Are Conservitives Brain Damaged ?

[rusk2003]

[PeteC]

1. two confirmed

Ronny and Charlton

[ronnykmarshall]

11. HEY!!

I take issue with that remark!

Oh, you mean RAYGUN ...... never mind!

[7th_Sephiroth]

39. yes

bush has snorted himself the mind of a firstgrader

[Name removed]

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[Printer70]

73. Poster spelled "Conservitives" wrong - LOL

We know you're not "brain damaged" though. Got to be careful though when insulting other people as idiots.

[LiberalFighter]

94. I bet it was conservatives and idiots combined into one word

[Name removed]

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[msanger]

2. conversatives think differently than progressives

I don't understand the constant "rush to the bottom" of people who bash conservatives or republicans all the time. I can understand bashing Rush or Bush or Delay or Ashcroft -- they are greed assholes.

But most conservatives and most republicans are human beings - just like and me.

We (I hope) are progressives - we see possibilities, we see the world that can be, we see hope.

Most conservatives (I think) tend to be regressives -- they see the dangers, they see the world that was, they see hopelessness.

I see our job as being one of educating them, giving them hope, sharing a vision based on tolerance, inclusion, and basic human kindness.

If they join us, we but rush and bush and all those jerks on the garbage pile of history.

Calling people names tends not to get them to follow you.

thinking "you are for us or against us" makes one sound like gwb.

And that is THE TRUTH :-)

[Democrats unite]

3. They are also the one's...

That keep Bush or Delay or Ashcroft in power. NUF SAID!

[rusk2003]

6. I understand not all republicans are bad

I mean their are some moderate and liberal ones. Besides I was not advocating we kick them off the planet or hang them. I ve met plenty of nice conservitive people no doubt about that. Just becasue you do not like some ones politcal opinion dose not mean you hate or not like the person.

[LiberalFighter]

65. What would you suggest??

I have a website and have compiled "Letters to Editor" for the past year. I have given the label "Misquided Thoughts" for those letters that are beyond belief, opposition supporters and others of the same mind.

I am looking for a label to identify those letters that support Democratic principles as well as ideas that might have some merit worth exploring.

In addition, I have a section that I call Myths and Truths that concentrates mostly on Republicans. But I want to make it clear that the it is not a slam against all Republicans.

[gatlingforme]

79. Republicans can be nice too

I am a Democrat and some of my good friends are Repub. I respect their views as long as they respect mine. I will not treat a Republican bad or anybody for that matter as long as they treat me with the same respect. If they don't then all bets are off at that point

[The_camper]

98. sometimes

they can be nice. They can also be good friends. But it is more fun to subtly hint at the evil of republicans. They eventually start get the picture and shift from their party. It's fun to see them change, you just keep saying 'evil republican' every time you see Bush. Or better yet, instead of calling your friend a name, just call them Republican, it'll hurt them, they'll feel bad about being a republican. No kidding.

Republican = profane word!

[Name removed]

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[incubus2012]

13. conservatives are the devil!

thats the big attitude here when both sides have major flaws

[webwzrd]

101. conservatives ARE the devil

Harsh words, but just look around the world. The political 'right' is relative to each country. In Russia, the right wing are the old communists. In other Eastern European countries, the right are the nationalist/racist hardliners bringing back centuries old divisions, conflicts and sometimes wars. Yugoslavia ring any bells? Hitler? Definitely right wing. Even tribal wars in Africa have resurfaced hundreds of years after European colonizers redrew their boundaries.

Muslim fundamentalist are just one of our many conservative right wing counterparts. They are all the devil because they have the conviction to kill us all without that pesky little obstacle we call common fucking sense. They are the devil because the devil is and has always been ignorance, intolerance and that all important unquestioned 'faith' in shit you can't even understand, much less prove.

The devil is a gun without a brain. A fearful zealot following orders, eliminating all which he doesn't understand, because it takes less balls to kill than to learn and live with.

[Temp]

111. I like your enthusiasm, but...

I agree with some of your statements, but I have a hard time connecting some of the dots. Muslim fundamentalism is definitely a right wing ideology, but to my dismay, the left in America are taking a serious back seat to conservatives in the war on terror. I'm just disappointed in our lack of effort to fight Muslim extremism if for no other reason than their political views. Their treatment of women is appalling, their irrational faith is beyond me, their lack of tolerance is unacceptable, yet it's the American right that leads the fight against them! Where are we on this?! Do we only champion right and wrong when the enemy is a fellow American?

And as much as I love to make the comparison, a dictatorship, like Hitler's, is a government with total power- it is the extreme version of progressivism. Conservatives want a less powerful centralized government- that doesn't describe Hitler at all. A gun without a brain, a fearful zealot following orders, eliminating all which he doesn't understand, kill rather than learn and live- you're right in that this description paints a picture of Hitler, but be warned, Hitler wasn't the enemy of left wing policy, he was the epitome of it. Think about it, WWII was not a fight against a man who wanted his citizenry to be privately armed, have the freedom to conduct business without regulations, and force their religions on each other. It was a fight against a man who took his government WAY too far left. We all need to remember the consequences of fighting blindly for progressive achievement, rather than fighting sensibly for what's best for America and the world.

Again, the breakup of Yugoslavia was definitely caused by the right, but unfortunately, those uprisings were the result of left-leaning policies that left the country unable to fulfill its promises to angry mobs of people. Blaming the right for the demise of Yugoslavia is like blaming the firemen for getting your house all wet.

