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"Joe Biden pledges to give all Americans free NASCAR tickets . . ." |
Posted on 12/09/2004 7:05:11 AM PST by dukeman
How can 59,054,087 people be so dumb?" That was the headline in the British tabloid Daily Mirror announcing the reelection of President Bush. American liberals are asking the same question, concluding that the 51 percent of the public that voted against their man is just not smart enough to appreciate the liberal agenda.
New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd goes so far as to say that with the reelection of President Bush "we're entering another dark age." She and others are saying that a majority of Americans have rejected science (by which they mean belief in Darwinism or support for destroying human embryos for stem cells). We have embraced superstition (by which they mean Christianity). And we have become intolerant and oppressive (by which they mean not agreeing with same-sex marriage).
There was a time when the Democrats billed themselves as the party of the common man, appealing to the down-to-earth common sense of the masses against the aristocracy of wealth and privilege. That was before the party was taken over by the aristocracy of wealth and privilege represented by academics, special-interest crusaders, and "knowledge workers." By definition, those who consider themselves intellectuals think they are smarter than the vulgar masses. This disdain, condescension, and disconnect with ordinary Americans is the main reason today's Democrats keep losing elections.
Intellectuals think they should rule, but whenever they do, the result is disastrous. Plato's Republic imagined the perfect society ruled by philosophical "guardians," but even in theory this manifested itself in eugenics, immorality, and the elimination of freedom. Real-life states dreamed up and then implemented by the fascist intellectuals and the communist intellectuals also eliminated freedom, rejected moral absolutes that would limit what man and the state can do, and sought to design the next stage of evolution.
In a perhaps less virulent way, this is what many people fear if today's liberal intellectuals should ever get their way: Restrictions on liberties ordinary Americans prize (such as parental, private-property, and gun-ownership rights, economic liberty, religious freedom). The repudiation of morality (homosexual marriage, sexual permissiveness, abortion, cultural license). Experimentation that discards and seeks to redesign human life (the destruction of embryos for their stem cells, genetic engineering, cloning, designer babies).
But the question remains, are Americans stupid? Mental functions involve two different spheres: intelligence (mental ability) and knowledge (mental content). It is possible to have one without the other. Americans across the spectrum do seem to have intelligence, whether highly specialized mental abilities or down-to-earth common sense. They are certainly not so stupid as to allow intellectuals to rule over them. Americans do tend to be smart. Sometimes, though, they lack knowledge, or the knowledge they think with is untrue.
Many Americans, for example, think morality is nothing more than a subjective preference, ungrounded in the real world outside themselves. They assume that God too exists only inside their heads, if He exists at all, and that He need not be consulted in practical matters. Many Americans either know nothing of the past or believe that the wisdom of the ages should be discarded on the grounds that it is not modern. Many Americans go so far as to reject the very existence of any objective truth, insisting that reality itself is nothing more than a construction of their minds, to be reconstructed in any way they please.
Such a combination of ignorance, confusion, and hostility to knowledge is held today mainly by our smart people. It is precisely our intellectuals who are questioning the value of reason and the possibility of knowledge. We have thinkers without beliefs, fine minds with nothing in them.
In America's democratic republic, citizens of various intelligence levels can take part. In the Christian church too, people with the whole range of intellectual abilities can find welcome and fulfillment. Some level of knowledge, though, is important for citizenship in both the kingdoms of this world and the kingdom of heaven.
Americans are smart enough, but it would be helpful for Americans—liberals, conservatives, Christians, and everyone—to know more, to be open to truths that go beyond their own limited interests, desires, and preferences. "My people are destroyed" not for lack of intelligence, but "for lack of knowledge" (Hosea 4:6). —•
Yesterday someone posted to me that in a very short time about 60% of FR members will be converted. We shall see. If so, I will have gravely overestimated the abilities of the vast majority on FR.
The liberals are trying to make this look like everyone who voted for Bush is some sort of religious nut. What they are over looking is that there are a very large number of non-religious conservative. I count myself among that group. I voted for Bush based on conservative principles not because Jesus told me too.
Stupid? Bush won the vote of college educated Americans--as Republicans always do. Meanwhile, Kerry won the vote of high school dropouts--as Democrats always do. 'Nuff said.
FACTS. Now your in trouble.
Of course, it was the ONLY way to get it out of the hands of the unions and the fascist/socialist-managed old-line big companies. But there it is.
From today on we have to rebuild from scratch. Sort of like Japan after WWII. May we have even better success then they did. And they did!
Hmmm, if American voters are stupid, maybe the teachers' unions should be held accountable.
No, let's see: the teachers are liberals, so they MUST be teaching correctly...
Yes, we're all stupid. And yes, we all own guns. We also are into forced conversions to Christianity and hate everybody else. We all work for Halliburton and are out to conquer the world.
And weren't we supposed to put all non-white and homo-Americans into camps? How's that going?
Converted to what?
Anti-military,anti-Bush
It's going great! We call the camps "cities." Shhhhh....
Kerry's mantra, "I have a plan," sounded like a line from a soap opera the FIRST time he uttered it. Astoundingly, stupid liberals "informed" me, rolling their eyes as if I were the ignorant one, that Kerry would reveal his "plan" once he became president. That is NOT the way I would choose the best candidate for President. Quite frankly, it makes the DEMOCRATS look like Adolph Hitler.
They didn't get their message out because Kerry chose to play the pseudo-intellectual, examining every facet, angle and NUANCE of an issue instead of explaining, in clear and simple terms, exactly which issues he deemed to be priorities and which solutions he deemed best to deal with those issues. The best image of the Democrats that came out in this election season 2004, in my opinion, was the one that depicted the World Trade Center aflame while the Nero-like DHIMMICRATS watched and did NOTHING. God-like, Clinton played his saxophone and Kerry played his guitar, as they stood taller than life over the scene of devastation. Yes, the DHIMMICRATS have a serious image problem among the rest of us. We should look forward to a true landslide victory in 2008, and now is as good a time as any to make certain that this happens!
[P.S. And, in this festive season, the immortal words of a mall Santa (in MASSACHUSETTS - be forewarned, be forearmed) come to mind (and this is an exact quote): "MERRY...HO HO HO, MERRY...HO HO HO! Have a happy!" This is political correctness on a rampage, run amok and running rough-shod over our rights. One woman looked him straight in the face and shouted, "AND WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN DRINKING?" - as she stormed off into the consumer paradise with her caterwauling little ones in tow (a case of "I saw mommy DISS Santa Claus!). This is but one depiction of the ANTI-culturalism of the Left. "Sensitive" multiculturalism it most decidely is NOT. Proof positive that political correctness is the virulently fundamentalist religion of the postmodern liberal. The mother who dissed Santa is to be applauded for her raw, instinctive reaction against liberal hypocrisy and the extreme prejudice of secular humanism.]
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"Joe Biden pledges to give all Americans free NASCAR tickets . . ." |
Wow. Anyone who thinks even 15% of Freepers can be made anti-military is high as a kite. I suspect the majority of us ARE military, former military, or have a close family member in the military.
That's what I thought, many people are burnt out from the fight in this election. but the anti-military,anti-Bush, etcetc articles have really multiplied. There is a concerted effort to forget the War on terror and focus on making the American Administration the enemy. I'm not a gov fan, but I DO know who the real enemy is, for pete's sake.
I always felt that every liberal who wanted to move to Canada should be required to answer three questions:
1. What's the capitol of Canada?
2. How many Provinces are there?
3. Name 'em.
ping
"Many Americans go so far as to reject the very existence of any objective truth, insisting that reality itself is nothing more than a construction of their minds"
The "Matrix" effect!
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