Posted on 04/11/2005 5:33:49 AM PDT by OESY
If the Democratic chieftains in Washington really want a window into why heartland residents are tuning out our party, they should stop huddling with loopy linguists from Berkeley like George Lakoff and just start reading Frank Rich's commentaries in the New York Times. There they will find a perfect distillation of the arrogance and narrow-mindedness that typifies the cultural thinking of our elites -- and turns off red-state voters. In the view of Mr. Rich and his acolytes, freedom in our culture has been "under attack" ever since 9/11. Indeed, Mr. Rich has argued that this attack is being led by "new Puritans"....
Once you get past the absurdity of Mr. Rich's hyperbole -- vulgarity, joyous or otherwise, is hardly in retreat -- the implications of this mindset and the battle lines it establishes are clear....
I find the attitude of Democratic elites obnoxious, as well as intellectually flimsy. It is more than possible... to set some voluntary boundaries for protecting children without sacrificing the ability of adults to consume adult-oriented material.
One can only imagine how insulting our elitism is to the average mother in the exurbs....
But that is not a discussion the entertainment industry or its Democratic defenders want to have.... Their first move usually is to deny that the culture has any influence on attitudes and behavior. When that ludicrous proposition gets dismissed, the free-speech shields are instantly raised....
But it also flows from a profound aversion to making moral judgments. And that's the nub of the values problem for Democrats today. We don't hesitate to judge people's beliefs, but we blanch at judging their behavior. That leaves us silent on big moral issues at a time of great moral uncertainty, and leaves the impression that we are the party of "anything goes."...
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
This is doublespeak by the Dems. If they really believed culture has no influence, then they should just surrender their control of the media and hollywood to us conservatives. And we all know that this won't happen. We know they'll fight to the death to maintain their grip on these institutions. It's just too bad for them that they're already begining to lose them.
Can we trade Chaffee for Lieberman?
I live in a rather well-off part of Philadelphia and the elitism is thoroughly obnoxious here. Many liberals feel not only are they more enlightened and more intelligent than conservatives, but that there are no conservatives in their orbit! I'm sure most of them have never been anywhere near the heartland or the south. Well, maybe South Florida!
Perhaps that's why I prickle when some conservatives act like there are no worthy opinions other than their own or that intelligence is graced by God only on those who vote R.
Your so-called "elites" are clueless purveyors of hatred.Your leadership is totally without an agenda. You stand for nihlism and little else.
This leading female presidential candidate is a total comic book figure with no hope whatsoever of obtaining office. The "chickens will soon come home to roost" on her and on you.
Abandon hope all ye who enter here. All hope is lost.
bump
Every time I read of an affluent area that is stridently liberal, it bolsters my belief that there are two factions of Democratic liberalism.
The wealthy libs simply feel so guilty at their wealth that they subconsciously (or consciously) feign liberalism as a way to assuage their privledged guilt.
And then there's the working class libs, who really don't go so much for the social lib issues (like environmentalism, quotas and abortion) but are so jealous of the rich that they will believe and do almost anything in an effort to punish those who have more than they do.
Anyway that's my thoughts for today.
-In the view of Mr. Rich and his acolytes, freedom in our culture has been "under attack" ever since 9/11.-
It's not freedom we have a problem with. It's insanity we have a problem with.
The trouble with the left is that they have no conceptual regard for consequences; their ideas are shallow, built on shaky foundations, then after they've done their damage, they whine about the consequences.
Anybody got a WSJ username/password you would care to share?
My son...Southern born, Republican,and no slouch in the brain dept...lives in one of those neighborhoods just outside of Phillie.
"Can we trade Chaffee for Lieberman?"
for Nelson of Nebraska he is more conservative though i would also love Lieberman to come on board too
i was hoping Lieberman would get appointed to Israeli Ambassador or something so that the CT Governor could replace him with an R
sigh
one can dream cannot one ;)
Agreed, please share anyone.
Don't forget loopy ones not from Berkeley like our friend Noam.
Strength to him! Let him know there are more of us out here! And have him try the Rib Shack in Germantown. Funky neighborhood, but food just like home! (Oops, unless you are in NE NC, no vinegar sauce there!)
In 1965 Medicare and Medicaid were established. Both contained provisions for mental health treatment, but care furnished in state hospitals was explicitly not covered and mentally ill people under the age of sixty-five were ineligible for Medicaid benefits. These provisions resulted in the transfer of large numbers of the elderly mentally ill from state hospitals to nursing homes. In the late 1960's-1970's state and federal courts ruled that the mentally ill had the legal right to refuse treatment and could not be involuntarily committed to mental institutions unless they posed a clear and present danger to themselves or others.
Ergo range fed democrats.
The IMPRESSION????? There is no "impression" that is indeed what the Democratic party has become. Sexual Deviants want the state to give them access to children... Hey, no problem... Sexual Predators in the Boy Scouts? Absolutely... Mentally Ill folks with chronic and untreatable illnesses... Nope can't keep them in instutitions... put them on the streets. Think adults should be able to have sex with children.. hey sure, why not... after all its consentual. Terrorists aren't the real enemy... its GWB who's a Nazi... Want to quietly enjoy your property... Forget it... gotta pander to ELF and ALF... Want to control your retirment funding? NO flipping way.... Want to get your kids out of the failing public school system... Not without us penalizing the hell out of you you won't....
Democrats are a joke.. Jefferson would be spinning in his grave if he saw what his party has become.
Democrats are unable of telling right from wrong, and even when they can figure out something is right or wrong, find themselves unable to condemn it, because the wrong activities are activities being engaged in by one or more of their subculture activist groups that they rely on heavily for votes and campaign cash.
Partial birth abortion...homosexual marriage...teaching anal sex to elementary schoolchildren...calling 9/11 victims "eichmanns"...killing innocent citizens by dehydration...censoring religious speech in the public square...providing internet porn in public libraries...yeah, I'd say that impression is pretty accurate.
(Denny Crane: "Sometimes you can only look for answers from God and failing that... and Fox News".)
Very cogent analysis. I used to work with a 50 something woman (my secretary) who was a lifetime Democrat. But she was anti-affirmative action, pro gun rights(her husband was a hunter), didn't really care about environmental issues, supported some abortion rights (but not late term or partial birth). And I could never figure out WHY she was a Dem other than the fact that her parents were Dems and that is how she was raised.
But after reading your theory, I think you have her nailed. She was always very jealous of "rich" people.
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