If you find yourself tiptoeing around liberals when conversing…
…with them, if you catch yourself being careful not to arouse their wrath in social situations, you might want to take a look at this [hat tip: Dr. Sanity].
The New Neo
A blog about political change, among other things
yes, but the real question is how do you stop such abusers when they are entitled to abuse and backed by the state?
There comes a time when the only cure is the courage of your convictions. This is one of them. And the stronger it is, the easier it is to remain calm and present a reasonable argument–or get your interlocuter to indict or embarass himself.
Neo,
The fact of the matter is;
a) the republican party does not speak for all conservatives, libertarians or moderates.
b) the republican party created the mess they are presently in by abandoning any principlas thay may have had and feeding like hogs at the trough once they were in a position to do so. (I am NOT implicitly absolving democrats or anyone else of anything by saying this)
I don’t know who Ms. Donovan is referring to in her article but neither I or those I know who think the same politically, run and hide when a liberal begins to rant. I doubt that many of the reders and commentors here would fit into that catagory either.
I don’t engage every liberal that I happen to get into a discussion of current events or politics with. There is no point in trying to talk to an idiot. You might as well talk to a goat. However, intelligent & thoughtful individuals are always worth at least attempting a conversation with on these matters. It’s good to get feedback from another point of view. It gets you out of your comfort zone. Provided it is done in a mature, intelligent manner.
Perhaps Ms. Donovan was referring to that sub-set of liberals who are loud, profane, stupid and proud of it. (Cindy Sheehan/Code Pinl/Int’l ANSWER/Dem Underground kids) No, I don’t talk to them, but neither do I, or should anyone, tip-toe around them.
They are entitled to their opinions. They are entitled to state their opinions. However, stupidity and bad behavior is stupidity and bad behavior regardless of one’s political affiliation.
Bad behavior should be called out for what it is. This is more a reflection on the breakdown of what is considered acceptable behavior by our society then a political issue.
Tim P,
I would love to talk with intelligent, thoughtful Leftist if I could find one. Even when I was a Leftist many years ago there were very few of them. Most were not interested at all in my journey (as a Marxist, at the time) to examine the critiques of utopianism coming from the conservatives.
I don’t like the way they’ve co-opted the meaning of the word “liberal.” It’s current use is turned around into something opposite of what it’s supposed to be.
By the classical definition of that word, I have a lot of liberal views.
But I truly do understand where they are coming from. The sad fact is that they don’t generally understand where we are coming from. At least that’s been my experience.
If liberals are in the room, act like Mozart.
With regard to Liberal “friends”, slow disappearance …
Don’t call me, I won’t call you …
Keep the environment clean, I call it ….
FredHjr,
Your comment pretty well sums it up for me too. But I have met folks who I consider intelligent and realistic who call themselves liberals. Conversely I’ve met conservatives who are dumber than a box of rocks.
I tend to look at the political spectrum as a bell curve. The further you go towards the ends (left or right), the more extreme and uncompromising they become.
That said, I think maybe part of the issue is that leftists tend to believe in the untested faith of the ‘dogma’ far more than conservatives, who tend to be skeptical and look at the results. I always find this ironic because it seems to be almost a religion with leftists, yet the claim to be anti-religious. Or should I say beyond religion. Yet when you question their ‘dogma’ you are treated as if you have blasphemed!
Tim P,
Mostly I agree with what you said. About the bell curve thing, though, definitely true the “righter” you go. But most lefties I have dealt with were either uncompromising no matter exactly where on the spectrum they sat, or else really did not understand what they were saying at all. Most of those, if you could get them alone and talk one-on-one about what they really thought, were surprised to learn the platitudes they had been mouthing were not even close to what they believed. ‘Course, one has to be willing to step back and examine one’s beliefs objectively and be able to admit a possible error, two things which are not taught today, apparently.