Tax Cuts Increase Revenue. Image from http://propagandaremix.com/
There’s a reason liberals look at conservatives like they might be insane. Often, a conservative will say one thing and then, almost immediately, contradict it. Pointing out the contradiction often angers the conservative who then accuses you of either being “stupid” or “twisting their words.”
But, because it’s funny to look at crazy people, let’s take a look at conservative contradictions:
1. There is no need to regulate corporations! The free market dictates that all corporations will act in the best interest of the consumer or be put out of business by the “Invisible Hand.”
The Contradiction: Corporations only exist to make money. You cannot expect them to do anything that will interfere with the bottom line. They cannot concern themselves with environmental issues or customer safety if it is more profitable to ignore them. You, as the consumer, need to be more careful!
2. Corporations should have all the rights of a person. They should be free to exercise their First Amendment rights and buy influence elections just like any other citizen of the United States.
The Contradiction: Corporations are not people so they cannot be treated like any other citizen of the United States. You can’t arrest them for manslaughter or negligent homicide even if they DID add known carcinogens to that baby food on purpose.
Ultimate Contradiction: Unions (basically, a group of people pooling their resources) should not be allowed to influence elections. It corrupts the democratic process.
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3. You should never try to organize labor. That’s selfish. Unions extort money from corporations, inflate the salaries of workers and give them unearned benefits like maternity leave and pensions. Union workers are greedy and do not care about the companies they work for. The fact that they are paid so well is a sure sign that they are wrong.
The Contradiction: How dare you try to limit CEO pay and severance packages?! Those people work hard and earn every penny they get, even if they drove the company right into bankruptcy! So what if they took billions of tax payers’ money to stay afloat, they still deserve those bonuses!
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4. All liberal celebrities should shut the hell up. They don’t know what they’re talking about and should leave politics to politicians. Liberal celebrities aren’t real Americans anyway because they’re from Hollywood!
The Contradiction: Here to explain to you how liberal policies are unpatriotic and probably illegal are Victoria Jackson, Kelsey Grammer and Jon Voight.
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5. The Government cannot create any jobs at all and can never reduce unemployment, only the private sector can do that.
The Contradiction: The Government has too many people on its payroll; we have to reduce the number of public sector jobs.
Ultimate Contradiction: See how many public sector jobs we’ve lost under Obama? He made unemployment worse!
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6. We really invaded Iraq to get rid of a terrible dictator and it had nothing to do with 9/11.
The Contradiction: Why is Obama invading Libya?! To take down a terrible dictator?! How is that our problem?!
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7. Osama bin Laden was responsible for 9/11 because he gave the order to carry out the attack.
The Contradiction: President Obama can’t take ANY credit for the death of Osama bin Laden because all he did was give the order to carry out the attack.
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8. Any journalist, politician or private citizen that questions President Bush during a time of war is a traitor.
The Contradiction: During this time of war it is our patriotic duty to question President Obama about every little detail of his agenda.
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9. Providing billions in tax-payer money to people in dire financial straits is Socialism and will lead to the destruction of the country.
The Contradiction: Providing trillions in tax-payer money to banks in dire financial straits is Capitalism and will lead to the salvation of the country.
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10. We must protect innocent fetuses by any means necessary. Terrorism and assassination is justifiable because we are protecting children!
The Contradiction: Providing pregnant women with medical care and proper nutrition is a burden on the tax-payers and we can’t afford it. We need that money to fight terrorism!
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11. Islam is a religion of terrorists! They murder innocents in the name of Allah and that’s just wrong! That’s why we’re better than they are!
The Contradiction: All homosexuals should be put to death! They are the work of Satan! If we cannot pray away their gay then we must do as the Jayzus commands and stone them to death!
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12. My freedom of religion is absolute! It says so right there in the Constitution! You can’t restrict my right to worship where and how I want! The Contradiction: Those damn Muslims keep putting up mosques wherever the hell they want! Who do they think they are?! That should be illegal!
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13. The Constitution is inviolate! Why are liberals always trying to shred the Constitution?!
The Contradiction: We should just ignore the 14th Amendment! It allows anchor and terror babies! We have to protect ourselves from the furrners!