I recommend looking to Mexico for a great view of what happens when conservatism goes too far. There, it's basically every man for himself. No health care, little police protection, and a military that extorts vacationers for beer money. That sounds like conservatism gone awry. That's what we're fighting to avoid as much as we fight to maintain our freedoms. We have to be careful though. "The world" as you mentioned, has a history plagued with atrocities resulting from both left and right leaning extremes. If we don't learn to tell the difference, then we're really just calling each other names.

[Name removed]

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[oldshoe]

14. It would be nice

I really agree with you in everything you wrote. I spend most of my Internet time at conservative sites trying to present Liberal positions as calmly and compassionately as possible. I usually bend over backward to include examples of Lefty silliness in order to show them I can be balanced.

Yet...


Yet...


Yet...


When I start to go into detailed rebuttal of their platitudes, they ban me from their site.

Today's banishment came when a moderator was saying that he as an American is not afraid, because he has guns to defend his family with. So, I pointed out specific evidence of fear, from buying the gun in the first place, committing the country to war over Saddam's imaginary WMDs, the bank-busting SDI program (fear of missles) residential segregation (fear of nonwhites), refusal to join the International Criminal Court (fear of being held accountable for covert actions), the fixed Florida election (fear of democracy), bailing out of the landmine treaty, bailing out of Kyoto, and about ten others.

I also named every country in Europe (and a few more) where people feel safe without having to resort to handguns.

Rather than meet my arguments, banishment. Again!

Gee. They sure do get sensitive.

[Sailorforclark]

15. But see, oldshoe

The same thing happens here, at least thats what I heard. I am a bit of a lefty but one of my friends at work (read: pentagon) told me that he was on here and got banned and he showed me some of his posts, well I just think that maybe we all need to calm down. Im very excited to be here (this is my second post ever) and I would love to play with some conservatives every once and a whole if they are willing to play nicely. I mean I work with them all day and I dont go running and crying at the first sign of rightism. But I guess thats just my opinion.

[LiberalFighter]

20. You forgot one..

Fear of your ability to know the truth and able to challenge him with it.

[T_G_Wazoo]

37. Oh Yeah??

What site was it that you were banned?

Try this one on for size www.republicanforum.com...

[LiberalFighter]

19. Think?

eom

[leftofthedial]

40. find an actual conservative

when you do, what you said will be mostly true.

Trouble is the country is being run now by NEOCONSERVATIVES--not the same beast at all. Neocons are despicable fascist thugs, best represented by the Bush GOPNAC Cabal that seized power in 2000.

You ARE either for them or against them. Fascism is like that.

[Name removed]

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[angiew]

61. Progressives????

What an ignorant term. What ever happened to "liberals"? Does that word seem to offensive to use anymore? Give me a break! Was liberal, is liberal, will always be liberal. There's nothing "progressive" about the left.

[NeoConned]

63. What did 'liberal' originally mean?

I think it meant less tyranny and more personal freedom originally. Look at the root "liber", usually means freedom right? Of course 'conservative' meant the opposite (i.e. pro-monarchy). I'd like to know when it became an epithet in reference to social democrats. Anyone know?

[NeoConned]

62. I'd have to disagree

I've heard conservatives say the same things about progressives (i.e. "...we see possibilities, we see the world that can be, we see hope.")
It's like we talk past each other though. For instance, abortion. Both sides are never going to agree because the wording that each side uses may be in the same language but the words and phrases mean different things to both. Pro-Choice does not mean the same to a conservative as it does to a progressive in the abortion debate. Yet when the subject becomes education, Pro-Choice takes on yet a different meaning. But in each case, one side is taking up the libertarian argument.
I firmly believe that no sane person does something for an irrational reason. If you look at their actions and they don't make sense to you then you probably don't have the full picture.

[LiberalFighter]

77. Republicans with a brain....

are better than Republican WITHOUT a brain

Republicans that use their brain...
are better than Republicans that don't use their brain.

[LiberalFighter]

95. Conservatives think?

[DisabledDem]

113. This.

And I find the term 'brain damaged offensive for my time spend with other people with disabilities.

[Runesong]

4. When questioning another's intelligence,

it is kind of important to check your spelling to avoid unintended irony. :)

[rusk2003]

7. I like to speed type

:bounce:

[Peachhead22]

5. That's an insult...

...to people with brain damage.

[Piperay]

8. Their heads are full of sawdust,

they don't have a brain that could be damaged. :shrug:

[LiberalFighter]

78. Sawdust or popcorn?

[Hasaler]

9. It's not the conservatives

It is the group of ULTRA-conservative leaders and ULTRA-conservative memebers of the media who are the problem. Everybody is somewhere on a bell curve (not that despicable book).

I believe that most conservatives are more toward the middle and just want to vote for people they think support views that are important to them (eg. abortion, tax cuts). Unfortunately, while they are towards the middle of the bell curve (I drew a nice figure for this argument, but I didn't know how to upload it. This was the best I could do as an illustration), the only people for them to vote for are to the far right.

In the media, they have found people that support some (not all) issues that they agree with and that gives these commentators credibility in their minds. They start trusting everything these commentators say. This is especially true with commentators like Bill O'Reilly. Because O'Reilly claims that he is not a conservative, they think his views match their views more. People on the left see him for the conservative that he is, but compared to Rush and Sean Hannity, he appears moderate. To the ULTRA-conservatives, John McCain is downright liberal.

