Wednesday, November 22, 2006

Conservative Blog B.S. (Part 2)

A week or so ago I wrote the first post in what I have a feeling will be a long, intermittent series on some of the most outrageous, pure b.s. out there on many conservative blogs. Now don’t get me wrong, everyone’s entitled to their opinions and frankly, I’m not the sensitive type who gets all upset when I see conservatives spouting reasonable arguments even if I don’t agree with them. Heck I don’t even sweat it when they call all liberals loony, moon bats etc., because when you have to resort to name calling, well then you probably don’t have any rationale arguments for your point of view and you demean yourself, not me. I’m writing this series to address one specific type of conservative b.s., and that’s the statements made and repeated constantly that are designed to sound like logical fact, when they are anything but logical or factual.

The b.s. I want to address today is the idea and various statements that assert that, “liberals don’t love this country”, “liberals aren’t patriotic” etc. These comments are some of the most asinine, presumptuous, narrow-minded thoughts ever to spew from Americans mouths. I mean are there really people out there who are so ignorant that they don’t realize just how many Democrats and liberals have served and died for this country? Do they honestly believe that only Republicans/Conservatives serve and sacrifice for America on an every day basis, or do they know better and simply like to ordain themselves the only, “true Americans”, so they can feel justified in their opinions and actions no matter how skewed they may be?

The decision to go to war in Iraq is a great example of how this rationalizing works. Most reasonable people would at this point say that invading Iraq was a mistake, but for some hard core neocons rather than admit to this and look for a new path they’d rather point at liberals who voice concern over the war and say, “you just hate America and want the terrorists to win”. By pointing their fingers at the people who have enough guts to stand up and speak out when they feel their country is headed down the wrong path, and yelling “unpatriotic” at all dissenters, they allow themselves to continue to cling to simple ideals without ever having to think. It’s a heck of a lot easier to say or think, “well I love my country so I must follow my President no matter what”, or “I love America, so it must always be in the right”, then it is to actually take a look at what your President and country is doing and ask yourself, “why are we doing that, and is it in Americas best interest? Is it the right/moral action to take”? Asking those difficult questions and voicing your dissent when you can’t answer yes to them is what America and democracy is all about and in my opinion is a hell of a lot more patriotic than simply draping yourself in the flag and following along blindly no matter where you’re lead. For those of you who disagree give this some thought, if simply following your leaders and not ever voicing dissent is the standard you set for patriotism than German citizens during the Nazi reign should be your role models because they were excellent "patriots".

8 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

This loony moon bat (wtf is a moon bat?) loves her country, society, and humanity in general. I love them enough to speak out against people, ideas, policies that I truly believe are hurtful.

Good Post!

11/22/2006 6:52 AM  
Blogger Small Business USA said...

The rhetoric, or talking points, are used widely by both parties. It is designed to pre-digest the discussion, getting people to say exactly the same things depending on their affiliation. This is a great disservice to WE THE PEOPLE. Instead of talking about what is important and getting politicians, no matter what their affiliation, to do what the citizen wants we end up talking about their agenda.

I hope that, WE THE PEOPLE, can learn that our interests are different than politician's interest. We need to take all the politicians to the carpet. Force them to do their job and not line their pockets with corporate or special interest pay offs.

Jim Belshaw of Personal Reflections wrote an article about the use of language in politics. Appearently Australia has the same problem with politicians we have here in the States.

11/22/2006 11:20 AM  
Blogger Leo said...

Jenn, Good for you! Small business, you make a valid point. The politicans and their rhetoric is a large part of the problem, but individuals in society contribute to it by simply buying into the propaganda and repeating it, instead of thinking for themselves. Thanks for your comment.

11/22/2006 3:23 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

"Patriotism is your conviction that this country is superior to all other countries because you were born in it." - George Bernard Shaw

My answer to people who tell me that I don't support the troops is that I care about them so much that I want them home with their families instead of dying in Iraq.

Thanks for your comment on my site and pointing me to yours.

11/22/2006 7:26 PM  
Blogger el said...

Honestly I've heard more negative comments from liberals than conservatives. It usually starts by attacking our intelligence. See, if you already consider the person stupid, you already have no reason to listen to them. Those labels are automatically put on conservatives as the reason not to listen to what they are saying.

As for conservatives saying that liberals do not love our country, I think that is related to the stigma against patriotism in the left. It's an interesting topic anyway.

11/22/2006 8:08 PM  
Blogger Leo said...

One Jewish Dyke, Great quote! Thanks for the comment. El, I agree that there is name calling on both sides and a multitude of people who like to call the other side stupid, moronic etc. What exactly do you mean by a stigma against patriotism on the left? Thanks for the comment.

11/23/2006 1:15 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Name calling is the last resort of those who cannot properly debate their own view.

Surfed in via Blog Mad and thought I'd say Hi. .. :)

Cheers from Canada!

11/23/2006 9:13 AM  
Blogger Leo said...

Well Sue I'm glad you surfed in and thanks for the comment.

11/23/2006 7:51 PM  

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