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14. Damn liberals always trying to select activist judges that will just “interpret” the Constitution however they want to fit their Socialist agenda! The Founding Fathers knew what they were doing and we should also follow their intent, not just make it up as we go along!
The Contradiction: Citizens United? I think the Supreme Court did a fine job of interpreting the Constitution to fit our much more complex times, don’t you?
Edited by Sherri Yarbrough
Feel free to tell me what a terrible person I am on Facebook, at my home blog or follow me on Twitter @FilthyLbrlScum
What is missing from this article is the co-dependent psychological pattern of conservatives in believing drug addicts such as Limbaugh or alcoholics like Beck or Bush #43.
Alcoholics and drug addicts don’t know when they are lying even when they are sober. The denial of the truth (WMD’s ?) and lack of accountability is typical of addictive personalities and their victims.
Being a “conservative” is not a political position but rather a psychological illness.
I know what a contradiction is. I’m doing it to you right this very minute. What the hell makes you think a thought HAS to be contradicted? Where did you get such an asinine idea? Yin and Yang? Just because an intelligent thought is expressed in these commentaries, does NOT actually mean that someone like yourself is compelled by logic, nature, god, physics or the funny papers to contradict it. But that seldom stops people, does it?
Based upon the contents of your comment, it appears that you are primarily interested in being snippy, snarky and shooting for a sense of undeserved superiority. Let me show you how to do it correctly.
The Author of the article, who may not have had control over the editing, nor the Title applied to the article, should have used the words “self-contradictions” in the title, as that is closer to the meaning of the content that followed. Self-contradiction by an individual or a Party (such as the Tea Party maybe) is an inconsistency of thought or action directly pointing to the existence of flawed logic, if not outright hypocrisy in the positions of said individual or Party, which if you had taken the time to read further, is reiterated a number of times in a rather funny, satirical fashion.
Unlike you, I will tell the truth. I DO want to make YOU feel stupid, and if you are not somewhat dense, you are feeling that way as you read this. You need to work on your delivery some more, because you are not yet ready for big league hitting. Do you like apples?
Good try at erudition, knucklehead, but since when is it so wrong to contradict a point of view or THOUGHTS that are inconsistent? As for “self-contradictions”, you are the idiot on that score, as you well should feel to be since you are seeking someone use a redundancy that is absurd. “Crazy Conservative Contradictions” is a much preferable title for the article, Mister Know-it-All! Why be redundant? Jeez, do you actually understand the concept of logic, or English grammar for that matter? The original post was spot-on with so many good points, although I am sure I would have written it differently. As is the usual case for right-wingers, you have chosen to attack the deliverer of the message rather than rebut a single point made. I wonder why? No. I know why. Because the points are irrefutable and valid. Incidentally, next time in your Tea Party support diatribes you wish to claim to be a conservative, make sure you’ve read the Preamble to the U.S. Constitution before making such a claim. I am a staunch conservative, in that I actually support the BASIS on which that Constitution was founded. One of its principles was to “promote the general welfare”; another was to “preserve justice”. When you think those ends are being achieved by a government designing a system allowing 94% of a nation’s wealth to be accumulated in the hands of 20% of its population, you are seriously wrong. By the way, NO WHERE in our Constitution is the phrase “free markets”, nor the word “capitalism”. Who gave us those myths? The wealthy seeking to reap the rewards off the sweat of the brow of those actually working to create those riches. Wake up.
Great article! Could add a few more and loved hearing some I hadn’t thought about before.
This stuff drives me crazy with my conservative friends…
post on!
From A Blog to Remember:
George W. Bush during his six years as governor of Texas presided over 152 executions, more than any other governor in the recent history of the United States.
How had a man who killed and with such pride – so easily become the hero for people who rallied to protect the life of unborn children? How could all these people – good people with good intentions – be so blind to the glaring truth?
Doublespeak…The official of language Conservatives!!!
Doublespeak…The official of Conservatives!!!
I don’t ever remember hearing Ignorance is strength, interesting considering that liberals would rather teach the mechanics of homosexual sex in Californian Public schools.
War is Peace, the duty of a soldier and warrior is to work himself out of a job. We have police that carry guns, tools of violence, in the effort to ensure that we have a safe democracy and not having violent criminals rule over us.
