On Liberal Contempt Toward Conservatives

Discussion in 'Politics' started by Tiassa, Dec 17, 2010.

  1. Tiassa Let us not launch the boat ... Valued Senior Member

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    On Liberal Contempt Toward Conservatives

    I know there has been, and probably will be, much ado made about alleged liberal elitism, and how we apparently look down our noses at "flyover country" (a.k.a., "middle America", "real America", "Jesusland").

    But did it ever occur to people that it's not always simple, evil contempt? Did it ever occur to anyone that there might be a reason?

    In 2008, for instance, many of the same conservatives who ravaged Hillary Clinton throughout her years in the White House, tenure in the Senate, and presidential primary run suddenly cried foul when people started laughing at GOP vice-presidential candidate and then Alaska Governor Sarah Palin. Apparently, by conservative standards, it's only sexism if a conservative woman happens to be laughed at for being a complete idiot. And, come on, even that is mildly humorous in itself.

    In 2010, it was Christine O'Donnell, to say the least. I'm sorry, but just how do we conclude that, when laughing at a woman who argued that women are there to serve their husbands sexually, the reason we're laughing must be that we hate women? Mice with fully-functional human brains? She has special clearance above that of the President of the United States? She doesn't even know what the First Amendment means? Her primary victory was one of a few that cost Republicans majority control of the United States Senate? Obviously, we must be laughing—the only reason we could be laughing—is because we hate women.

    Anyway, speaking of hating women ... er, actually, that's ... I mean ... okay, let's just cut to the excerpts.

    Michael Reagan, conservative radio host and son of former President Ronald Reagan, published an article that is rather hard to figure. Some highlights:

    • "Our moms are being all but ostracized by a raging cadre of radical feminists should they dare to consider cooking for their families to be a major part of their traditional role as wives and mothers."

    • "In modern America, the feminists would take Mom out of the kitchen and put her in the drive-thru lane at the local fast-food chain (ironically, that’s verboten also)."

    • "If mothers would once again start teaching their daughters the time-honored role of family chef, and fathers would make sure that their wives are honored and cherished for making the kitchen one of their principal domains, we’d be a lot better off."

    • "Instead we have a First Lady who sees her role as First Mother not only to instruct us on what we victuals we should eat, but warns us that the menu at the local fast food emporium is the diet from Hell."

    • "If she and her fellow radical feminists would devote more time to praising and defending the produce farmers and retailers bring us, and less time playing the role as diet dictators, meals would be family celebrations instead of burdensome chores for the moms who cook them."

    • "Moreover, giving Mom a day off from cooking dinner by a making a family trip to the nearest hamburger joint would be seen as a gift to her rather than one of the mortal sins in an imaginary list of dietary commandments."

    • "A happy home is one in which moms teach their daughters how to cook tasty meals for their future families and dads teach their sons that one of their roles in family life is drying the dishes and otherwise doing chores around the house to lighten Mom’s burdens."

    • "Finally, women should understand and act on the time-honored truth that the fastest route to a man’s heart is through his stomach, and not always through the drive-in window at the nearest fast-food restaurant. That’s one way we can begin to put the family — and America — back together."

    See, here's the thing: I'm laughing. It's a ridiculous argument: We can save the American concept of family by sticking women back in the kitchen where they belong.

    Now, some might think it wrong of me—you know, elitist, snotty toward "real Americans"—to laugh, but what are we supposed to think? To the one, Mr. Reagan often presents himself as if he is supposed to be taken seriously. To the other, he publishes what can only be a satire of the political values he claims to represent. So, sure, it's funny.

    Because the one thing we cannot conclude, lest we be terrible, elitist prigs, is that Michael Regan really is that stupid and chauvinist. He wants a parent in the kitchen, then he should learn to cook and get his ass in there.

    No, really. Are we really supposed to take him seriously? Are we really supposed to think that the slow decay of male supremacy in our society is destroying not only American families, but the nation itself?

    It reminds me of Eric Cartman. ("You get your bitch ass back in the kitchen, and make me some pie!")

    And, yeah, after a while, hearing these sorts of arguments on a regular basis, some might start to think conservatives are actually serious about this sort of stuff. And yes, they'll probably start to hold such ideas—and the people who promote them—in contempt.
    ____________________

    Notes:

    Reagan, Michael. "Kitchen is not a Dirty Word". The Cagle Post. December 17, 2010. Blog.Cagle.com.. December 17, 2010. http://blog.cagle.com/2010/12/17/kitchen-is-not-a-dirty-word/
     
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  3. hypewaders Save Changes Registered Senior Member

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    Allow me to heap some contempt of my own right here, in hopes of leaving some out of my packing. Aside from sexism and the disastrous policies that conservatives have wrought (US conservatives that is) we also must endure (and one day overcome) their self-awarded patent on being authentic "Americans".

