Posted on 12/10/2007 8:13:17 AM PST by hripka
#62 - where your tinfoil hat.
If there is one major thing I would change, it is the Democrat in the title. There are conservative Democrats and there are liberal Republicans. Party affiliation is no guarantee of ideology. Since the Democrat party is the home of most liberals, and this is the way many liberals think, it is still mainly correct.
Additions are welcome.
Amen!
AWESOME. I’m sending this to every liberal I know.
While this is a good snark list, and quite correct as to their flaws, it would be interesting to see what the Democrats would need to do to reform their party, to again make it a responsible, if liberal, opposition.
1) Learn foreign policy. The utter black hole that is their John Lennon concept of foreign policy is not just laughable, it is dangerous to the country. So much so that it would be appropriate for the Republicans to subsidize instruction in foreign policy to the up and coming Democrat ranks. Otherwise the blundering fools will somehow bring about WWIII.
2) Replace socialism with pragmatism. If they really want to help the masses, they need to accept the idea that what works—works, and what doesn’t—doesn’t. Just because they accept the notion that socialism just plain doesn’t work, anywhere, does not mean that what we do is perfect. There are still any number of positive changes that can be made that have no foundation in 19th Century socialism. Just because a system is too complex to easily understand or control does not mean that it does not work.
3) Purge the utter freaks and wackos from the Democrat party. There are limits to inclusion. Insane people, pedophiles, violent felons, violent fanatics, foreign spies and lobbyists, and those opposed to democracy, should play no part in the political process. As a rule of thumb, people who cannot abide the Constitution of the United States and seek to overthrow our government should not be part of our system, nor live in our nation.
4) Personal morality, honesty and success should not be looked at with suspicion and distrust, any more than people who are immoral, corrupt and failures should be embraced solely for that reason.
This is a profound problem in the Democrat party. The party needs to accept that heroes and honorable people do exist, that some people are morally superior to most people, and that there is no grace in tearing down what is good and precious. Envy and hatred of others who are better is not uplifting. In fact it is among the worst of personal flaws.
It is not just the promulgation of class warfare, it is the neurotic need to tear down others out of spite. Justifying it by claiming that you are “trying to humanize” others by exhibiting their faults is the sign of a bitter soul and a fearsome inferiority complex.
5) Hand in glove with this is to quit the “false superiority complex” that is based in feelings of inferiority. Accept that downtrodden peoples are not inherently inferior, that they also have the capability to rise above oppression, ignorance, poverty and tyranny. The Democrats need to accept that such lowly people are not there for their entertainment, and can rise above their station. It is aberrant to not be able to enjoy your life unless you can feel superior to others. It is also racist.
6) Develop a philosophy that embraces a better future for all, that is not pessimistic, despairing, and is based in loss and deprivation. Prophets of doom and gloom, who wish to ride a wave of economic and social collapse to power, are ill suited to lead an optimistic nation. Accept that for the most part, the United States is not just a force for good in the world, but that it is one of the few forces for good in the world, and if it ceases to act as such, even for a short time, real evil will oppress many, and the cause of liberty and freedom will be set back.
7) Return to the advocacy of personal freedom for Americans as well. Democrats need less to be authoritarian and more libertarian. They could take pride in eliminating hundreds or thousands of oppressive laws and taxes, and of reigning in out of control intelligence and police agencies. Their advocacy of liberty could even expand to prohibit excesses by corporate America to individual liberty. A highlight of this would be to bring down monopolies and oligopolies that have sprung up over the years.
Good luck with that!
You forgot the "willing suspension of disbelief" that is required of ALL liberals. You can lead a horse to water but you can't make him think (at least not the back half).
Regards,
GtG
No need to apologize. The dead are Dem’s best voting bloc.
post of the week award....
“You have to believe that women in the USA are oppressed, but women in Saudi Arabia are free.”
I would change that comparitive phrase to “...but that Saudi Arabia has its own culture so it doesn’t matter how they handle women.”
Or something like that.
The Democrat Party left mainstream public policy positions decades ago and is no longer recoverable IMO. Social conservatives are no longer welcome evidenced by those positions held by Democrats in the US Senate, House leadership and candidates for POTUS. That is the evidence for my first sentence posit here. They won’t/don’t tolerate those with differing opinions on homosexual “rights,” abortion on demand, rampant social programs, anti-2nd Amendment, family values, and anti-God positions. Just ask any of them and they’ll tell you.
Thanks for the suggestion!
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