Slavery is Freedom, the first republican freed the slaves, enough said on that point.
Tax Cuts increase revenue, see how much a money the state will get from taxing cigarettes at a hundred dollars a pack. It’s called the law of diminishing returns, you can tax something into death, you also take money from people that they would otherwise be spending. The same goes for licensure of the trades such as barbers.
Another point that I want to make, I disagree with all war into foreign lands that are over staying their original point and purpose, we killed Osama, now we need to get out. Real conservatives want the government to be extremely small, everyone after JFK has been a liberal and a Keynesian. It’s just a difference of where to grow the government.
My final point, this whole distinction between liberal and conservative is an arbitrary one used by politicians to divide us against each other. When the government is large our freedoms are small and our wallets are even smaller.
Lincoln wouldn’t be the Republican of Today; just like Southern Democrats all left the party after LBJ
Agree that Labels Divide, but Conservatives would be the Slave-Owners today
The Greatest Irony of All!
OK< first of all, you should understand that the poster with ignorance is strength comes from Orwell's 1984…maybe you should read something other than Rush sometimes.
Show me the textbook that has homosexual sex mechanicx in it. Seriously. Show any sort of proof other than something Rick Santorum said please. I dare you.
As for the first Repunlican, if you understand the history of the words republican and Democrat, you will understand that what was once considered Democrat at the beginning of the civil war would be what republicans are today. So, old Abe? He was a "liberal" who wanted more centralized federal power and civil rights…democrats wanted the opposite until the New Deal, which is kind of when the switch began.
Supply side economics has been disproven so many times it is almost a joke in most economics classes. If it works so well, why don't we have more jobs after all these tax breaks for the job creators?
As for the dividing, yes, I think it is wrong…but comments like yours make us more divided, not less.
I felt the need to correct you on one tiny point that kind of shows that you really need to re-take a history class… Abraham was a “republican”, and a republican in 1860 was a liberal… so.. he wasn’t a republican and the liberals in congress.. the “radical republicans” that they called them at the time, created a strict reconstruction policy that punished the south for the civil war. Within this policy, existed the Freedmens bureau . The freedmens bureau demanded that white landholders in the south give land to the freed men.. it also aided them financially, created jobs, and established schools for the newly freed southern slaves. This is obviously not a republican piece of legislation that you would see today.
One more point, however, that I found flawed in your litte spiel, was that tax cuts increase revenue. I would mostly like to point out, that this increases revenue for the people who’s products buyers buy from. That money… however.. stays with those lovely fellows, who often maybe will create a school and then die. Now, I don’t like war or destruction or crazy jingoist Americans so I would not like money to be spent so much on destruction, rather than creation. It’s like a quote from Eisenhower, which states, “Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired, signifies in the final sense a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed.” I believe that is talking about building up AMERICAN society and helping our people.. but we can’t do that without taxes, because taxes, these things we hate so much, and the government, those liberal bastards, are the reason that roads are built, canals were dug, the reason why I can go to school and the reason that the sky isn’t shaded with soot… and those liberal bastards are the reason that big companies can’t overcharge us and use horizontal and vertical integration to control all of the god damn markets and not allow small businesses to thrive and we would all eat one brand of food owned by one man… but luckily, the clayton anti-trust act was passed and signed by Wilson! But FDR can say the reasons better than me.. “The liberty of a democracy is not safe if the people tolerate the growth of private power to a point where it becomes stronger than their democratic state itself. That, in its essence, is fascism – ownership of government by an individual, by a group.”
You lack education if you have never read “1984″ by george Orwell, and will miss a lot of analogies made in discussions about government. EVERYONE after JFK has been liberal and Keynesian? You are either insane, or have never bothered to crack a real history book. Now, Keynesian economics have a proven track record of working when done properly. The Laffer curve and “trickle down” economics came in under, wait for it, Ronald Reagan. Who, because voodoo economics doesn’t work outside the cocktail napkin it was written on, did use Keynesian stimulus to grow us out of a couple recessions when more tax cuts didn’t work.
