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Democrats Go Off the Cliff
Weekly Standard ^ | 20 jun 03 | David Brooks

Posted on 06/20/2003 12:04:43 PM PDT by white trash redneck

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To: white trash redneck
They despair that a consortium of conservative think tanks, talk radio hosts, and Fox News--Hillary's vast right-wing conspiracy--has cohered to form a dazzlingly efficient ideology delivery system that swamps liberal efforts to get their ideas out.

Liberals have ideas? I thought they just rant and call their opponents dirty names.

41 posted on 06/20/2003 12:52:53 PM PDT by judgeandjury (The more numerous the laws, the more corrupt the state.)
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To: white trash redneck
Those on the bottom become vicious. Sensing that their dignity is perpetually insulted, they begin to see their plight in lurid terms. They exaggerate the power of
their foes. They invent malevolent conspiracy theories to explain their unfortunate position. They develop a gloomy and panicked view of the world.


The conservatives spent many years "on the bottom", and I didn't see this happen to them to any great degree. Yet, the liberals spend a few short years out of power and this describes them to a tee. Plus, they had all those years to form all those bad character traits of "those on the top" to compound the traits of the (new)"bottom-dwellers". This makes them double-trouble.
42 posted on 06/20/2003 12:59:09 PM PDT by whereasandsoforth
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To: judgeandjury
Liberals have ideas? I thought they just rant and call their opponents dirty names.

Liberals idea of a debate is accusing Conservatives of the things they themselves are guilty of.

43 posted on 06/20/2003 1:01:11 PM PDT by Bullish
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To: judgeandjury
Even a dumb idea is still an idea!
44 posted on 06/20/2003 1:02:22 PM PDT by Only1choice____Freedom (Once a soldier, always a soldier. They enemies of freedom never rest.)
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To: white trash redneck
As they rush head long toward the precipice the Lemmings claw and bite each other for the honor to be leader of the horde, the first to be crushed on the rocks below.
45 posted on 06/20/2003 1:03:52 PM PDT by Mike Darancette (Soddom has left the bunker.)
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To: white trash redneck
Not a bad article except for the obligatory egalitarinism, for instance:

And it is true that Michael Savage and Ann Coulter are still out there accusing the liberals of treason

Ann does not just make a broad accusations, she clearly states what she means and she backs it up with facts and logic and delivers it with brevity and a sharp wit--which may hurt the fealings of those on the Left, but its all in the truth hurts catagory. There can be no equal on the Left, becuase the current Leftist thought has, as Micheal would say, become a mental disease rather then a philosiphy.

The only Left wing "thinkers" who get any respect, must present their values through fiction and entertainment. Those who try to use reason always end up whining about how all views must be respected (paticularly in the light of their view being exposed as stupid and ignorant).

46 posted on 06/20/2003 1:06:26 PM PDT by AndyTheBear
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To: Dog
"The storm trooping witch just called us Nazis!!!!!"

Janet Reno is a troglodyte. She emerges from the dark recesses of the shadows, dripping pond scum and carrion crumbs, and bellows forth like a banshee on bad acid, all the while hoping someone, somewhere, will take her seriously.
47 posted on 06/20/2003 1:08:06 PM PDT by ought-six
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To: Kenton
Can't help remembering that a lot of us felt pretty much the same way between 1992 and 1994, when Clinton held the Whitehouse and the Dems held both houses of Congress

Me too! During that time frame I felt like someone living in an occupied country. Bought my first gun and mused about joining a militia. So perceived powerlessness does seem to lead to paranoia.

48 posted on 06/20/2003 1:08:17 PM PDT by Dave S
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To: white trash redneck
Terrific article. I did find this one part fairly amusing however -

In this version of reality, Republicans are deviously effective. They have careful if evil plans for everything they do.

That's a laugh. I have long felt that the Republicans in Congress would have a hard time organizing a barbeque.

49 posted on 06/20/2003 1:11:15 PM PDT by Cable225
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To: white trash redneck
Timely article. I just finished reading a columnist in a Buddhist magazine in which the author claimed that in the last election America "lost its way" and was "no longer the country her parents emigrated to" 60 years ago. The column was absolute drivel, easily refutable on every point by a high school debator.
50 posted on 06/20/2003 1:11:30 PM PDT by Steve_Seattle
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To: white trash redneck
I have long said that if you want to know the truth of what the democRATs are up to, you have only to look at what they are accusing the republicans of...so, in that light, let's take a look at what they're saying.

"This republic is at its greatest danger in its history because of this administration"

Translation: WE (meaning the democRATs) are in the greatest danger in history because of this administration. Truth: the real great danger for the country is when they are in control.

"George Bush's economic policy is the "most radical and dangerous economic theory to hit our shores since socialism"

WE want to get back to havng the most dangerous economic theory; socialism. George Bush is interfering.

"Tom Daschle condemns the "dictatorial approach" of this administration. John Kerry says Bush "deliberately misled" America into the Iraq war."

Translation: Our leaders always misrepresent and mislead, so it is natural for us to assume that yours do too.

"The Most Dangerous President Ever"

This is merely nostalgia over no longer having "the most dangerous president ever" in the White House.

