Why Americans Hate Democrats—A Dialogue The unteachable ignorance of the red states.

Slate ^ | 11/04/04 | Jane Smiley

[ClintonBeGone]

The day after the election, Slate's political writers tackled the question of why the Democratic Party—which has now lost five of the past seven presidential elections and solidified its minority status in Congress—keeps losing elections. Chris Suellentrop says that John Kerry was too nuanced and technocratic, while George W. Bush offered a vision of expanding freedom around the world. William Saletan argues that Democratic candidates won't win until they again cast their policies the way Bill Clinton did, in terms of values and moral responsibility. Timothy Noah contends that none of the familiar advice to the party—move right, move left, or sit tight—seems likely to help. Slate asked a number of wise liberals to take up the question of why Americans won't vote for the Democrats. Click here to read previous entries.

[conservativewasp]

BUSH RE-WON!!!!!!

[mmsturm]

Wow, with people like this leading the charge for the Democrats I'm starting to wonder if this is a fair fight.
Never mind, crush them now before they can wriggle back under their rock.

[gridlock]

I think they're really onto something here. I think that if the Donks go down this road it will lead them to victories and political dominance for the forseeable future...

Yeah, that's the ticket!

[mhking]

What makes libs think they have this divine "intellectual insight" into the minds of people?

Just damn.

If you want on the list, FReepmail me. This IS a high-volume PING list...

[joe_broadway]

Ever notice how all these leftwingers hate the Bible and always have to attack the Bible. She cannot understand the Bible so she hates it just like a communist would.

[grey_whiskers]

Listen to what the red state citizens say about themselves, the songs they write, and the sermons they flock to. They know who they are—they are full of original sin and they have a taste for violence. The blue state citizens make the Rousseauvian mistake of thinking humans are essentially good,

Her take?

Blue staters believe that Humans are essentially good, especially themselves.
The only exception is those evil, violent, red-staters, who are just full of hate.

I just don't hear much love coming from this woman!

The worst civilian massacre in American history took place in Lawrence, Kan., in 1862—Quantrill's raid. The red forces, known then as the slave-power, pulled 265 unarmed men from their beds on a Sunday morning and slaughtered them in front of their wives and children.

One little problem. Quantrill was pro-slavery...
you know, like the DEMOCRATs of that era!
Lincoln was a Republican, you twit!

And she calls conservatives ignorant?

[Snerdley]

Ignorance and bloodlust have a long tradition in the United States, especially in the red states. There used to be a kind of hand-to-hand fight on the frontier called a "knock-down-drag-out," where any kind of gouging, biting, or maiming was considered fair. The ancestors of today's red-state voters used to stand around cheering and betting on these fights.

Oh yeah, I remember these types.. didn't they make a movie about the "Gangs of NY"? Oh wait, didn't NY go for KERRY? Hmmm.....

[ClintonBeGone]

Wow, with people like this leading the charge for the Democrats I'm starting to wonder if this is a fair fight. Never mind, crush them now before they can wriggle back under their rock.

Exactly. Never give a liberal a second chance.

[Westbrook]

wayoverontheright wrote:

I think Democrats are dumb, and I have proof.

With all due respect, yours is not proof that they are dumb, but that they are irrational and illogical.

The quintessence of irrationality is to repeat a process and expect different results.

[SuziQ]

I think that a t-shirt with that county map with the slogan "Better RED than dead" would be a real kick in the teeth of the old time, anti-nuke, commie libs.

[SuziQ]

Those contributing slate.com writers are breathtaking in their arrogance and condescension. And they STILL are trying to figure out why they keep losing? So much for THEIR brilliance.

[finnman69]

Jane, seek therapy.

[NaughtiusMaximus]

William Saletan argues that Democratic candidates won't win until they again cast their policies the way Bill Clinton did, in terms of values and moral responsibility.

I had to read this several times to be sure I had it right. Is Saletan on heroin or what? I didn't realize that BJ's in the Oval Office were a moral value.

You can't have a dialogue with liberals, they don't speak the same language. Their heads are so far up each other's butts that they can't hear a thing. (In San Francisco, this is not a metaphor.) Hey, liberal inteligencia presstitutes . . . from now on, we talk and you listen, got it? So clean the sh$t out of your ears and get with the program ladies, OK?

[finnman69]

Jane is living in the world of these authors

[namvetcav]

How true. These Slate jokers are amazingly ignorant and truly simple. This guy's analysis is almost purely Marxist, and it's the vulgar Marxist stuff - as shallow as an oil slick. It appeals to union bully-boys and pre-91 fools. Leftist that don't understand Econ 101 and think there is nothing there are hopeless. That's real ignorance.

[conservativewasp]

"she hates it just like a communist would." You nailed it, they are communists.

[Another Thought]

I'm sure this chick's Missouri family is really, really proud of her.

[texson66]

The demonRats wouldnt know a moral value if it bit them on the a$$!

[knuthom]

The history of the last four years shows that red state types, above all, do not what(sic) to be told what to do—they prefer to be ignorant. As a result, they are virtually unteachable

The logic here is amusing. Those who do want "to be told what to do" are smarter? Strange assumption.

We don't want to be told what to do because, unlike Jane's liberal friends, we can figure it out for ourselves.

[gobucks]

Here is how ignorance works: First, they put the fear of terror into you—if you don't believe in the literal word of the NYTimes and Slate, you will go to prison as soon as they find out.

Of course, the literal word of the NYtimes is tremendously contradictory, and so you must abdicate all critical thinking, and accept a simple but logical system of belief that is dangerous, literally, to question.

A corollary to this point is that they make sure you understand that professors and journalist reside in the toils and snares of complex thought and so it is best not try it, as you shouldn't even dream you were gifted with as much creativity and intelligence as them; in fact you should trust them because they love you. Really.

Next, they tell themselves that you are the best of a bad lot (humans, that is) and that as bad as you are, if you stick with them, you are among the chosen. This is flattering and reassuring if you are ignorant, and also encourages you to imagine the terrible fates of those you envy and resent - the secure in Christ Christians.

American liberal politicians ALWAYS operate by a similar sort of flattery, and so liberals are never induced to question themselves. That's what happened to Ronald Reagan—he asked Americans to take responsibility for their immoral ways, and promptly defeated Jimmy Carter, who had told them, like all liberals will do, that America can't achieve what it aims to achieve. The history of the last four years shows that blue state types, above all, do not want to be told what to do—they prefer to be ignorant. As a result, they are virtually unteachable.

Third, and most important, when life grows difficult or fearsome, they (liberals, journalists, professors, and especially actors) encourage you to cling to their ignorance with even more fervor. But by this time they don't need much encouragement—they've put all YOUR eggs into their ignorance basket, and really, some kind of miraculous fruition (preferably accompanied by the torment of your enemies, and the ignorant always have plenty of enemies, thank God) is your only hope. If they are sufficiently ignorant, and indeed they are, they won't even know how dangerous their policies are until they have destroyed us, and then they can always blame others.

Wow. That wasn't hard at all....