Last time they raised cigarette taxes, I paid 6 dollars more revenue to the government per week . Those taxes raised revenue. Cut my cigarette taxes 60cents a pack, OTOH, loses the government 6 bucks a week because I won’t run off and buy something I don’t need because the taxes are lower. Your 100 dollar a pack is silly.
I have no clue what the heck you are talking about with your “liberals would rather teach the mechanics of homosexual sex in Californian Public schools.”…as compared to what? This liberal thinks all schools should teach the mechanics of the sexual act to all students, along with contraception and STD prevention. Including the differences between straight and queer sex/risks. Pretty much because ignorance is weakness, not strength. In Orwell’s world, they taught ignorance was strength. You learned the properly biased history and science. The right wing is against teaching about slavery, Thomas Jefferson, global warming, evolution, or many other facts inconvenient to corporate and religious powers. No liberal thinks ignorance is strength. Go far enough left and make it a totalitarian regime like the old USSR, and yeah, that sums up their propaganda.
Please read some books and stop embarrassing yourself.
Dear David Fair
1.SOME segments of Islam and Christianity are fundamentalist and condemn homosexuality, David.
Islamists who are fundamentalist and do condemn homosexual are not, in my opinion, cool. They are human beings, they have a pulse, they have the same needs as anyone else on the planet has.
2.How, specifically, do you know that Obama “wants to keep [Gitmo] open? Where and when, exactly, did he say this? Do you feel qualified to guess at others’ motives and engage in petty parlor mind-reading?
3. I am the sort of tree-hugging, feminist, latte-drinking limousine liberal who believes killing is murder and the abortion of a fetus is not murder. The basic reason is that “human being” is two words and the word “fetus,” besides being one word, has traditionally had a different meaning than “human being.” Heck, they’re even spelled differently.
4. Attacking a country that hasn’t attacked us is bottom line immoral. Killing other human beings is immoral, so anyone who does this [Obama even] is immoral or else so out of touch with what is alive in others that they act sociopathic. And the guy who inspired the Nobel Prize invented dynamite.
5. A well-regulated militia is made up of people like Tim McVeigh, private citizens who own and use assault rifles and wear bullet proof vests, Dylan Klebold, Eric Harris, Jared Lee Loughner and other mentally ill people….
http://damn-art.deviantart.com/gallery/26982815#/d4787im
This article left out a great one: “The government should not be regulating what I do in my personal life; this is America and nobody has the right to tell me what to do or believe in.”
Contradiction: “We need a Constitutional Amendment to keep homos from getting married because *my* religious beliefs say it’s wrong.”
Wanted to give credit to the artist who did the pledge poster on your “Crazy Conservative Contradictions” article, Micah Ian Wright @ http://propagandaremix.com/
Do you know what a contradiction is? It doesn’t mean flawed logic. An argument or thought actually has to be contradicted. I don’t want to make you feel stupid, but you sound incredibly stupid.
*I only read the first one because if you lead off with something that isn’t CONTRADICTORY, well… I guess I can’t give much credence to the rest of the list…*
The first point was poorly phrased, but indeed, it is contradictory to say corporations will act in the interests of the country/customer and do not need regulating while justifying any bad things those same unregulated corps do because they are in the business of making money and have no mandate to do anything else. So sorry you quit reading then, you missed some good ones.
Perhaps we should not use the terms “liberal” and “conservative” for a time and just state what one finds true and why. When the Constitition and law are used for argument, the specific references should be sited. This will be hard as idiocy seems rife on at least one side of any disagreement. Let us discuss what a government is for, what a “good” government looks like and agree that whatever it is, it will have to be paid for.
I would say it is high time that people stop calling Libertine Exploiters conservatives. This continuing abuse of the political term conservative has gotten wildly out of hand and is being used as nothing but a masquerade for people who are anything but conservative to hide behind.
Stop calling Libertine Exploiters conservative, when they are not conservative in anything they say or do and their politics are as far from conservative as can be.
“cited” not “sited”
tgeer – that was absolute genius using common sense and BASIC logic like that.
I would like to add a few more contradictions/blatant lies, and maybe they don’t apply to rational conservatives, the problem is that the “conservatives” elected to office and appearing on widely viewed media outlets are not rational.
“The wealthiest 1% of individuals should not have their taxes raised because they are the job creators, and raising taxes will mean they can’t invest in new jobs.”
First, no one is talking about raising taxes, only allowing CUTS to expire bringing taxes back to the level of when our country was enjoying robust growth. Second, If the wealthy are responsible for creating new jobs, why is it that President Obama is getting the blame for lack of jobs?
“Government spending and waste needs to be cut to get the deficit under control”
Contradiction; Defense spending is not part of the “budget” and withdrawing any troops from conflict areas will not be considered.
“The American people have spoken with this (the 2010) election”
I’m pretty sure the American people are speaking again with the lowest approval ratings of some Governors, but I guess it’s ok to stop listening to the constituents once you already have the power.
Someone may have said it by now, but what about Cheney saying, “You know, Paul, Reagan proved deficits don’t matter.” And now the only problem with the economy is the deficit. And let’s remember Republican administrations built about 90% of the deficit with their wild spending and welfare tax cuts to billinaires.
You forgot one:
We want smaller government and government needs to stay out of our lives!
Except when it comes to women’s rights and gays
Courtney Lynn – I think you’re talking about neocons or fascists or just plain bigoted/controlling people, NOT people with actual politically-conservative views…though I suppose if you want to just further divide the country keep on keeping on…
Name one conservative president that wasn’t anti gay or anti choice.
Chuck – If I could name one ACTUAL conservative president that would be a great thing though IMO you could say exactly the same thing about an actual liberal/progressive president.
From everything I’ve read/heard/seen, the presidents in the past few decades have all been controlled (willingly or not) by massive corporations, etc so I’m not sure we can be so certain of their actual political leanings.
As far as ‘anti gay’ or ‘anti choice’ – who knows what lurks in the hearts of men? This is exactly WHY I have politically-conservative views; REAL politically-conservative views are color/gender/orientation-blind and support civil liberties for EVERYONE.
Yeah, I know – there are ALL sorts of crazy bigots out there who claim to be politically-conservative but trust me, they’re NOT…
I just fell off my chair and need CPR from that comment.
“Real political views” … that’s convenient. It’s a shame but ‘Conservative’ ideas go hand in hand with racism, sexism and ignorance. That’s why not all republicans are racist but all racists are republicans. And you see the lowest literacy and the highest obesity rates in states that are firmly conservative. It doesn’t take long see that. The gop would do well to find a reasonable fiscal conservative, but you guys keep moving the party to the right and trotting out far right idiots and asking us to meet in the middle. The right says like a mantra. But Obama is pretty much a center right politician. At this point Reagan wouldn’t even be a republican.. Maybe a blue dog. Next your gong to tell me that “Don’t tread on me” people are willing to let gay people marry. In this case “me”= white conservative christian and no one else.
You forgot their one hit wonder Ted Nugent, the gun nut.
All sounds for good except number 7. 911 was an inside job.
I really hate to think that our own government would allow innocent people to die just to push an agenda…… but then again I look at the GOP and what they stand for and they are willing to let millions of Americans suffer for their own agenda…. it is a very sobering thought.
Obama must be in on it then, I mean he didn’t blow the whistle right? Along with both houses, and the media, and well hell all the foreign intelligence agencies, and Al Quaeda, I mean wow, if you really believe that you pretty much believe that a few hundred thousand people have all kept a secret!
Hogwash.
Black Ops…..who killed bin Laden? We know it got done, but we don’t know who…and not many do. Not everyone has to be ‘in on it’ to be an inside job! CIA/Cheney/Bush Sr…all are secret keepers!Congress doesn’t need to know the secret nor does Al Quaeda…how shallow is your mind?
Cranks like you reveal themselves as potential psychopaths.
Want to know how?
People see their own behaviors in others. You see others, including your elected officials and police/fire/ambulance staff as capable of ordering and/or executing a massive terrorist attack on their own citizens and keeping it secret for years. This shows that you feel other people are quite easily capable of killing thousands and not regretting it for years, which implies that you would be able to kill thousands and never mention it to anyone.
I hope you learn your lesson, psychopath. Seek help before you become what you think your fellow citizens are.
WOW – that is quite the logical fallacy you presented there James, do you normally have discussions based solely on strawmen or do you sometimes actually discuss things with facts and legitimate points?