Basically what I am saying is most conservative just want to vote for someone they agree with. They're not stupid, they just don't have much to choose from.

[Cloud]

16. I agree

It is the ultra-conservatives that are not open to change and new ideas. They want to impose their idea of morality on everyone else and do what they think is right and if you disagree you are a traitor.

Ann Coulter and Sean Hannity come to mind.

A moderate conservative will at least listen to the other side. I'd say Bill O'Reilly is a moderate but leans right. He is not terribly conservative. Just rude to his guests.

The two-party system is what makes this country work. It has been going strong for over 200 years. I am a liberal democrat but not partisan. If a republican introduces something I like and I think it is in the best interest of the American people I will support it. John McCain's campaign finance reform comes to mind.

[Spider Jerusalem]

21. But...

the two-party system DOESN'T work, and is in fact the reason over half of the electorate no longer bothers to go to the polls, because they feel they lack a real and significant choice. The only reason the two-party system has continued here is because the American form of government is significantly different to democracies in the rest of the world, which are mostly parliamentarian, with proportional representation (percentage of votes won in the general election = percentage of seats won in Parliament). The parliamentary form of government leads to more coalition-based politics, with parties working together to acheive common goals rather than being in consistent opposition. In comparison, our American system is a glaring and abject failure in many ways.

[Robert Murphy]

34. Yes, But...

Spider,

Remember that it is illusory to see each of the two parties as a monolithic whole. As I'm sure you know, each is composed of many 'wings' of differing (and occasionally conflicting) idealogy, which in a parlimentary system would be represented by separate parties. Common membership in one of the two parties provides the impetus of party discipline in compelling these factions to compromise, end internal debate, and 'close ranks' as a key legislative vote approaches. Thus the two-party system if often practically less fractitious than a parliamentary system. Also, in a parliamentary system there is always an opposition party or parties, and the collapse of a ruling coalition can lead to an often precipitous and destabilizing shift of power.

Just my two bitz...

Cheers,

Robert

[Freethinker10]

74. Shifts and Fractiousness

If we did have a parliamentary style of government in the United States, though, wouldn't it be wonderful if we did have a precipitous and destabilizing shift in power-as long as it was away from Bush and towards someone sane?

Additionally, fractious isn't necessarily bad-there are some issues where diversity in views (especially when such diversity is seen by the public or a reflection of public sentiment) is a great thing.

Freethinker10

[dani]

10. Not quite brain damaged,

but they obviously do have some problems in the brains department. . . .

http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,12271,1017546,00.html

A study funded by the US government has concluded that conservatism can be explained psychologically as a set of neuroses rooted in "fear and aggression, dogmatism and the intolerance of ambiguity".

"This intolerance of ambiguity can lead people to cling to the familiar, to arrive at premature conclusions, and to impose simplistic cliches and stereotypes," the authors argue in the Psychological Bulletin.

One of the psychologists behind the study, Jack Glaser, said the aversion to shades of grey and the need for "closure" could explain the fact that the Bush administration ignored intelligence that contradicted its beliefs about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction.

[armand76]

17. the dark side

Whenever a conservative tries to get me to see his or her side of the story I feel like I am being lured in by Darth Vader to join the dark side. Why is that? :)

Most conservaties I've met seem to have some kind of social disorder such as paranoia. Being conservative, by defintition, means that you oppose change. Why would one oppose change? Because of insecurity perhaps?

In my opinion, anyone who has fear and insecurity in themselves has had something bad happen to them. They were once complete, but after some major crisis, they become broken and empty. And a republican is born!

[hyphenate]

12. I don't see brain-damage

Among the major populace of conservatives. However, I see a sense of righteous indignation which is sadly misplaced, a fervor that is widely expressed in their rather unbudging religious beliefs, a sense of narrow-mindedness and above all, a sense to never admit you are wrong--ever.

[togiak]

75. Moral Absolutism

I agree, the issue with the hard core conservatives (substitute evangelical christians) is that the operate under the prinicple of Moral Absolutism. To them there is no such thing as a difference of opinion or a concept of differing beliefs. To them, their values, morals and beliefs come directly from god. These are universal truths to them and anyone who disagrees with those beliefs are sinners, evil, immoral and damned. They have to legislate their morality because to them, not legislating that morality would be a sin on their part. To them there is only one right answer, their answer so why bother with other viewpoints.

[webwzrd]

100. And this is why they are so damned dangerous

What you describe is the guy who is willing crash a plane and kill thousands because he/she believes it to be the will of GOD.

One of my best friends is Republican. Terribly nice guy and progressive in many ways, yet he suffers from what I consider to be the common trait among 'Conservatives' of all flavors: FEAR. Fear of life, death, the other cultures, and anything else unknown. The term itself explains it all. To conserve. To keep things as close to what they know as possible. They also tend to be rather simplistic. No need nor time to examine anything in depth. Hence the popensity for religion and deep faith.

These are dangerous people because they believe themselves right, no ifs, ands, buts, or God forbid, common sense. Our problem is that they have taken over on all sides. A Muslim fundamentalist is no different to me than a Southern Baptist or militant/Zionist jew. They have the power of divine mandate and zero tolerance for conflicting views. They look forward to a life BETTER than this one.

What they fail to realize is that their failure to question makes them perfect subjects. This is what I see in America now. Five or six smart guys feeding us crap, themselves the world, and their subjects are unwilling to question it, dismissing their own doubts with the same simplistic arguments, which are purposely being fed to them. They are willing to loose their freedom and trust their government the same way they trust their God. Questioning means weak faith, not good for getting into heaven.

