My theory on Republicans

I have had two conversations recently that revealed that two of my co-workers are Republicans. Now let me tell you these are two very intelligent, compassionate, and caring individuals. However, they are both, by their own admittance, very ignorant. One states that she never reads anything in the news but her husband informs her about what she should know. The other is just clueless and when pressed couldn't come up with anything other than taxes as a reason for her party affiliation. She said "I don't have time to keep up on the issues but I do know that Democrats want to give all my hard earned money away to the poor." She suggested there be a 15% flat tax. When I told her that was both regressive and would make the debt much higher she once again claimed ignorance.

I am now thoroughly convinced that conservatives are either greedy, stupid, ignorant or a combination of the three. In this case these are two of the nicest people I know yet they are by their own admission completely uninformed. Does anyone know an intelligent, unselfish, and informed person that is conservative? I truly believe if the citizens of this country were more enlightened, the dems would win in a landslide every time.

The sad thing is they don't want to talk about it because they know they can't answer the tough questions. How can you possibly win these people over? They really disgust me.

When it rightfully belongs to the overrich and corrupt! Sinful, just sinful.

I'll tell you, I'd rather give every penny I pay in taxes to welfare cheats than spend another penny on the Strategic Defense Initiative and other so-called defense measures that only serve to line the pockets of evil corrupt bastards whose only purpose in life is to suck up resources and kill people.

I am so sick of this attitude that all poor people are lazy and chose their lot in life. What fucking bible do these people read? Heaven is Ken Lay and the like serving poor people for all eternity.

Ask them to draw a pie chart with what they think are the percentages of the federal budget spent on the poor versus spent on defense or other programs. A lot of folks have a real "come to Jesus" moment when they see what a small percentage of the federal outlay they've been conditioned to get so exercised about.

for us to debunk that irrational fear of 'freeloaders' by initiating a real look into leaks in the system... if we focused on fixing what they're objecting to, they'd have to come up with a less believable objection.

so no one will question how they got rich

He is the nicest, most caring and one of the most intelligent people I know. Unfortunately, he is a conservative. His stipulation is "I'm liberal on social issues" and yet, he voted for Bush twice. I love my brother, but we don't talk about politics because I get upset that my big brother has betrayed our family's beliefs by voting for that &*^*&^.

If something good doesn't happen in 06 I am disappearing. I can't take this anymore. There has to be a better way to live.

we have to go at it harder in 07. I know the feeling you're talking about but there aren't a whole lot of places to go.

watch a "Frontline" on the JFK assassination so that I would have the facts. I asked him if he'd like to read one of the dozen or so books I have. It's the same on Iraq, or 9/11, or corporate power, or whatever. The saying "a little knowledge is a dangerous thing" comes to mind.

That said, I always try and add to these people's knowledge, as much as I can cram into their tiny little heads.

Bill

It's better to get them commiserating over whether or not politicians are truly representing our interests, rather than letting them bitch and blame the "poor."

Seems like an easier way to then inject ideas that originated with say Murtha, Boxer, Reid, whatever. The koolaid drinkers are interested in personalities, not issues.

Sure, they exist, like an endangered species that is kept in zoos and a few preserves. But nobody listens to them. The people in power are kleptocrats, fascist wannabees and religious zealots. You try to find a republican in congress that values balanced budgets more than an additional tax cut. You find a civil libertarian. One. Two. That's it.

People with principles and standards are useless to today's ruling class.

or a combination of the three. I've been saying something like this for a while, though I have one more category: rich. Now, that could fit in with the greedy people, but not all the greedy are rich. Of course, I guess you could argue that not all rich people are greedy, though that might be a tougher sell.

as Kerry, Soros, Edwards, Warren Buffett, almost all celebrities, etc. etc. The difference is what you pointed out that not all rich people are greedy. The key is all greedy people are republicans. If I knew of a greedy democrat I would tell them to switch parties. But to date I have never encountered a greedy democrat.

Not all Republicans are stupid, but all stupid people are Republicans.

I sometimes paint with a broad brush, and it's never good to stereotype anyone. Still, in general, I think these categories apply.

Also, when it comes to choosing sides, which is what we are coming to, the rich will all side with the fascist leader. Either that or risk loosing their money. We are at war today. Not demo vs. repub, not blue vs. red or Christian vs. non-Christian, but rich and powerful vs. the rest of us. Of course the rich can win over the gullible masses with expensive propaganda.

whack-o's.

Not too hard to be a total idiot.

n/t

That these ignorant people are *willfully* ignorant, and I believe that when their willful ignorance leads to so much evil being done, they are themselves evil. Unfortunately, this includes both my siblings and their spouses.