    During the looming holidays, many coastal liberals will be traveling into the belly of the beast. I often refer to my old Kentucky home as "Talibanistan" when it's time to journey into the dry county where we compulsively celebrate consumerism and Our Lord's Birth, and it isn't popular to play NPR too loud on your radio, much less mention any current events in a way that might not Support Our Troops by affirming that We Can't Be Wrong.

    I try not to show contempt, yet still register my opinions on the rare opportunities for informed political discussion. It's not easy being green, or liberal when immersed in a culture where "conservative values" are equated with morality and patriotism. It's not easy to avoid reflecting the contempt toward liberalism that is as thick as molasses in some pockets of the USA. If you are a liberal and suspect I'm exaggerating, then you probably haven't spent a lot of time in rural Kentucky.

    So as I pack gifts and socks and shirts, I'll also be collecting my thoughts for the issues of national and global import that may necessitate truthful but non-incendiary commen, like WikiLeaks and democracy. I'll be reminding myself to avoid tripwire words, like those beginning with the letters s-o-c. Any mention of the wars must be avoided at all cost, lest combat ensue.

    Contempt is not healthy going In Country: Let's be careful out there. Oh yeah... Merry Christmas.
     
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  5. delaford321 Registered Senior Member

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    Yes Sarah Palin and Christie O'Donnell are morons, but if they were allowed to spend the time it takes for them to fix their hair and make up on studying policy, they might be able to do something good for the country. Why do you think conservative women are hotter than liberals? 2 hours a day of primping means they lose a whole month every year. If you do the math that means that these hot women are mentally, a year younger every twelve years they are alive.
     
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  7. Tiassa Let us not launch the boat ... Valued Senior Member

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    The Cynical Sex?

    Well, as David Horsey noted, after the Palin-Biden debate:

    Rich Lowry caught it. The National Review columnist has been lampooned mercilessly in the last few days for writing this:

    I'm sure I'm not the only male in America who, when Palin dropped her first wink, sat up a little straighter on the couch and said, "Hey, I think she just winked at me." And her smile. By the end, when she clearly knew she was doing well, it was so sparkling it was almost mesmerizing. It sent little starbursts through the screen and ricocheting around the living rooms of America. This is a quality that can't be learned; it's either something you have or you don't, and man, she's got it.

    Yes, for some people, Palin's constant smile, her winks, her head bobs, her dropped "G's" at the end of words -- thinkin', doin', fightin' -- her shout out to elementary school kids back home in Alaska and her spurning of formality may show a disturbing lack of seriousness at a time of national peril. But those winks and that smile, combined with those high heels, tight skirts, nice legs and long hair, have clearly got Rich Lowry and a few million other American males thinking things they've never thought about a political candidate before. And it's not just conservatives.

    Or, as Bill Maher put it:

    And that's where this crew [Christine O'Donnell, Sarah Palin, Michele Bachmann] comes in. The lovely milfs of the new right. And their little secret is that their popularity comes exclusively from white men. Look at the polling: minorities hate them, women hate them. Only white men like them. I'm no psychiatrist, but I do own a couch. And my theory is that these women represent something those men miss dearly—the traditional idiot housewife.

    "Can it be," wrote Horsey, "that this year a few votes will be steered toward a candidate they'd like to have sex with?" Perhaps. It depends on who you ask. I'm sure there are both, those who think it a worthwhile avenue to pursue, and those who think, "What, really? You really think people are that stupid?"

    A guy I know (who will remain unnamed for his own security) showed me a picture on his iPhone the other day. It was Sarah Palin's head expertly superimposed on a very lovely and very naked female body. There are numerous images like that floating around the Internet. I have yet to see a comparable image of Joe Biden. Call it sexist, call it the work of males who can't break free of their adolescent fantasies about pretty females, call it predictable, but don't call it immaterial to the democratic process. As Madison Avenue proved long ago, sex sells.

