Politics: It's Black and White

Enh. I don't see it.

"White" and "Black" are skin colors. Different iIndividuals of those skin colors may have wildly varying and totally unpredictable thoughts and feelings.

"Conservative" and "Liberal" are ideologies--a specific collection of related thoughts and feelings about a set of issues. By definition, a conservative believes in conservativism, and a liberal believes in liberalism.

When I say "all Whites are fools", I'm a bigot and a racist. But when I say "all Conservatives are fools", I'm commenting on the foolishness of the ideology they promote. Conservativism is a choice they've made, a belief system they've adopted, that I believe is foolish. They demean themselves, in my eyes, by believing as they do. Obviously, they see it differently, which is fine. That's why we have debates about these things. But I think I can safely say that they're making a wilful and stupid mistake in their beliefs, without being in the same category as people who discriminate on the basis of skin color or ethnicity.

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Conservativism is a choice they've made, a belief system they've adopted, that I believe is foolish. They demean themselves, in my eyes, by believing as they do.

But I think I can safely say that they're making a wilful and stupid mistake in their beliefs, without being in the same category as people who discriminate on the basis of skin color or ethnicity.

Since 1950, we've had 5 Democrat presidents, only two of which were elected to a second term, and seven Republican, four of which were elected to a second term. The people have spoken, and yet the country has survived. Thank you, thank you very much.

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Nah, you're still a bigot, because you are ascribing a set of negative traits to a group and then applying that set of traits to anyone within the group regardless of what they are as an individual.

One "us v. them" subset is as bad as any other.

Nonetheless, I suggest that if you mentally change the nouns in the next such article you read, it will hardly sound as benign. But then, you're the one defending calling an entire group of people "fools" because of what you ascribe to them as believing. (Because, don't you know, every single person in that group believes the exact same thing.)

You could easily say, "I believe this part of what I see as the Conservative ideology is foolish," but instead you choose to sweepingly demean an entire group of people.

And you're defending that? Hmm.

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Gene....according to the Left, ANYONE who doesn't believe what they do is a bigot or is variously guilty of intolerance. This is not true. I'm not a bigot, yet I do espouse conservative views.
By labeling someone as a "bigot" or whatever label you choose to slap on them because they disagree with you, you show your own bigotry toward them. It's a circle. You become what you dislike.

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Double post.

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Since 1950, we've had 5 Democrat presidents, only two of which were elected to a second term, and seven Republican, four of which were elected to a second term. The people have spoken, and yet the country has survived. Thank you, thank you very much.

I think you jumped into the future. If we discount Truman, who was president in 1950 (but did not run again), there have been 4 democrats, 2 of which were re-elected (Johnson could have run again but chose not to), and 6 republicans, 4 of which won re-election.

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kingbee

Join Date 04/2004

+42

while i see your point and concede its wisdom, i can't help but be nearly overwhelmed at the thought of our president (who professes to be very black but spends like a wacko whitie)esconced in the executive offices of the liberalhouse in washington, dc where some proclaim him to be following in the footsteps of that black revolutionary ronald reagan.

then i think back to the 50s when a rogue black senator conservative-listed whites causing them to lose their jobs and ultimately giving blacks a collective conservative eye for his irresponsible actions--a time still considered by many to have been a conservative night of our country's soul.

or the day in 1929 now known as conservative tuesday when the stock market crashed.

of course, there would be more pleasant memories...the 60s for example when the moody libertarians recorded their epic hit 'knights in liberal satin' and the rolling stones expressed their angst n rage by singing bout how they wanted to 'paint it conservative'

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I think you jumped into the future. If we discount Truman, who was president in 1950 (but did not run again), there have been 4 democrats, 2 of which were re-elected (Johnson could have run again but chose not to), and 6 republicans, 4 of which won re-election.

Well, I did count Truman....after all, they need all the help they can get. Heh-heh.

He took office less than a year after FDR was re-elected, and was elected again in 1948... so I gave him two terms. With everything he went through in his time, I felt it was fair, anyway. "Give'em hell Harry" wasnt so very bad, after all.
I didn't give Johnson the same credit I gave Truman, because he took over a little less than a year before the election, so he didn't deserve to get credit for a whole term.
That made five Democrats, counting Carter and Clinton, two with two terms, only one actually elected to them.

Make sense?

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kingbee

Join Date 04/2004

+42

and then you'd have companies recruiting new employees by extolling their white benefits package.

imagine the fear unleashed by a film like 'creature from the conservative lagoon'.

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Uh...Rightwinger? What about John F. Kennedy? I see you fixed that. Well...okay then.

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kingbee

Join Date 04/2004

+42

this is one of those articles that really shoulda attracted a lot more comment (serious comment, despite my silly take on it). but then you can lead pearls to swine but you can't make a purse outta their ears.

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But when I say "all Conservatives are fools", I'm commenting on the foolishness of the ideology they promote.

Eh, not quite. the "all Conservatives are fools" identifies the people in that group as fools. In which case .... I may or may not be offended ('cause there are many days where I feel quite foolish ...

) If you were seriously interested in calling the ideas foolish then, it's a matter of phrasing it like "all of the Conservative ideas are foolish". It's a bit of semantic pedantary/presdigitation, but it's important. One's a group of people (who can/will be offended) and the others a set of ephemeral ideas that might or might not have enough sentience (yet) to be offended by it.

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Politics: It's Black and White

who should we demean today?