"I am furious at [Bush] and I am furious at the Republicans"

Translation: "I'm not getting my way" (stamping his feet).

"Even when they look to the media, they feel that conservatives have the upper hand."

Translation: Conservatives now have a voice. It is no longer WE who completely monopolize the media.

"many Democrats feel that the climate is so hostile to them they can't even speak up"

Maybe that's because it is. I guess it never occurs to them that they might have generated all this negativity towards themselves.

"the people"

Translation: Liberals/socialists. Conservatives do not qualify as people and therefore are not deserving of a voice.

"NOW IT IS TRUE that you can find conservatives and Republicans who went berserk during the Clinton years"

One major difference, one was justified; the other is not.

51 posted on 06/20/2003 1:14:36 PM PDT by sweetliberty ("Having the right to do a thing is not at all the same thing as being right in doing it.")
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To: white trash redneck
The title of this post is not so terribly bad but, I am concerned they plan to take the country down with them.
52 posted on 06/20/2003 1:17:31 PM PDT by The_Media_never_lie
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To: white trash redneck
It took me a long time to realize that liberals really believe most of the things they say. I used to think that they were so hysterical and paranoid that it must just be an act to try to influence public opinion. Now it seems that they really do believe those things, and that is a bit frightening. If we don't share a common reality, if our actual perceptions - not just our policy preferences or values - are so fundamentally dissimilar, what hope is there for civility?
53 posted on 06/20/2003 1:20:11 PM PDT by Steve_Seattle
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To: white trash redneck
I find no real difference between the obsession of Democrats with the alleged failings of Republicans, and NewsMax's obsession with the Clintons.

IMHO it's just an expression of frustration that their opposition cannot make any headway with the general public.

54 posted on 06/20/2003 1:21:14 PM PDT by r9etb
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To: Semper Paratus
"May left friend doesn't want to talk politics with me anymore."

I was just in Kentucky visiting family and got into several political discussions. They are pretty much with me on most issues, although some of them think I am a bit zealous. My sister, the most liberal of the bunch (although she voted for Bush) got to a point when Hillary came up in the conversation where she said she was not going to discuss politics with me anymore. Apparently she was remembering the time that she attempted to defend Clinton back during the impeachment. Even my dad warns people about getting me talking politics. Hehehe...

55 posted on 06/20/2003 1:22:10 PM PDT by sweetliberty ("Having the right to do a thing is not at all the same thing as being right in doing it.")
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To: The_Media_never_lie
If we can believe Hillary's recent interview in Der Spiegel (discussed here yesterday), the Democrats quite literally want to destroy this country, want to subvert the Constitution and our sovereignty in deference to unelected, unaccountable international agencies and bureaucracies. Hillary seemed to be saying, "I am working towards the end of America as we know it, the end of it as an independent, sovereign nation."
56 posted on 06/20/2003 1:24:01 PM PDT by Steve_Seattle
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To: Dave S
Me too! During that time frame I felt like someone living in an occupied country. Bought my first gun and mused about joining a militia. So perceived powerlessness does seem to lead to paranoia.

Exactly. If you want to see something else, go on over to DU and look at the kind of rhetoric they sling at President Bush. It's pretty repulsive, but I can remember how we talked about Clinton in pretty much the same tone.

I got a useless degree in Political Science which never earned me a penny, but sometimes it comes in handy when looking at the issues. One thing I remember distinctly is that a sense of powerlessness leads to political alienation. Let's keep the Democrats feeling left out, it's funny!

In fact, let's give them a taste of their own medicine and adapt the language that they used on us when Slick was in power; let's start referring to them as "anti-government left-wing extremists"! Let's start referring to the Democrats as the party of the "Godless Left", to mirror their comments about the "Religious Right." Let's counter their hysteria by dismissing them as "Conspiracy Nuts". Remember when they compared conservatives to Neo-Nazis? Let's see how they like being described as "Neo-Commies". Cripes, let's unleash Ashcroft on some New-Age lefties with stories about child abuse and cults. Maybe he'll surround their Ashram and burn it down, and we can make fun of anybody who objects.

Let's make them squirm a little, it's entertaining.

57 posted on 06/20/2003 1:26:09 PM PDT by Kenton
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To: the gillman@blacklagoon.com
"Insults from the left are merely confessions."

Just what I said...in different words. (See #51).

58 posted on 06/20/2003 1:27:24 PM PDT by sweetliberty ("Having the right to do a thing is not at all the same thing as being right in doing it.")
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To: Dog
The storm trooping witch just called us Nazis!!!!!

Sure sounds like it ..

But remember, the dems are desperate because they are losing their base ..

Watch for them to go off the cliff even more and don't be surprised if they call for another revolutionary war

59 posted on 06/20/2003 1:34:22 PM PDT by Mo1
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To: Dog
The storm trooping witch just called us Nazis!!!!!

Ironic isn't it... The same attorney general who had American Citizens burned at Waco, and who sent agents armed with assault weapons into a private home, to make sure a little boy was handed over to Castro, calling ANYONE a nazi. It boggles the mind.

60 posted on 06/20/2003 1:36:57 PM PDT by YankeeReb
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