    If you make it somehow sexy to someone, that person will be naturally more receptive. At this degree of political gimmicking, though, it is a somewhat cynical way to treat the voters. Next come the stickers that, instead of, "I Voted!" read, "I Got My Booty Call In!"
    ____________________

    Notes:

    Horsey, David. "Sarah Palin's Wink Factor". Drawing Power. October 4, 2008. Blog.SeattlePI.com. December 20, 2010. http://blog.seattlepi.com/davidhorsey/archives/150535.asp

    Maher, Bill. "New Rules". Real Time With Bill Maher, #193. HBO, Los Angeles. October 15, 2010. HBO.com. December 20, 2010. http://www.hbo.com/real-time-with-b...aher/episodes/0/193-episode/article/new-rules

    See Also:

    Lowry, Rich. "Projecting through the Screen". The Corner. October 3, 2008. NationalReview.com. December 20, 2010. http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/171291/projecting-through-screen/rich-lowry
     
  8. madanthonywayne Morning in America Registered Senior Member

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    This thread is a perfect example of liberal arrogance. The OP purports to discuss liberal contempt for conservatism, then simply concludes "of course we have contempt for them, they're a bunch of fuckin' idiots".

    And you wonder why it took a perfect storm (unpopular war, economic disaster occurring at just the right time, Bush fatigue, poor Republican candidate, first viable black presidential candidate....) to get a Democrat elected president? And why each Democratic presidential victory (in the last twenty years or so) is followed by a historic loss in the next midterm election?
     
  9. Bells Staff Member

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    I'm sorry, but are you suggesting that Palin, O'Donnell and the likes of Angle aren't a bunch of "fuckin' idiots"?

    Liberal's aren't supposed to laugh when Conservatives come out and say that to fix America, women have to get back into the kitchen? As a conservative, do you tell your wife to 'git in the kitchen'? What about your daughter? As a conservative, do you teach her that she has to learn to cook and be a housewife first and foremost? Education? College.. Nooo.. because to fix the country according to some Conservatives, her place would be in the kitchen cooking food for her family.

    Is it why Clinton was hated perhaps? She was not a housewife.. She was laughed at because she was not pretty enough, because she was opinionated, because she spoke out, because she was very well educated. Palin and co are laughed at because they are stupid. That is the difference. Their looks had nothing to do with it. They are laughed at by all because they are dumb as doornails and because whenever they speak, they say something moronic.

    And these women should not be stupid. They are educated. But they seem to have either left their brains at home or have lowered themselves to appeal to the lowest common individual who only care about one liner's and winks.

    I have two sons. They aren't being brought up to think that their future wives need to cook for them or need to do anything for them. They are being brought up to do things for themselves. There should not be an expectation that women are going to be housewives and learn to cook well, since apparently the way to a man's heart is a good meal. I mean WTF?

    The Leave it to Beaver ideal is hilarious. Not just because the whole thing was a fake and make believe. But because reality failed to realise that the mother was actually an actress, working and earning money instead of being home and being the housewife people expect women to be.
     
  10. pjdude1219 The biscuit has risen Valued Senior Member

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    than you don't know what true arrogance is. you know like claiming you speak for god or that only one such as your self can correctly understand the constitution.
    well no that was not what was concluded though your doing a pretty good job of trying to make the case for that.

    actually no, most of us liberals don't wonder why. We know know why.
    because almost every single presidental victory is followed by that party losing seats ( though in the modern era of next to complete control of media by conservative voices this is changing). thanks for dishonestly applying a pattern to suit your own ends. Frankly you conservatives think to damn highly of yours selfs. I as a liberal don't have contempt for you. I pity you.
     
    Last edited: Jan 16, 2011
  11. Kittamaru Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. Adieu, Sciforums. Valued Senior Member

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    Here's my question... when are we, as a country, going to wake up, tell our government to GTFO, and start actually fixing our problems, instead of electing a bunch of fuckwads to spend our money in ways that, generally, don't seem to get anything done?

    Lets face it... right now, it's all about cock-blocking the other guy, and it doesn't matter a lick if their ideas are good or bade, they'll get cock-blocked just the same...
     
  12. John T. Galt marxism is legalized hatred!! Registered Senior Member

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    Investigators say, there is no evidence of extreme feminism in your post.
     
  13. adoucette Caca Occurs Valued Senior Member

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    Really?

    That's a plank of Conservatism?

    I sincerely doubt it.

    Arthur
     
  14. WillNever Valued Senior Member

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    2,595
    I am always unsure as to why hicks, republicans, and conservatives berate liberals for ignoring what they call "America's heartland" or "Middle America" or "Real America."

    Most Americans live in cities at or around the Eastern and Western coasts of the USA. Most people do NOT live in "Jesusland." Therefore, those dumpy flyover states are not representative of America nor do they embody American ideals. Places like NY, LA, Philadelphia, on the other hand, DO embody American ideals.

    Get your heads outta the gutter, hicks. You DO matter less. And if it weren't for a bicameral legislature where you get two senators who disproportionately represent you , your fat loser asses wouldn't matter at all.

