Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

No Laughing Matter
New York Times Opinion ^ | 9/11/08 | Judith Warner

Posted on 09/12/2008 11:55:38 AM PDT by gridlock

“You can stand on my wagon, if you want.”

I tend, when I’m not in big crowds, to forget that I’m short. In Republican crowds, I find, I feel particularly small.

And dark. And unsmiling. And uncoiffed, unmade-up and inappropriately dressed.

For the McCain/Palin rally in Fairfax, Va., on Wednesday, the organizers had asked people to wear red. I – unthinkingly – had dressed in blue, which was somewhat isolating.

I was isolated, too, because, unable to find the press area in the crowd of about 15,000, I was out with the “real” people. Which meant that I could hear everything from the podium and from the onlookers around me, but could see nothing...

(snip)

For those of us who can’t tap into those yearnings, it seems the Palin faithful are blind – to the contradictions between her stated positions and the truth of the policies she espouses, to the contradictions between her ideology and their interests. But Jonathan Haidt, an associate professor of moral psychology at the University of Virginia, argues in an essay this month, “What Makes People Vote Republican?”, that it’s liberals, in fact, who are dangerously blind.

Haidt has conducted research in which liberals and conservatives were asked to project themselves into the minds of their opponents and answer questions about their moral reasoning. Conservatives, he said, prove quite adept at thinking like liberals, but liberals are consistently incapable of understanding the conservative point of view. “Liberals feel contempt for the conservative moral view, and that is very, very angering. Republicans are good at exploiting that anger,” he told me in a phone interview.

Perhaps that’s why the conservatives can so successfully get under liberals’ skin. And why liberals need to start working harder at breaking through the empathy barrier.

(Excerpt) Read more at warner.blogs.nytimes.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial; Politics/Elections; US: Virginia
KEYWORDS: culture; culturewar; fairfaxcounty; judithwarner; mccainpalin; palin; pds; va2008
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-6061-80 ... 121-122 next last

Judith Warner

I am not in the habit of posting Judith Warner columns, but this one is interesting. You can see that she is really trying to struggle with what makes us tick.

Of course, she still has that Jane Goodall "Gorillas in the Mist" attitude, as if Conservatives are some kind of alien species. But at least she is making an effort.

It is worth a read.

1 posted on 09/12/2008 11:55:38 AM PDT by gridlock
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: gridlock

Wore blue instead of red. Tried to be provocative. YAWN.


2 posted on 09/12/2008 11:58:47 AM PDT by jessduntno (Time to move.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: gridlock
...as if Conservatives are some kind of alien species

To them, they are..............

3 posted on 09/12/2008 11:59:04 AM PDT by Red Badger (If you're not part of the solution, then you must be part of the government............)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: gridlock

Wait a sec, this isn’t an Onion parody piece type thing? This is a REAL column? Hilarious!!!!!!


4 posted on 09/12/2008 11:59:20 AM PDT by icwhatudo (If my brother-n-law threatened to kill my father-I'd tell his boss too (Just like Palin did))
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: gridlock

You know, there’s a verse in the Bible about the light shining in the darkness but the darkness not comprehending it.

Just thought I’d put that out there.


5 posted on 09/12/2008 11:59:31 AM PDT by unspun (Mike Huckabee: Government's job is "protect us, not have to provide for us.")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: gridlock

I’m thinking that there is no such thing as an “Empathy” class. Besides, if they could project well enough to understand how we think they would realize how wrong they are....


6 posted on 09/12/2008 12:00:02 PM PDT by Uriah_lost (Obama just woke up with a moose head in his bed....)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Red Badger

If liberals could think like conservatives, they would be conservatives unless, of course, they are elitists who want to be in charge of everyone else or they are people wanting something given to them by the government. Oh wait. . .


7 posted on 09/12/2008 12:01:00 PM PDT by Library Lady
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: gridlock
Good article, my favorite, Fred Thompson jokes:

“I hope they brought their own Brie and Chablis with them,” he’d said, to raucous laughter, as I willed myself to disappear, remembering, with a shudder, that my children had demanded Brie for breakfast only that morning.

FWIW, I wouldn't know brie if I ate it.

8 posted on 09/12/2008 12:01:14 PM PDT by DouglasKC
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: gridlock

I was at a breakfast table a few years ago visiting my journalist lib brother with his liberal friends when my table neighbor abruptly asked me, “you’re such a nice guy, how could you possibly be a consrvative?” Interesting mind set these libs. Sad, but interesting.


