Overheard during breakfast in a restaurant this morning....

[mwb970]

Elderly Woman: "That awful Helen Thomas was finally forced to retire."

Elderly Male Companion: "Why? What did she do?"

EW: "She made a terrible, disgusting comment."

EMC: "My goodness! What did she say?"

(awkward pause)

EW: "Well, I don't know exactly what it was, but it was a really, really terrible thing to say."

EMC: "Hmm. I wonder what it was."

And there you have it - the standard right-wing combination of a strong opinion, absolute certainty, and total ignorance of the subject at hand.

I think I may prefer to this case to my previous favorite example, which was when a good friend, after railing at length about the horribleness of teachers' unions, said "I don't know anything about industrial unions, but I'm sure they are exactly the same." Strong opinion? Check. Absolute certainty? Check. Total ignorance? Check. (She even acknowledged this last point herself, right in her own statement!)

:eyes:

Anyone else have an example of this?

[Rosa Luxemburg]

1. Right wing newspeak is obviously very effective

[av8rdave]

2. A conservative friend of mine was ranting about Obama taking away our liberties

Finally, I asked him what rights Obama had taken away, other than the right to live under a white President.

He sounded exactly like Palin. He stammered, paused, and said, "I can guarantee you there have been several. I'll find out."

He's a fan of Glenn Beck on his facebook page. Need I say more?

[bullwinkle428]

4. He'll get back to you - just like Palin with Katie Couric!!

:rofl:

[tridim]

9. I use that rebuttal all the time on non-political forums

To date I've never recieved an answer, just personal attacks for asking the question.

All typical.

[JuniperLea]

12. My ignorant cousins are just like that.

Obama is "radical" donchano... when I ask what he's done that makes him a radical, I hear things prefaced by "he wants to" or "he is trying to" but there's no substance. I keep redirecting... no, I'm asking what he HAS done, not what you think he wants or is trying to do... what he HAS done... what's happened already...

crickets

Then they get angry and start lobbing insults... so I say, "Thanks! I win!"

[bullwinkle428]

3. Classic "teabagger-ese"!! Have you ever known a group of people

who were more passionate about being FLAT-OUT WRONG on the basis of absolute ignorance?

[Mnemosyne]

5. Perfect example, covers most I've ever had to listen to. Thanks! KnR n/t

[lonestarnot]

6. Did you barf in one ot their plates?

[Contrary1]

7. Here's my favorite, compliments of a sister-in-law:

SIL: "I won't vote for John Kerry because he's wishy-washy."

Me: Really? And how is he wishy-washy?

SIL: "He keeps changing his mind on everything."

Me: What did he change his mind on that bothers you most?

SIL: "Uhhhh..."

Me: Can you tell me anything John Kerry has changed his mind on?

SIL: "Not on such short notice, but I know he has."


They are all Sarah Palins. This is why she is so popular. She speaks stutters for them.

[mwb970]

21. Yup, that's the same thing.

They "know" things, but can't give any examples of them. This suggests that they are picking up the opinions of others (principally Glenn Beck and his ilk) without bothering to check whether they are based on anything factual. They don't seem to care just what these opinions are based on!

[Froward69]

8. I heard something similar but

the republican said the opposite... "who would have ever thought I would agree with Helen Thomas on anything. yet, it ends her career."

[JuniperLea]

10. The ignorant are cocksure...

... the intelligent are full of doubt.

[treestar]

19. From a poem, right?

So true. It's a sign of intelligence to question what you know.

[slampoet]

11. Combine with that elderly and so low information they can't even look up what was said.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

13. Exactly why I always ask a person spewing RW memes to please explain what exactly they mean and why

I've found it saves me much time and headaches, and it makes them stop and think about what they're actually spewing. It also usually keeps me from ever having to deal with that person again.

[MrScorpio]

14. Yep, it's one thing to have a strong opinion about something...

But OTOH, people who have no idea what they're talking about are usually idiots.

[KonaKane]

15. In Bagger-world, outrage does not require thought and reflection.

It just requires reacting. Like a worm to sunlight.

[Laelth]

16. "a strong opinion, absolute certainty, and total ignorance of the subject at hand."

That sums up most conservative thinking quite nicely. k&r

:dem:

-Laelth

[Hissyspit]

17. Did they talk about George W. Bush finally admitting to torture?

[Dawgs]

18. Many!

Heard a jack-ass say, just the other day, 'I was watching Hannity last night and some guy was blaming Cheney for the oil spill. He wasn't even around when it happened.' He then laughed because he thought his ignorance made him seem smart.

I think that counts, right?

1) Strong opinion.
2) Absolute certainty.
3) Total ignorance.

Yep, it counts.

[dorkulon]

20. It has always seemed to me that there's an inverse correlation between the amount one knows about a

subject and the strength of one's opinions on it.