It's Saturday night and here I am, cruising the Intertoobs. That includes checking my usual hang-outs. Been on Twitter, where some of were Tweeting about the White House Correspondent's Dinner (man, did Leno suck, or what?). Checked my auctions on ebay (one is already at $13.49 - not bad for a vase that cost me pennies). Had a quick look on Facebook (my friend in NJ is at a My Morning Jacket concert). And, finally over to the Stephen King message board. Therein lies the tale....
Some of you may know that I'm a Beta tester for Stephen King's website. There is a small group of us who are not exactly employees but a wee bit more than volunteers. I've been working with the nice folks there for 4 years now. If you are a fan, you should check out the site, especially the Dark Tower area. Brian, our developer, has done some really amazing work on the graphics.
The message board area is moderated. The Moderator (Ms. Mod) is Stephen's assistant Marsha. She has a lot on her plate having to check all posts before letting them go up. Mr. King is quite serious about anything that has his name on it. So, the Board is moderated. Used to be that we were pretty iffy on starting any kind of political thread but last week, our webmaster gave us an area for just that purpose. He also gave us some rules for posting in the politics/religion area. Marsha suggested that I christen it with a post about/linking Russel King's Open Letter To Conservatives. She felt that, since it was so well-researched and non-threatening, it would be a good starting point. So I did so.
Now, we have a few conservatives on the SKMB, believe it or not. And we have one guy who we envision hunkered down in a bomb shelter with his guns on his camo-clad lap. So, I expected some backlash. And some stoopid. I got both. Here is the entire thread.
There are two posts that I found tiring. One of them I have already answered. The other... well, that's why I'm throwing this out into the DK forum. Not that I don't think that I can sufficiently deal with it but because it might be fun to do some mental jumping jacks. That is, basic stuff yet still worthwhile. You game? Take whatever sentence, paragraph, concept, etc. that strikes you and go to town and I'll edit your comments into a cohesive post. But please remember that I have a 6000 character limit for my reply. ;)
I will print the post with its quoting of my previous message (I was replying to another poster):
Quote Originally Posted by Tery
Which conservatives have "said so from the start"? If they have, they've been whispering.
As for the Arizona law, I have heard some self-identified conservatives denounce it. Those people are also all Republican. No coincidence, there. Polls show that conservatives make up the majority of the Republican base. Example: http://www.gallup.com/...
We are not talking about conservative in a relative sense. We are talking about now. Today. The majority of self-identified Conservatives also identify as Republican.
As for "spending like a liberal", there is your strawman. The facts show that deficits have been greater under Republican presidents.
The chart is here: http://tinypic.com/...
I doubt that you have read the entire letter, frisbee. I say again, EVERY item in that letter that is linked is a fact. Every. Single. One. Please read the entire article and then think about what it is saying (and that I did not write it, look again). This is not about agreeing or disagreeing on POLICY. It is about what self-professed Conservatives have said and done and why this country is being crippled by such things. I did not post it for debate. I posted it to demonstrate a sense of how most Liberals feel right now.
And now, the post in question:
He does come up with several good facts with I will agree with happening. But, I can also go through and do the research and find just as many disheartening facts about Liberals. I am not a fan of George Bush (never supported him), and I am not a fan of the current Republicans in Congress. However, I still prefer their policies over the policies of Barack Obama and the Democratically controlled Congress (especially Pelosi and Reid).
I am a social studies teacher, it is my job to stay up to date and educated on what happens in politics, and I would also say it is a hobby. Isn't it awesome when you get paid for your hobby? I was raised in a Conservative family (not generally Republican I would say my family is half/half on the political spectrum), but I base of ideologies on my own experiences and set of ethics. I was a Democrat when I first went to college, because I thought that was what I was suppose to do. Quickly after taking more history, political science, and economics classes, and witnessing first hand how liberalization is killing America's education process I started to change my ideals. I guess it also helps that I believe the U.S. Constitution is the most perfect document in the land it we should not stray from it. So, I would say I became a liberal overall.
What I find most about your "facts" and "generalizations" (like I said I can take the time to find just as many about Liberals but I don't feel like wasting my time, it won't change your out look at all) is that you focus on the extremes of Conservatism. If I focused on the extremes of Liberalism all the time then I could paint your side as a despicable curse to American life, just as you have done. Both sides have some ugly ducklings that make the rest of the parties look bad, look at how the hippy counter culture made the Vietnam protesters look in the 1960's and 1970's.
Most Conservatives do align themselves with Republican that is true, just the same as most Liberals (I won't call them Progressives) align with the Democratic Party. I would venture to say that many Conservatives would rather align with a third party (I would like to see a strong Constitutional/Libertarian Part), but in our two party system that is unrealistic. If we are concerned with the way our country is being run, which I am, and we want to change it now is not the time to support a third party because it would split our cause. Look at what happened when Teddy Roosevelt split the Republican party, Woodrow Wilson won in a landslide. Look what happened when George Wallace split the Democratic Party over Civil Rights, Richard Nixon won in a landslide. In a time of political turmoil it makes no sense to split the party and run off of ideals. So, right now even though most Conservatives are disgusted with the Republican Party we are supporting a lesser evil (in our eyes) in the hope of cleansing the system for later elections. I think the election of Scott Brown (It is awesome Repubs were able to take over the Monarchical Throne) best shows that.
I will admit that the past two Republican groupings Reagan/Bush and Bush II did not do a good job at running a balanced budget. I'll give Reagan a pass because he drastically cut taxes to try and rebound from the abysmal Carter Presidency. Bush I was shown the door for a reason. Bush II made the mistake of trying to fight two wars (Iraq war I do not agree with) while implementing tax cuts. That is an impossible situation. But I have another graph for you too look at that scares the hell out of me, and I don't think you can ignore it. Conservatives in the past 20 years may have developed a bad wrap for deficit spending, but not at this rate. This is a Washington Post graph.
http://media3.washingtonpost.com/...
The last thing I want to say is you quote, "I did not post it for debate. I posted it to demonstrate a sense of how most Liberals feel right now." You used a gallop poll so I will to.
http://www.gallup.com/...
Liberals are drastically in the minority as Conservatives and Moderates make up 80% of the political spectrum. So, if that is how 20% of how our country feels then shouldn't we be more worried about what the other 80 wants?
Sorry in advance for any spelling or grammar mistakes I wrote this in a hurry.
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Of course, the first thing to point out to this poster is that s/he does not get a pass on the "I can also go through and do the research and find just as many disheartening facts about Liberals" thing. As far as I'm concerned, either put up or shut up.
As for the rest of it... as the Black Knight would say: Have At You!