January 5, 2019
It was before the New Year (and I had already made 2019\’s resolution [where I resolved to better deal with disappointment]) that I finally realized the difference between Conservatives and Liberals — aside-from-the-fact that being a Trump supporter means you are unequivocally racist, and, a non-reader (because the written word often yields truths that the spoken word belies)…
…Notice how I suggested that being a Conservative doesn\’t necessarily mean that one is unequivocally racist; or, a non-reader (though they tend to paraphrase biblical scripture alot) — it does mean, however, that they make their arguments differently: Liberals tend to attack Trump — and/or certain issues that widen the gap between the HAVES and the HAVE NOTS — while Conservatives tend to attack the \”person\” of the Liberal.
So, instead of looking at the severity of an issue and its impact on humanity e.g., climate warming; a border wall; police shootings of unarmed black men; gerrymandering; or, taking away a woman\’s right to choose — Conservatives use FOX talking points to disarm a-purveyor-of-facts — all-the-while protecting the status quo (the HAVES) at the expense of the HAVE NOTS.
Many pundits suggest that civilized society can only be maintained through civil discourse — but Conservatives seem incapable of engaging in scholarly give-and-take. Let\’s walk through an attempted dialog between a Conservative and a Liberal…
…First and foremost, the Conservative has to find out from which of the 50 States the-purveyor-of-facts hails from. If the Liberal happens to be a Californian — then it\’s the end of the discussion — as Hannity and Limbaugh preach from those \”holy\” texts that describe California as a den of inequity — which is rightfully punished in Sodom and Gomorrah fashion by an angry Old Testament god. (Neither can Trump let go of the fact that close to 7-million-more-California voters voted for Hilary — giving her the popular vote.)
The authors of such texts probably couldn\’t make it in California (people who Trump would describe as Losers). Yet these selfsame Losers still made their way into FOX scripture. Ironically, one of the Breitbart owners keeps a home in Brentwood, or is it Bel Air or Beverly Hills?
And woe to the-purveyor-of-facts if he has a college degree — you can bet that the Conservative will dismiss the institution of higher education as a dispenser of fake news and socialist leanings — and that the Conservative\’s own (usually lesser) education — is far superior to an education that seeks to analyze the many attendant variables that accompany any complex social interaction in the attempt to develop a cogent theory about the problem or issue. And if the Liberal is a Woman purveying facts — she is immediately dismissed — whereas Sarah Sanders and Kellyanne Conway are protected by Fox gospel (unless the interviewer is Chris Wallace).
Other Conservatives making blindingly stupid arguments — and not as well conditioned to FOX gospel as those who make their livings off of it — only need play the god card and quote some idiotic verse from The Bible (certainly the most authoritative text on the planet) that may or may not have anything to do with the topic under \”examination,\” and, certainly doesn\’t deal with the issue or topic in any logical fashion. We Liberals know when the god card is being played: \”But The Bible says…\” This is like that USC t-shirt that states: \”I\’m from USC so we\’ll assume that I\’m correct.\”
Speaking of socialism — I do agree with Conservatives that Liberals are a more socialist leaning people and willing to incur more debt than the Conservative might. But is socialism really evil? Were Franklin D. Roosevelt; John F. Kennedy; Lyndon B. Johnson; Bill Clinton and Barack Obama\’s policies (to spread the wealth a bit more evenly) — darkly evil?
Many political pundits suggest that Reagan\’s trickle-down-economics — although sounding socialistic — marked the beginning of the economic destruction of US!? The last major economic downturns occurred under 2 Republican presidents (Bush Sr. & Bush Jr.). I certainly don\’t understand Trump\’s end game…I would if it\’s Putin\’s…
But both Republicans and Democrats were Grinches when it came to 800,000 federal workers\’ Christmases!