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    Last edited: Jan 16, 2011
  15. adoucette Caca Occurs Valued Senior Member

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  16. WillNever Valued Senior Member

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    Sorry, but yes. Most people in this country live in or around the east or west coasts of the USA.

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    Hint: blue is more dense. Yellow is not dense.
    You may not like it, but it's the truth all the same. "Middle America" means rather little, overall. They are not very representative of American ideals.

    By the way, much of "the heartland" falls within what is called "the stroke belt," due to the extremely high rates of cardiovascular disease in those horrible, horrible states. Maybe when they named themselves the heartland, they meant "heart disease land?"

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    Last edited: Jan 16, 2011
  17. dbnp48 Q.E.D. Registered Senior Member

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    The reason liberals feel contempt for conservative people is the same as the reason liberals feel contempt for religious people. Most conservative/religious people are embarrassingly stupid, profoundly uninformed and barely literate (look at the spelling and grammar in most conservative/religious posts).
     
  18. John T. Galt marxism is legalized hatred!! Registered Senior Member

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    Will,

    This is the peak of elitism. I like reading your posts, but this is disappointing.

    I can't say that I disagree with the premise that people are different from different areas of the country. Or that they aren't different due to levels of education and real life experiences.

    But to simply dismiss people due to geography is exactly why there is an electoral college & Bicameral legislation, if not for this elites would rule this country. If those elites held to principles of our founding, it might not be too bad.

    However, contemporary times have shown strongly that elites circumvent such principles to fit their lifestyles & opinions.

    Galt
     
  19. WillNever Valued Senior Member

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    Johngalt: if you think the electoral college holds true to the founding principles of this country, then ask yourself why it's democratic that in 2000 we ended up with a president that most people voted against... and who most people who did vote for him later said they did not actually like him.

    There was a time when the so-called Heartland mattered. Once, it was a vibrant agricultural center of importance. Today it is a low-income appendix with a disproportionate influence on national politics.
     
    Last edited: Jan 16, 2011
  20. adoucette Caca Occurs Valued Senior Member

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    Nope you said the middle "don't matter", the Map clearly shows that there is massive amounts of population outside the East and West Coasts, our lightly populated areas remains mainly the high plains and mountain states. Then the Political Maps show that far more people voted for Republicans in the last election as well, so much for your BS about only the coastal states embodying American Ideals.

    But if you add up all the states not on either coast it is equal to 140 Million people, so clearly they MATTER.

    Then if you look at the fact that in that addition I excluded all of a state if it touches the coast and included places like DC, Vermont and New Hampshire even though they don't, but still much of those coastal states extend FAR from the coasts (indeed part of Virginia for instance is further West than all of West Virginia, or have you ever been to Western Pennsylvania?), it's clear that slightly more than half of the country lives more than 200 miles from either coast, so your logic fails on several levels.

    http://www.factmonster.com/ipka/A0004986.html

    And YES the Electoral college holds true to the founding principles, or do you forget that this is the United STATES of America? It was never intended to be run purely by popular vote as it indeed remains a country composed of very individual States.

    Arthur
     
    Last edited: Jan 16, 2011
  21. Mrs.Lucysnow Valued Senior Member

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    I don't understand. Is it that you're saying that the whole of contempt across the board hinges on Pailin and the role of women? I mean was there less contempt (across the board) before Pailin? The great liberal, conservative divide is based on much more than whether a woman stays home and cooks and Pailin the twit. What about the two bad wars? The patriot act? De-regulation? Gun laws? Health care? Big vs small government? Pro vs con tax cuts? :shrug:

    Seems to me there is much larger room for debate going on here than little miss muffet and home baked cookies.
     
    Last edited: Jan 16, 2011
  22. pjdude1219 The biscuit has risen Valued Senior Member

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    got to love the right wing and libertarians always complaining about how if their policies aren't in effect the elites will run the country( which as far as I can tell by usage doesn't mean it actual dictionary definition and means something more like liberal or someone whose policies I dislike) when in fact for the most part they are the elite and it is their ideas which insure the elites will continue to control the country
     
  23. WillNever Valued Senior Member

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    Nay. 115 million people reside on the East Coast. About 50 million reside on the West Coast.

    There are only ~308 million people in this country, with more than half being comprised of the combined sum of the above two numbers.

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    Over half of republicans in the country do not live in "middle America." For that reason, coastal states continue to be more representative of American ideals for both parties.

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    If you don't like it, then just move out of whatever landlocked shithole you're in.
     

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