In summary, Conservatives have no balls, much as they would argue the opposite. Don't get me wrong. They can and will kill us all if we let them, but they can't do it of their own accord. THeir power comes from outside of them.

We on the other hand, are 'liberals' because we don't accept being thought for. We can't unite the way they do because they have an utterly common purpose, whereas we each have our own opinions. We also question everithing, including ourselves.

A zealous conservative would have no problem killing you. You, however, would debate and redebate killing them, even as they are sinking their weapon into your heart.

Folks, I think that this time around we better get mean. The fact of the matter is that WE are the reason mankind evolves. If not for us, the world would still be flat, the center of the universe and there would be a lot more democrats, since people wouldn't live past their thirties.

[arminalla]

18. Of course

how else could you explain who they vote for

[CSI Willows]

22. I know of a few...

..but I'll withhold their last names for privacy's sake

Mark - Rush and O'Reilly obviously don't do good to a person's brain

Catherine - Bush crazy, Nixon crazy, Reagan crazy, all of the above

Robert - Rush, O'Reilly, Bush, Nixon daily doses of Rush don't keep the doctor away, my friend.

Bev - Please, it's damaged your brain so much you can't tell right from wrong, come back to our side!

And...basically anyone on my father's side...think it may be the radiation from TMI or the radiation from O'Reilly and Rush's shows. Not to mention Ann and Newt...and the imfamous conservatives themselves...

[number6]

23. Ann Coulter and Laura Ingraham,,,

definately yes...

[jonoboy]

25. ann Coulter

does this woman have any integrity ????

to just lie through her teeth the way she does and smile at the same time implies a pathological nature.

Its the sorta thing that gets you found "not guilty by reason of insanity" in court

[TheChibi]

59. Hear, Hear.

I agree. If it weren't for the feminists she so despises, the only thing she'd be writing is grocery lists. And she looks like a man, which scares me.

[zonmoy]

24. No

they just crawled up from the lowest circle of hell.

[Name removed]

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[zonmoy]

27. you are right

It is much better to call them the evilest of evil.

[Name removed]

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[thebigidea]

30. yeah, liberals want to take God out of the churches, too

I hear Ted Kennedy is behind a new bill to ban the worship of God in our churches!

Can you imagine?

I'll be praying for his eternal damnation.

[zonmoy]

32. I consider conservatives evil

because instead of just disagreeing with others they try to coerce their oppinions on other through force of law. Or wouldnt you consider somebody who uses force to bully others into their will evil.

[Name removed]

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[union_maid]

29. The adminstration has a few screws loose

Gephardt said it best - "a miserable failure". But to get from where we were, even factoring in 911, to where we are, shows some kind of dysfunction. To follow this administration and cheer as it took this country down the destructive dangerous path it was so clearly and obviously on shows something wrong, not just different, about the thinking process invovled. Reagan, who actually does now have a damaged brain, at least didn't destroy the country. I didn't agree with him and I think he did a lot of really terrible things that wound up setting us up for what we have now, but the country was intact when he was done with it and by the time Clinton had it for a few years it was humming along pretty well. This..what we have now..takes some kind of monumental error in thinking to achieve.

[Name removed]

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[quaker bill]

31. Don't you need a brain for this?

It is impossible to tell. Any assessment would need a baseline. Try going back to the point where one of them starts making sense.

I have tried, unsuccessfully.

[number6]

33. fake conservatives are mind controled

and hypnotized, there in a fog
and no mater what bu$h does, if its bad,
its Clintons fault...

[Name removed]

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[Robert Murphy]

35. Wingnuts Need Our Love...

A conservative with brain damage is not a conservative, but a neocon. A conservative with severe brain damage is a wingnut. As the far-right has come to dominate the Republican party, and has managed to pull what is perceived as 'the center' further and further to the right, genuinely conservative (but sane and intelligent) individuals such as Dick Lugar and John McCain start seeming almost a wee bit liberal at times. As Paul Krugman said, "today's moderate is yesterday's conservative."

Robert

[ClownInvestor]

36. Brain damage?

What does a person's political affiliation have to do with their intelligence? Actions speak louder than words, or thoughts for that matter.

[Name removed]

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[LibertyorDeath]

42. Does Rush have an audience does Faux have viewers Did 50 million

Americans vote for the village idiot to be king.

Do I have to go on? I can you know I could go on and on and on and on.

[Name removed]

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[Name removed]

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[Military Brat]

45. No, they suffer from cognitive dissonance

Fancy term for believing what they want to believe when all the evidence before them is completely opposite of what they believe. That's why bush can get away with not doing anything he promises to do (except hypocritical tax cuts), and they still support him, because they're fixated on believing that he's doing the right thing, even though he does the wrong thing over and over and over.

It's maddening.

[Name removed]

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[rhino47]

47. I was happily able to reform my Repug husband.

All it took was to basically point out that democrats get laid on a more frequent basis.

[OKHRANA]

49. hmmmm....

are you sure he's telling the truth, or is he just pretending for his own convenience (wouldn't exactly put lying past Repukes)

[rhino47]

50. well considering he voted democrat yesterday ..

perhaps he is totally reformed.

[Name removed]

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[Meph]

58. depends on the conservative...