9 posted on 09/12/2008 12:03:11 PM PDT by downtownconservative (Intelligence sans reason is vainglorious pulp)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Uriah_lost
....She handed me back my reporter’s notebook when one of her almost-two-year-old twins, fixing me with a dark look of mistrust, took it away. “Liberal media, eh?” her solemn eyes glared. “Well, watch what you say about my mommy and Our Sarah.”.......

WOW.......Conservative children under the age of 2 sure have great vocabularies!
10 posted on 09/12/2008 12:04:40 PM PDT by stocksthatgoup (No Way, No How, NoBama)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: DouglasKC
Yes, you would. It's as bland as tapioca pudding. Definitely not Gorgonzola or feta or bleu, but “delicate” and has the texture (after you peel off the casing) of slightly stiffer cream cheese (without the taste). Sort of like caviar — bite, poof and it's gone.
11 posted on 09/12/2008 12:07:23 PM PDT by Constitutions Grandchild
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]

To: gridlock

The difference between conservatives and libs?
Conservatives see a right and a wrong most libs only see shades of gray.


12 posted on 09/12/2008 12:07:35 PM PDT by onlylewis (libs want a two class system, one rich one poor)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: gridlock
Liberals feel contempt for the conservative moral view...

Duh.
13 posted on 09/12/2008 12:08:42 PM PDT by Rammer
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: gridlock
“I hope they brought their own Brie and Chablis with them,” he’d said, to raucous laughter, as I willed myself to disappear, remembering, with a shudder, that my children had demanded Brie for breakfast only that morning.

LOL!

14 posted on 09/12/2008 12:11:16 PM PDT by Smogger (It's the WOT Stupid)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: gridlock
Yes but the following statement shows she isn't even close yet.

it seems the Palin faithful are blind – to the contradictions between her stated positions and the truth of the policies she espouses, to the contradictions between her ideology and their interests.

They always talk about truth but to them the truth is whatever they want it to be. There are no contradictions in Palin's positions and policies. She consistently shows that she walks the walk and her life proves it. It also should prove to Ms. Warner that Palin's positions have worked out pretty well in real world practice.

15 posted on 09/12/2008 12:11:22 PM PDT by BubbaBasher (NEW: www.HypocriteLibs.org - Tracking the Slandering Liars in the MSM)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Library Lady

You must remember that liberals are devoid of logic and reason. Their whole philosophical outlook is based on emotion, and as such is illogical from the start. They never consider the consequences of their actions or policies, only the fact that they feel good about them. Their intentions are all that matters, not the outcomes. Critical thinking is not in their toolkit.............


16 posted on 09/12/2008 12:11:42 PM PDT by Red Badger (If you're not part of the solution, then you must be part of the government............)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: Constitutions Grandchild
Yes, you would. It's as bland as tapioca pudding. Definitely not Gorgonzola or feta or bleu, but “delicate” and has the texture (after you peel off the casing) of slightly stiffer cream cheese (without the taste). Sort of like caviar — bite, poof and it's gone.

I have had that then. Went to a fairly upscale (for our small town) function one time and saw this stuff that I mistook for cheese cake. Big mistake.

17 posted on 09/12/2008 12:11:45 PM PDT by DouglasKC
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 11 | View Replies]

To: gridlock
Haidt has conducted research in which liberals and conservatives were asked to project themselves into the minds of their opponents and answer questions about their moral reasoning. Conservatives, he said, prove quite adept at thinking like liberals, but liberals are consistently incapable of understanding the conservative point of view.

Well doesn't that just say it all!

I have to look up this guy's research. Sounds fascinating.

18 posted on 09/12/2008 12:12:14 PM PDT by Claud
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: gridlock
"Conservatives, he said, prove quite adept at thinking like liberals, but liberals are consistently incapable of understanding the conservative point of view"

Gee, and I thought the left was supposed to be all about "empathy" and "understanding"...... obviously they do not consider convervatives worthy of any of that empathy, ever.

19 posted on 09/12/2008 12:17:05 PM PDT by Enchante ("Troopergate" = Obama Democrats Working Hard to Smear Governor Palin in a Non-Scandal)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: gridlock
Conservatives, he said, prove quite adept at thinking like liberals, but liberals are consistently incapable of understanding the conservative point of view.

I rest my case...............

20 posted on 09/12/2008 12:20:00 PM PDT by Red Badger (If you're not part of the solution, then you must be part of the government............)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-6061-80 ... 121-122 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson