward... the loudmouth who grabs the label and takes over the party, or the Real Conservative who does nothing to be prevent it or to take the label (or the party) back?
 
Brown said:
No, no, no, not at all. The "real conservatives" are not mythical. They existed, and I grew up knowing many of them. And I've seen several recently; they are still out there. They are not extinct. But many of them do not call themselves "conservative" now because that label has been taken over by loudmouths and cowards who do not embody the actual ideals of conservatism.
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So, there are like the ivory-billed woodpecker? No confirmed sightings in decades except for a few recordings and blurry photographs. They might as well be extinct for all practical matters then.
 
That sticker isn't racist? Suuurrreeeeeee. And red is green, too.
 
As long as I'm regurgitating previous posts about what it ought to mean to be "conservative," here's another:
Brown said:
Those opposed to universal healthcare in the US are not "conservatives." They may defy being given a label, but "conservative" they are not.

"Conservatives" generally feel that there is too much money awarded in personal injury cases. Awards would be substantially reduced if there was universal health care.

"Conservatives" generally oppose restrictions on businesses. Yet many businesses, large and small, are burdened with bargaining for private, profit-driven health care every year or so, and their employees are saddled with the duty of filling out forms year after year so that the bargaining may be performed. (Oh, and by the way, if an employee makes an error in recounting his or her medical history, coverage may be denied when it is needed ... even though it was paid for! Conservatives loathe paying for something and then not getting it!) Universal health care would do away with much of this burden.

"Conservatives" elevate the ideal of home ownership. Universal health care would end those situations in which a person loses his or her home because of medical bills. (In countries that have universal health care, this situation is unheard of, and many people find it difficult to believe that such a thing could happen in the United States.)

"Conservatives" revere liberty, which includes the liberty to hire or fire who they want, AND the liberty to work where they want. In the environment of private, profit-driven health care, many people feel they are not at liberty to leave a job they despise, for fear of losing health coverage, and many employers are fearful of firing a bad employee who needs health coverage, since the damages for wrongful termination can be very high where health care is involved. Universal health care will enhance liberty for both employers and employees.

Many self-described "conservatives" consider themselves to be in favor of "life." Making basic health care accessible to all would promote human life.

True "conservatives" are not opposed to all change, but they are reluctant to change unless there is a valid reason. In the case of health care, there is more than adequate reason to supplant the current profit-driven system.
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I may turn some of these ravings into a published column some day.
 
Spindrift said:
So, there are like the ivory-billed woodpecker? No confirmed sightings in decades except for a few recordings and blurry photographs. They might as well be extinct for all practical matters then.
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You can find them all over rural Arizona. Some of them self identify as "Barry Goldwater democrats". They're about as likely to vote democrat as republican, but certainly consider themselves conservatives and are pretty nuts about the bill of rights. For all I know they were Lincoln republicans that moved out west and then time forgot them
 
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