I'm sure some of them have some bizzare mental disorder... like John Ashcroft, Scalia, Coulter, Hannity. OReilly seems to have a bit of a nacissistic personality complex going on, what with the constant preening and long winded commentarious about how grandious he is.

Other then that I think most conservatives have basic things that could be considered mental disorders but aren't recognized by the psychological community. Like the obsession with Reagen, the pathological hatred of Clinton, Hillary, Chelsea, and socks the cat. Their irrational fear of gays, lesbians, the ACLU, and Barbara Streisand.

And we could make the case that a bunch of them are pathological liars. But that begs the question, do they say things that they know aren't true, or are they just stupid?

[LibertyorDeath]

60. No but they fail miserably at independent thinking.

They are easier to manipulate as a group because of this.

It's the reason people here call them sheeple.

They do not question authority.

The most unhealthy thing you could ever do politically/socially is not to question authority.

It seems to be against their very nature to do this.

They run around believing someone like bush actually gives a shit about them.

Kinda sad really. What will they do when they are faced with the realization their great leader is a fraud, liar & coward.

Sticking their heads further up their assess only works for so long sooner or later they've gotta come up for air.

[grannylib]

66. You hit it; critical thinking is anathema to these folks. Swallow the

shit whole is the rule of the day for freepers.

[zonmoy]

76. So basically

they are brainwashed religious nutters since the only thing that seems to make people unable and unwilling to question authority is authoritarian religion.

[amber dog democrat]

64. yes. Very

but to varying degrees. That is if we are talking about conservatives who drink the Chimp kool ade. No reasoning with them.

[Eye See You]

67. Conservatives are a stomach flu, Neo-Cons are a cancer.

Conservatism was never a ideology or a political philosophy. You can trace it's origins to Adam Smith or Edmund Burk. What it is, is a position on various issues. Anybody who Say's it is such things, is either a liar or stupid. In order to control society, you must, ""Divide in order to control". This cold civil war between so-called Liberals and Conservatives is just Social, and political engineering from the ruling class. What cracks me up is ding dongs from the right visit this message board then call up some Neo-Con AM radio talk show and recite Chapter and verse like they are reading some classified document from the commie conspiracy. What these morons don't realize, half of these are fake and actually Neo-Con agents pretending to be on the left. They will post the most outrageous statement in order to discredit the left. I could say something like: We should a pass a law that forbids any child reading the King James to protect them from being exposed to violence. And every right wing idiot on the radio will repeat this as part of the Democratic Parties platform. Yeah, right!

[TrogL]

68. Most are the product of their upbringing

A child who is not exposed to critical thinking skills will find this difficult as an adult. The neurological pathways simply aren't in place or well exercised. If you want to call this "brain damaged" so be it.

Liberals tend to teach a child how to think - the mechanics of logic and deductive and inductive reasoning.

Conservatives tend to teach a child what to think - dogma.

I remember the uproar about "new math" in the 60's. It was a drastically new way of thinking about arithmetic. Gone were the days of memorized "tricks" to get you through your "sums". Now you had to actually understand how arithmetic worked.

It drove conservative parents absolutely bonkers to the point of death threats to teachers, invocations of the Bible, foul mouthed rants in letters to the editor, insane screaming on talk radio and school board meetings that came to fisticuffs. They clearly understood that the tools required to learn the "new math" could be applied to other things - like dogma.

[TrogL]

69. The result...

http://www.crossroad.to/articles2/2003/public-schools.htm

Can you spot the logical fallacies?

[Cary]

89. Well, for one thing:

"Working together as a team, (soon) using the same currency, and having the same leader(s), the same ideals, and the same minds, all over the world, is all a part of the global government that the United Nations proposes. This is a hard pill to swallow considering the United States, which as Patrick Henry declared, was founded on the gospel of Jesus Christ."

First of all, wow.

Second, what difference does it make what Patrick Henry declared, if in fact he declared this.

Third of all it's a non-sequitor. Right?

Of course the bit about mom being deemed to be a wacko is pretty interesting. I wonder what mom wanted them to teach, eh?

There is also the stuff about the government controlling things because of government funding.

This is like shooting fish in a barrel.

[icymist]

70. Yes. I believe that conservatives are brain damaged.

The other day I found a site where there are self proclaimed, Republican, conservative witches. This took me back for a minute....I mean, isn't that phrase an oxymoron? Engaging them in debate, they attacked my sources instead of addressing what was said. Frankin was dismissed as satire. Crispin - Miller was dismissed as being "only one man's opinion". It was like trying to reason with a three-year-old mind who knew they were right.... because! After a while, I entertained the opinion that these people are indeed, brain damaged!

[Name removed]

71. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[icymist]

72. Do you see what I mean? Being reduced to name-calling may

indicate some brain damage. Luckily, liberals do have a cure!

[UncleJoe]

80. nasty, not brain-damaged

They're not all brain-damaged - they're nasty. They want to make things worse for people and hurt people who don't live up to their old-fashioned "morality". Like if you tell a conservative that someone needs welfare to feed five or six kids at home, they'll say it's her own fault for having five or six kids she couldn't afford and they don't see why anyone else should pay for it.

Ask a conservative about the death penalty and you'll get all this sick talk about how they are glad people are being executed and they wish they could do it themselves. That sort of thinking - punish, punish, punish - is what theyre all about. Conservatism is vindictiveness applied to all circumstances.

