Posted on 05/18/2005 5:04:29 AM PDT by Molly Pitcher
Huge chunks of the American population have been body-snatched by zomboid creatures from Canada, or possibly - shudder - Europe. That's the only conclusion one can draw from the latest monumental study from the Pew Center for the People and the Press. OK, it's not the only conclusion you can draw, but it's the one I'm going to draw.
I remember being horrified by when I first saw the remake of "Invasion of the Body Snatchers." In the final scene, one of the last remaining normal humans in the city runs up to Donald Sutherland, thinking he's completely normal, too. When she gets close, Sutherland slowly raises his finger to point at her, and begins his alien shriek, sounding like someone had dropped a hungry piranha down the front of his wide-wale corduroys.
Well, if you look very closely and study body language and speech, you may just discover that the liberals screeching at conservatives aren't in fact Americans at all. They are Europeans taking on the form of Americans.
According to the Pew Center, the less you like to fly the American flag, the more likely it is you are Democrat. The more you think hard work and personal initiative aren't the ticket to the good life, the more likely you are to be a Democrat. The more you believe the United Nations is a better steward of international relations, while America is a negative actor on the world stage, the more likely you are to be a Democrat. The more you believe that the government is there to help, the more likely it is you are Democrat. The less seriously you take religion, the more likely you are to be a Democrat. Flip all of these values around and the more likely it is you are a Republican - or that you vote that way.
Of course, I'm speaking in terms of statistical generalities. Obviously, there are a great many flag-waving, God-fearing, government-mistrusting, U.N.-hating Democrats out there. But they are the exceptions to the rule.
Perhaps the most interesting aspect of this study is what it says about class and ideology in America. And what it says is that they don't have that much to do with each other, which runs contrary to generations of leftish stereotypes. Poor Americans who believe in the American ideal of by-your-bootstraps success are likely to vote Republican. And rich Americans who cringe at the idea of hanging a flag from their porch vote Democrat. Wealth has become a poor predictor of political affiliation. The richest blocs in the GOP and Democratic Parties - Pew calls them "Enterprisers" and "Liberals" - are roughly equally affluent. Forty-one percent of both groups make more than $75,000 per year (though there are nearly twice as many "Liberals" as there are "Enterprisers"). The largest segment of the Republican base - "Social Conservatives" - make less than Liberals.
So what does all of this have to do with body-snatching Europhiles? Well, basically, everything. The ideas, assumptions and prejudices held by the statistically typical Democratic voter, according to the Pew study, are quite simply, European. Europeans believe in a strong social welfare state, for rich and poor alike. Europeans are cynical. They look askance - these days - on patriotic sentiment (hence the rush to form a new European nation). The church pews of Europe would make a great hideout for bank robbers since they're always empty. The United Nations is, in the typical European's worldview, the last best hope for mankind. From the death penalty to gay marriage, the more similar you are to a typical European in your political and social outlook, the more likely you are to be a Democrat.
We've seen this before. At the time of our nation's founding, there were a bunch of Americans who clung to European values. Today we call their descendants "Canadians." Up north, the government isn't something to be distrusted so much as something to be obeyed. For example, when the government told the people to switch to the metric system, they did. Our government told us to do the same thing at about the same time, and America barely even noticed.
For many generations after the American Revolution, the idea of emulating European politics was nigh upon heresy. It wasn't until Woodrow Wilson, who encouraged Americans to see themselves as citizens of the world, that borrowing ideas from the continent became fully politically acceptable. Prior to Wilson, writes Richard Hofstadter, Americans considered the United States to be the "anti-Europe." But it was FDR's New Deal which helped "assimilate the American into the 'European' political experience," in the words of Daniel Boorstin. George Kennan's childhood reminiscence illustrates the typical American frame of mind prior to the New Deal. When "times were hard," he wrote, "as they often were, groans and lamentations went up to God, but never to Washington."
So, if you're worried about the Europeanization of America, let me quote from the original "Body Snatchers": "They're here already! You're next! You're next! You're next.."
Hmmmm - does that mean we are going to be an islamic nation soon?
Could you please correct this? Thanks...
Pro European, anti American, pro secularism and anti religion pretty much describes the democratic party.
Yep!
Anybody who's still running up to Donald Sutherland, thinking he's completely normal is WAY behind in their movie-watching. >{? : ^ )
It doesn't strain credulity to believe that liberals want to destroy the society we have. Everything they say or do is oriented in that direction, including their ceaseless efforts toward gun control, gay marriage, repression of religion, infiltration and control of the media, entertainment, and educations systems, and unrelenting attacks on the Constitution.
I wonder if they studied the length of time a family has been in the US vs their beliefs? Would those who are more recent arrivals, say in the last 50 years or so, have differing beliefs that those who can trace their arrival in the US to 100 or more years?
Anyone have any ideas on this subject?
The enemy is here; it's the media.
Apologies to Jeff Foxworthy, but, here goes -----
"You might be a Democrat if you (fill in the blank)"
I'll start:
"You might be a Democrat if you suscribe to Newsweak."
Eeek.
"You might be a Democrat if you suscribe to Newsweak."
You might be a Democrat if you believe everything the media says is true and everything the government says is false.
You might be a Democrat if you believe the 2000 and 2004 elections were "stolen."
You might be a Democrat if you despise God, family and country.
You might be a Democrat if you thought Bill Clinton was the best president ever.
You might be a Democrat if you loathe the military.
You might be a Democrat if you voted more than once in the last election.
(Geez, I could go on all day, but I have other things to do!)
My experience is that I have people in my family, whose standard of living has always been comparable to my own, that are die-hard liberals.
To me it's a "common sense" thing; you either have it or you don't, but that applies mainly to the rank-and-file liberals, as in the Blue States. Those liberals who are "leaders" - pardon the overstatement - are fully aware of where their policies and beliefs are bound to take us, but don't apparently care, since they think that they somehow will be spared the elimination of their rights.
On the other hand, across the country, there are many democRats that think the way we do, but pull the dim lever at election time because their parents did. We have to reach these people, because we don't know how many potential Zell Millers might be out there. If we could work to restore a conservative balance to the democRat party, its resulting impact would throw many of the liberals out, where they belong. It would also force the Republicans to get back to their roots, because RINOs would be kicked out as well.
Well said!
You might be Democrat if you think Hitlery! is the world's smartest woman?
Shouldn't that more properly be read --"You probably are a Dhimmicrat if you believe anything in NewsREEK"?
You may be a Democrat if you believe hard work and self-improvement isn't as economically helpful as raising the minimum wage.
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