Most of my relatives and friends fall into this category of the willfull ignorant but I am not ready to write them off as evil. Extremely misguided and at times cruel but not quite evil. Bush is pure evil and everyone else should be measured up to him on the evil scale.

compassionate and caring individuals? Those two words certainly don't fit the second person you're talking about who wants to keep all of her money and not help less fortunate people. She sounds like my wife! Yes, my wife of 33 years has somehow fallen into the abyss.

to the poor -- Does she claim to be a Christian? If so, she might be well reminded of Matthew 19:21: "Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me."

She is a staunch Catholic and both of these co-workers I speak of are very compassionate health care providers. When they see abuse in the system, they think liberals have continued to let this happen by requesting more funding for these programs that people need to survive. It all goes back to their ignorance. That goes for Christian ignorance also. These people have a completely selective interpretation of the Bible, forgetting the crux of Jesus' message which is to love everyone and help those that can't help themselves.

"theft" by the government. :eyes:

Of course, they ignore all the passages in the Bible that preach against greed...

Republicans only care about a few issues like guns and abortion.
But they choose to ignore all the other issues that face this country.

actually, she's the daughter of my mother's ex husband. I haven't kept up with her, but my mom does. She's a Republican and I just don't get it. She's extremely intelligent and educated, having graduated from Harvard Law School. She's a compassionate person, I've heard of her spending Thanksgivings and Christmases volunteering in homeless shelters. Back when she and I maintained a relationship, she was very feminist, very pro-choice, and very strongly opposed to the religious right and evangelical Xtians in general.

I've tried to understand why she would be a Republican. I can only speculate, since it's been so long since I've had contact with her, but I think she may be in some sort of rebellion against her asshole of a father. He's a staunch Democrat, but might as well be a Republican as far the attitudes that he holds. I know she was very upset by some of vile things he was saying about the Katrina victims in NOLA, and on top of that, he apparently likes to harrangue her about her being a Republican as well.

Maybe her politics are just an example of what a really screwed up, disfunctional family will do to you.:shrug:

It is true that not all of them fit our stereotypes.

they've been fed bullshit by the corporate masters and they eat it with gusto

the "I-got-mine-f***-you" party. That seems to be the extent of their "thought" process. No depth or breadth in thinking, very shallow and surface/appearance oriented.

I've seen a Conservative pundit do that to a liberal counterpart (Hannity and Colmes, maybe?) Mr. Liberal tries to make a point, and Mr. Conservative just says that the point Lib is trying to make is too complex for such a simple, down to earth person as he to understand. Sort of pulled the "down home" routine. Lib just said that he didn't think Conservative was as simple as he pretended.

It just seems that each time you tried to substanciate what you were saying, the wall went up "I don't know about that. I just know Liberals are bad." Hell, how can such a person claim to know anything, if they also admit they are uninformed. Boggles the mind.

I agree about the ignorance- but the analysis you describe does not sound the slightest bit intelligent.

In fact, I've met very few Republicans that I've ever considered intelligent. The two just don't go together, as any visit to free republic readily confirms.

Was that Kennedy Jr.? You should tell 'em that and suggest that if they just read the paper their views might change.

interactions with others.

The pre neocon conservatives honestly believed that their beliefs would make a better America for all.

Ignorant? I think so, ignorant of some of the realities other people in the US, to say nothing of the world, have to contend with.

While infinitely more tolerable than the neocons, traditional conservatives are often self made individuals who believe that if they could do it, everyone oughta be able to.

Which would be true if everyone was exactly like them, with the same background, environment, genes, etc.

The only way to be fair in saying anyone should be able to do it if I did would be to do the impossible and start everyone on exactly the same footing.

experiences just like that but I have also met some very hostile stupid ones.

Of course, some dems I have met here in Montana act like that too. Too bad, gives the rest a bad reputation.

far less positive.

The cons get most of these folks with social issues. It's been a long time since the middle class got a fair shake economically from the Republicans.

The phenomenon is the "What's the Matter with Kansas" thing. Check out Thomas Frank's book if you haven't had a chance yet.

Here's some smart advice from some damn good liberals:

"If you would persuade, you must appeal to interest rather than intellect." -Benjamin Franklin

"The whole art of Conservative politics in the 20th century is being deployed to enable wealth to persuade poverty to use its political freedom to keep wealth in power." -- Aneurin Bevan

P.S. For some fun Google up insults and Aneurin Bevan. He was the master. For example:

"The Tories always hold the view that the state is an apparatus for the protection of the swag of the property owners... Christ drove the money changers out of the temple, but you inscribe their title deed on the alter cloth." -Aneurin Bevan on Winston Churchill

rationalizations from the talking points and ideology. One more safety net item taken away and one more tax cut and they'll all be rich like hitting the lottery.