[Shockwave]

81. Look at what they say at us.

Here is some of there humor about us. What do you all think of it?

http://www.imao.us/archives/001215.html#001215

[jeffrey_X]

82. Brain Damaged? No. Unable to think with an open mind? Yes.

nm

[boobooday]

83. It is really the only answer

to the question of they consistently vote against their best interests.

http://www.wgoeshome.com

Jeanette

[jerryster]

84. Check out this Woody Allen movie!

Your post is timely for me! Last night I saw Woody Allen's musical "Everybody Says I love You". It was excellent! It so happens that the character who plays Alan Alda's son is a right wing young Republican. Alda and Goldie Hawn, who plays his wife are liberals who have no idea how this happened. Then one day the kid collapses and the doctor explains that he had blockage in a brain artery and wasn't geting enough oxygen. The blockage was cleared and he became a liberal again!! Check the movie out!

[Father Yukon]

85. New kid on the block.....

Yes I believe most Conservatives have suffered very subtle brain damage. They are against social programs unless the program is related to war, lower taxes, or the death penalty.

I am a former RC Priest. I left the Priesthood several years ago when the molestation charges were being raised. I felt that I could not belong to any organization that knowingly permitted homosexual acts on children.

I am a LIBERAL, I learned of this site at ConservativeUndergound (they banned me for my political beliefs). I hope I can add to the forum.

[Father Yukon]

86. No, Conservatives are BRAIN DEAD

Conservative political beliefs are as follows:

PRO - tax reductions for the wealthy
ANTI- free choice re. abortion
PRO - war anywhere in the world where they can send our troops
ANTI - social welfare programs
PRO - death penalty
ANTI - free speech if it disgrees where their programs
PRO - Bush, JUNIOR
ANTI - any Democrat

[Guinness]

87. I consider George Bush to be a big-government liberal.

He's spending money like a drunk teenager with his first credit card.

He's thrown fiscal responsibility out the window and is expanding the welfare state at record levels. Yet most conservatives still love the guy just because he labels himself a Republican.

[Cary]

88. I don't know about brain damaged, but. . .

I've been trying to have an exchange with conservatives who believe they are ideologically superior. I tried real hard, using all of my considerable diplomatic skills, and all I could get was a lecture about how I was condescending to them, blah, blah, blah. Oh, and I was boring, too. They have a long list of liberals they've chased away--now I'm on it too. They're very proud of it.

I was sincerely trying to figure out with them whether the polarization of thought in this nation was really a bad thing (which I think it is). One guy agreed with me, but soon did a 180. They love to pull out Ann Coulter and tell liberals how we're this or that.

Really. I got a speech from one that made me hear the Nazi songs (that you hear on the Hitler shows on the History Channel). These people are on some kind of crusade.

Clearly these particular folk are too full of themselves. They take discussion boards too seriously. They take themselves too seriously. And most of all, they're plain old mean. Mean, nasty, obnoxious. Is that brain damaged?

[EV1Ltimm]

90. No, just greedy, self-centered, arrogant

egotistical, holier-than-thou, bullshit artists obsessed with other people's sex lives.

[jdunn]

91. College Republicans

AP 2 hours ago -- Angry College Republicans today staged a demonstration outside the New York headquarters of the American Federation of Musicians.

Kurt Replikant, an angry demonstrator, said "We're here to protest the dominance of creative people in the music business. It's unfair that so much of the music we listen to was written and performed by these right-brained faggots. Republican music-lovers have been disregarded for too long now. We're not going to take it anymore."

Some protesters displayed signs depicting brain-halves; others displayed pictures of Toby Keith, in various red-blooded poses, his crotch thrust over the upturned faces of adoring crowds of young patriots.

The College Republican National Committee has initiated a nationwide drive to raise awareness of liberal propaganda spread by good music. The CRNC has set up a network of websites encouraging campus conservatives to report any suggestion of liberalism they hear in recorded music.

Right-thinking co-eds are asked to be particularly on guard for instances of empathy or ease with the concept of ambiguity.

Color artwork is also dangerous.

[Cary]

92. The communication gap is interesting, in and of itself.

I've been trying to communicate with these people. As a lawyer, communication is a big part of what I do and I have to say, if I may, that I'm good at it. I've tried all of the usual strategies of finding common ground, and validating whereever possible. Yet they insult profusely, and then deny that they are insulting.

The culmination of my experiment, venturing into the enemy camp, was this post by one who calls himself "Biloxi":

SORRY, I DON'T KNOW HOW TO BLOCK THIS QUOTE

We don’t chase anybody away Matilda. Those with the opposing viewpoint have yet to show enough conviction in said viewpoint to see it through. If you can’t read Cary for what he is, then maybe we need to re-evaluate. If you want this to be some sort of Oprah show, go ahead but you’ll see less participation from me. I gave Cary every opportunity to post and debate his views. He claims one thing and does another.

Maybe I’m all wet but his posts were dripping with condescension and arrogance. They did at the other board as well. He comes in to a board and tries to tell everyone else how it should be done, at least according to Cary. If you are asking us to not be ourselves, I decline. I ask you Matilda, have you had a problem with my posts or my general style of posting at any point during the entire time you have been posting on the same forums as I? Have I been excessively rude, obnoxious or inconsiderate of other posters? Now apply the same questions to any of the regulars who post here.

The problem seems to be among the supposed posters we have driven away. They seem to follow the standard liberal line of style over substance. The lack of substance is glaring when you get on a board with a stable of minds such as Campaigner, Mornac, Chi-Brown, Biscuithead, Mensa, You, Chameleon and everyone else. I’ve said it to Cary. We have different levels of education, expertise and presentation but this is a group I’d go into political, moral and ideological battle with ANY DAY. Are we supposed to allow people to come in, insult our intelligence and not respond? (We know liberals believe they are intellectually superior and with the exception of Jzetti they all tried to deliver that point one way or another) The Liz Taylor analogy is actually insulting to your own board.

Do you suggest we are the losers and dagon, johnhp, lewis, folgers, jaycee38, jzetti, salgal, and now Cary are the reasonable suitors? They all have two things in common besides a faulty political ideology. (1.) Their ideas couldn’t hold water. (2) Each and every one of them GAVE UP. They were so confident in their cause that they bailed on it. We are not the DU that would be a forum that drives people away. You know us all well enough through our posting, you make the call. Frankly I’m puzzled that you even asked the question.

END OF QUOTE

Does this stir up visions of Hitler doing his little jig in Bavaria after the fall of France, or what?


I'm Cary, obviously. These people were livid that I used my real name, and told them I was a lawyer. That's an immediate culture gap because I have no problem telling people who I am and what I do. I fail to see how telling people who I am, and what I do, is "condescending". But this was done and there was either no way around it, nor any way they would let me off the hook for it. I suspect it was more the latter, than the former.

But that's not what I find interesting here. The big culture gap I see is the anger in this. Remember, it's only a discussion board and I didn't do anything so bad that it could justify them declaring a "political, moral, and ideological battle" against me.

Note too the string of names that they are so proud of. They view this as scalps from their "battles". Did we "give up"? Or did it become abundantly clear that these neo-cons weren't worth the time.

In short, they either didn't respond to my point, or I got some kind of lecture about how I'm "dripping" with condescension, or haven't responded to some point of theirs. This is a well-practiced routine, derived I think from right-wing radio talk show hosts.

I could go on. I don't know if I expressed the subtleties of this problem adequately. I'm very interested in this topic, from a clinical perspective. Any thoughts? Do you understand the issue here? Do you care?

I think "so what" could be a good response. These people's minds are closed and all reasonable people will see through this for what it really is: bullying, IMHO.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

93. yes

[MICHAEL_LAPERE]

96. CONSERVATIVES THINK THE PUBLIC IS BRAIN DAMAGED

Conservatives think the public is too stupid to realize the truth. The lack of any moral foundation is not what is troubling our country. Terrorism threatens the world, but is not at the heart of what really troulbes Americans.

People are troubled beacause they feel powerless. They feel powerless against all powerful corporations who hold their health care, wages, families & homes hostage. With so much of our politicians in he pocket of big corporations, how can we expect change? Democracy is not a sufficient recourse for resolving this concern. It isn't as simple as a tax cut. Employers are cutting jobs, benefits & a stable job is a hard find for many. Our policies favor big business, jobs will continue to go overseas, companies will continue to improve the bottom line.

[BEZARK]

97. Conservatives are reptillian brained

Conservative "thinking" is based way back in the cranium, in the ancient part of the brain we share with such phylogenetically distant and completely instinctual animals as reptiles. Their "thoughts" are focused in the basal emotions: "mine," "want," "hunger," "lust," "fear, "hate," "struggle," "violence." Their "intellect" lies three-quarters of the way to the brain stem, where the only things more primitive are "breathe" and "beat," just one step-and-a-half up from involuntary reflex.

[webwzrd]

99. A Message I sent to Anne Coulter neanderbitch

Dear Sir,
 
Although I know myself not qualified to judge anything, and
therefore having always worked hard to not do so, I can't keep
from making an exception here. Deliver us from evil? YOU ARE
THE EVIL. WHO WOULD JESUS KILL? Am I supposed to say that as
I'm flying a plane into the mosque at Mecca, as the pilot who
screamed GOD IS GREAT right before he crashed into the world
trade center?? JESUS COULDN"T EVEN KILL YOU, EVEN AS YOU
DISTORT EVERYTHING HE DIED FOR!!  JESUS WAS A LIBERAL.
THAT"S WHY THE "CONSERVATIVES" i.e.: RELIGIOUS
ESTABLISHMENT OF HIS DAY KILLED HIM. Don't believe me? Read
the Bible, you idiots. 
 
By the way. At just what period in history would you like to
return us to? If you were a true "conservative" you
would know that women are source of evil, having succumbed to
the snake and eaten from the primordial apple. Should we, like
Solomon, the greatest biblical king, have a couple thousand of
them who didn't have a say in anything? How about just a
hundred years ago? Anne would probably not have lived to her
present age, she wouldn't have had been able to vote, nor had
anything more than the most basic education. A hundred years
before that she would have been traded for some livestock in
her early teens, screwed through a hole in a sheet and have
been lucky to see the age of 20.
 
Liberals are dangerous. We are so because we cannot conform.
We never stop questioning. We need to learn, advance, grow. If
not for us, you would both be in the last paragraph. You are a
threat to our race only because of us. Maybe you could have
your own space in the world, where you could create your
kingdom on earth. A religious state, living by the laws in the
bible. Want to see what it would look like? Iran, Afghanistan,
Nigeria, Syria and a few others. 
 
