Because It’s Offensive to be Thought Stupid

Greetings SUFA. I have a theory that I would like to present regarding political discourse in America and the bitter divide that exists between so many Americans and further between Americans and the politicians that are supposed to represent them. I made the following claim some time back to Charlie Stella: “I believe the primary reason that people seeking some sort of social justice like you have thus far failed in your quest, is that you continue to use irrational logic and emotional appeal in your claims, while calling us names and treating us like we are stupid for having a different belief.” I am going to attempt to expand on that statement and make my case regarding this theory. I look forward to the thoughts any of you may add.

Elitism Occurs on ALL Sides of the Aisle

About two weeks ago, Mathius posted an article from the Washington Post that was titled “Gerard Alexander: Why are liberals so condescending?” I found the article quite interesting, as it really did a good job of summing up the frustration that folks feel with liberal elitism. I promised him a response to this. He wondered what an article would look like that came from the other side. While this is not really that article, because I cannot think like a true conservative, I will offer my thoughts on the conservative movement as well. So what I am going to do is offer my thoughts on both liberals and conservatives. I will use those two terms loosely, because I do understand the difference between a progressive and a liberal. But I want to be more general, lest I end up spending all my time attempting to define who I am talking about. I also add the caveat that I do not necessarily apply these thoughts to ALL who fall into those categories. For example, I may say liberals kick puppies, but I am aware that not all liberals kick puppies. Only Mathius does that, and it is because when he wakes sweaty from that nightmare, he really does believe it is a Raptor.

The False Emotional Appeal of Health Care Reform

As I monitored the comments to yesterday’s article on the public option, I was saddened to see some of the folks who discussed things fall into the common trap of using an emotional appeal in order to attempt to win a debate. Unfortunately, the entire health care reform debate has become little more than an emotional argument along the same lines of so many other political topics and debates. I won’t attempt to say that the GOP arguments are not also just as emotional in their “appeals”. The GOP is just as guilty in this tactic as the Democrats are. I am going to point out a few emotional appeals that are flawed positions from the GOP. And then I am going to delve in to the health care discussions here lately, and point out the emotional appeals. I will also point out where a few of them are fatally flawed. But what I would like to do is point out to everyone that these emotional appeals are quite effective rhetoric, but completely useless against those who use reason and logic as their starting point.

More Media Bias and Marginalizing American Sentiment

What would happen if that creepy “Sham Wow” pitch guy had an audience that called him out on the things a critical viewer notices in his sham of a commercial? What if someone pointed out during the commercial that that piece of rug he just showed wasn’t the same one that he had just poured the soda on (or pointed out that he shouldn’t beat up prostitutes?) ? Last week, when I had time, I was following the happenings of the supposed “town hall” meetings that were happening throughout the country. With Congress in recess, members were back in their districts “getting in touch with their people” (read as: doing more personal Sham Wow commercials for health care BS). I think that the answer to what would happen to the Sham Wow guy is being shown to us each day at these town hall meetings. I know my liberal friends here are going to cry foul, but I am personally tiring of every public outcry against the policies of this administration being labeled as either “right wing extremists” or “GOP plants that are not the feelings of regular voters”…..

Stealth Legislation as a Positive?

As I mentioned the other night, I have my son with me for the summer, and while it hasn’t affected much the last couple of weeks, that won’t always be the case. Over the next three remaining weeks of his time here, there may be several nights where I choose to spend time with him as opposed to spending 4 hours writing an article. Just figured I would let everyone know why some nights might end up with no article, or limited amounts of my own thoughts, such as tonight. I was using my very limited time this evening to read a lot of articles on different subjects, hoping I would find something early to research and then write about. I stumbled across this article on the Huffington Post website. The headline jumped out at me and I couldn’t resist reading it. And as I did I became more and more annoyed at the blatant disregard for integrity or honesty from government….

Why The Hate for Sarah Palin?

I have been trying to go back and read some of the comments that I missed while I was on vacation. One thing that struck me was the hatred some espoused for Sarah Palin. I was literally reading it and saying to myself, “What the hell is this all about?” I understand she is a conservative. But it seems that the left has really strong hate for this woman. And I simply cannot figure out why. I mean, I have read all the same stuff. I have followed politics quite closely since well before she even entered politics. And I simply cannot figure out why the left hates her so much. She isn’t like Pelosi, who makes statements and pushes partisanship so blatantly and who is so far in left field that a ball that rolls to her has already long left the park. So I can’t figure it out. So I am going to talk a bit about Sarah, and maybe some of you on the left can help me understand your hatred for a woman who seems normal to me.

The Reality of Taxing the “Rich”

We have all heard plenty of talking points over the last year or so from the left about getting the rich to “pay their fair share”. Given the realities of who pays what in this country, that is a baffling statement from folks who obviously are appealing to emotion rather than looking at the facts surrounding what they are talking about. Recently in the comments I saw some discussion about the “death tax” and how it was the right thing to do, about what its purpose was, etc… But again I saw so many facts being ignored when that argument was being made. So I decided that I wanted to once again tackle the idea of class warfare and getting the rich under control, a game played by the left these days, but played by all politicians when it is politically expedient to do so. Because there are just too many flaws in the argument, and too many individual rights being trampled on…

RNC Chairman Steele Says GOP base is Bigoted?

I got wind of this and to be honest I was a bit shocked when I read it. Many of the readers of this blog would consider themselves conservative. At least that is the impression that I get from all the comments. We have a few folks from the left (which I would like to see more of), but a generally conservative base. I often comment that the Republican party is no better than the Democrats these days. And I know I am not alone when I say the Republican party over the last bunch of years has become a party we don’t recognize any longer, and a party that certainly does not get unwavering support. Reading about RNC Chairman Michael Steele’s comments yesterday showed me a side of the Republican party that is exactly why I walked away from them several years ago. 

March Towards Socialism Part 1

I was talking with someone the other day who had read my “Brownshirts” article and wanted to let me know how horrible it was of me to have insinuated what I did. They accused me of fear mongering and not giving a fair shake to the possible good parts of HR1388. I took pause to consider her thoughts, and eventually decided that I would write this post. Because I say to ignore what we are seeing is insane. I was not fear mongering, or even trying to make the President out to be a bad person. I was pointing out the realities of what is happening in Washington. Perhaps my viewpoints are wrong. But I would like for someone to show me where they are wrong. Her attempts were limited to basically saying passionately that “he just isn’t”. This is the mindset of the average American who isn’t paying attention. But perhaps one of the well read, smart folks here can enlighten me to where I am wrong.