Why don't you move there? Really, it's the same god, same old
testament, just different messiahs. The change would be cheap.
"WHO WOULD MOHAMMED KILL?" Just one small change and
you would be up and running. But wait, sorry, I forgot to
mention that these are REAL conservatives, which is why they
hate us. Oh, and I hope you're not attached to that clitoris
thing. See, GOD fucked up and made you like sex but then
blamed the woes of mankind on you liking sex. It doesn't say
that in exact terms anywhere, but we the faithful are free to
extrapolate and interpret as we see fit, just as long as we
look like we are smarter than those whom we want to follow our
interpretation. Answer? That clitoris thing has got to go.    
 
You are indeed the ongoing evil in this world. You and those
like you are why the rest of us live in fear. You sound
intelligent, use nice vocabulary, and because of that the
herd, armed with faith and devoid of common sense and
curiosity follow blindly. Had the rest of us, throughout
history, not seen through you self righteous crap and
questioned the world around us, the world would still be flat
and the center of the universe. 
 
I know the futility of making any argument in this medium, and
I don't want to waste your time. I do however, issue you a
challenge. A public debate, anywhere, any time, on theology,
history, science. In short, the world and Christ you know
nothing about yet distort to your content and profit. I will
pay whatever. I am not wealthy, but I would gladly raise your
fee. We can settle the topics to debate beforehand. I will
give all the time in the world to research. GOD knows you
could definitely use it.
 
I'm seriously thinking of publicizing this. If you are right,
and by that I mean can prove your arguments beyond a doubt, I
will be your greatest advocate. Otherwise, you will be exposed
for what I believe you are. I've seen Anne speak. Easy without
having to argue a point. 
 
Case in point: One night on C-Span I heard her explain at
length why it was justified for the settlers of this country
to kill and then displace the original inhabitants of this
continent such as we did. Her reasoning? They would never have
been able to support, under their cultural and societal
structure, the population we now have. They were simply too
inefficient. Actually, her reasoning has merit. Their societal
structure couldn't support our numbers. Does this, however,
still justify our actions? Were these the people Jesus would
kill? Apparently so, since most of the indigenous inhabitants
of the Americas were killed indiscriminately by their European
colonizers. Being "heathen" made them easy to kill. 
 
Here is where the argument gets interesting. Now that we have
our 300 mil that the Indians couldn't support, we are dealing
with our own stupidity. You folks know what urban sprawl is?
Having built our country around what was the best highway
system in the world, we didn't, as Europe (which has a
population density much greater than ours) build up in our
existing cities, but out and away. We made suburbs. Single
family houses, connected to our metropolis via superhighway.
We work in metropolis and go home to the suburbs, forever
further as the low income population we surrendered the city
to expands and also grows out into the suburbs. Our
superhighways are no longer superhighways. Every once in a
while the mild mannered Anne follower is overwhelmed enough to
reach this new, purely American phenomenon we now call
"road rage". WHO WOULD JESUS KILL?
 
We can't expand much further, meaning that our societal
structure cannot support a 100 fold increase in population,
sorta like the native Americans and the present. Therefore,
I'm sure that Anne will be the first to volunteer to be kicked
out of her 5 bedroom house and marched 1000 miles in the dead
of winter to a new reservation for yuppies in the middle of
nothing, so that the misused land her house occupies can be
better used for a high-rise building supporting 20 families or
a path for the mass-transit system to get all these people to
work.
 
Faith can move mountains. Problem is that they don't actually
move, you just make yourself believe that they have. Thought
and action move mountains. Liberals have been doing it for
centuries IN SPITE OF YOU.
 
Up to it?
 
Would Jesus kill me? 

[baldingeagle]

105. Virulence is not becoming

While I can agree with you in content, your syntax leaves
quite a bit to be desired.  "Liberals" have done a
great good in this world throughout time.  I am not a liberal,
at least not in the sense that I get from reading most of
these messages.  I don't hate or dislike liberals because we
need a balance of conservatism and liberalism.  When one or
the other assumes full control things begin to go down hill. 
Socialism can be just as confining as any conservative agenda.
 Generally it is not the system that fails, but in fact the
people inside those systems that fail. So it seems to me we
have the best of both worlds and just don't realize it.  The
Liberals push for 4 or 8 or 12 years toward their
"Progressive" ends and then the
"Conservatives" come back for 4 or 8 or 12 years to
push their conservative agenda for awhile.  Not everyone gets
to be pleased all the time, but at least everyone gets to be
pleased some time.  When all is said and done you win.  We
generally don't roll back liberal advances.  So I don't
understand your virulent attitude.  Do you want all
conservatives wiped off the face of the earth?  I hope not. 
That would make us enemies.  I don't think we should be
enemies.  It just doesn't sound like the
"Progressive" thing to do.

[kera]

106. Help

can anyone give me a shred of hope or a bit of moral confort? I am still recovering from a severe case of post traumatic D because I experienced first hand religious fascism. I hear all day long faith based news channels, war, bloodshed, bigory.....Has rationality deserted this country? I thought people of faith were particularly usually compassionate loving ..

[Cary]

107. Kera--you've come to the right place!

You will get all of the sympathy in the world right here. As someone once said to me here, when I had a similar problem: pull up a chair and have a beer to wash that rotten taste out of your mouth!:beer:

Now, what do you want to talk about?

[WoodrowFan]

108. NO

their brains are in mint condition, never used..

[Paradise]

109. It is NOT true conservatives

we are dealing with, here. IMO, true conservatives are a good check, and balance to true liberals. What we are dealing with, here, are radical neoconservatives and religious right extremists. :think:

[Name removed]

110. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[brooklyn297]

112. Of course