Straight-up abuse, name-calling and violent rhetoric directed at others on a public forum is generally referred to as trolling; is that what you were going for??
thinks we could ask the ‘default secessionists”:
Are You Aware of GOP/TeaParty strategy to “secede by default?” How will we transfer power w/ defunct gov.?
How are we to transfer power peacefully and w/o outright question in defunct State?
If You are wrong about the debt ceiling and the consequence of Default, will you resign?
ll Are people capable of effectively governing people? Or is the current Admin. Illegal Under God?
l Some people say they are Christians. How do I know You are? Why Should I care?
Are states Already allowed to punish miscarriage as abortion, as a States Right not delegated to the Federal Gov.?
Are black (not-white) people marked by their skin as sinners? Some sects of your religion and others believe this.
Are you ashamed of your Parties silence, and thus acquiescence, towards Congressman Alan West, in light of his blatantly sexist, rude, and abusive remarks?
The strategy all along was to end the tyrannical government, no? http://www.rollcall.com/issues/56_53/-201050-1.html What is that?-Seinfeld.
—Also useful?
Fascist Christian Anarchist Nativist Idiocy Number One: Hold Both sides of Irritatingly Wrong Position
two: blame you for confusing the issue
three: ignore any ANY ANY ANY piece of relevant information
four: invoke the Christian God as the only authority and the flag as His ass-rag
five: ignore reality when presented by anyone without the same failed philosophy- that’s both Fascist and Distorted…
six: having deprived you of Your Identity they bully You with their Factual Opinion…but
seven: education is not allowed. Anyone claiming expertise or displaying critical thinking is expelled and ostracized. This allows the Right Society to…
eight: scare tactics intended to convert any on the fence or love-loving people who hear Jesus and weep for their mother
nine: return to flipping/projection, so you are the one who is challenging Their Christian Dogma-HOW DARE YOU!
10: in always being right, and conflating bullying with violence, and disagreement with bullying, weakness, we are now lefty godhaters who deserve to be incarcerated before we further damage God’s American Kingdom OnEarth…there will be more, *’s. There will be more. This has been a message for the sane. Love, Soup
David, the only difference is you’re assuming that Obama and Democrats who’ve said these things or made these decisions are liberals. There are more than two ideologies in this country believe it or not. And you’re assuming that voters who call themselves liberals actually agree with anything Obama is doing. Liberals are in no way united even on the definition of Liberal which used to just mean liberty and rights for the people instead of just for those in power.
John L. – great points and IMO we should follow this advice when discussing ALL views (and NOT make sweeping generalizations about liberals OR conservatives).
Furthermore (IMO) we should NOT try to smear whole groups of people with bigoted/ignorant BS (such as the bulk of the above list) unless we’re actually TRYING to further divide people; if that’s the case then I guess carry on 8^)
You forgot a couple:
15. We’ve got too much government! Too many regulations!
Contradiction: The government should decide who you love and marry; the government should be able to send you to prison because you had a miscarriage; the IRS should be able to question you about being raped.
16. We’re spending too much! Reduce the deficit, whatever it takes!
Contradiction: The entire Presidency of George W. Bush.
Brightwater – most politically-conservative people that I know/have spoken at length to about their views (probably a few hundred since I have been involved with quite a few groups whose focus is somehow related to politically-conservative views) would be EXTREMELY upset that you are lying/ignorant about their views…the following are the actual conservative views as I’ve come to understand them (keeping in mind that I actually speak to real people and generally don’t watch corporate media):
15: The gov’t should be OUT of the marriage ‘business’ and should stay out of people’s personal lives. From a governmental standpoint, marriage is a contract between 2 adults (regardless of gender, etc) – one of govt’s roles is to act as an arbiter in matters of contract but that’s about the extent of its role as it relates to marriage. The IRS is questionable at best and should probably be phased out ASAP. The tax code as it stands is much too complicated and favors the weatlhy/massive corporations over the middle/lower classes…yet another reason that the IRS should be either completely overhauled or phased out.
16. We ARE spending too much; government spending should be sustainable (much like your home budget). Sustainable monetary policy starts with cutting military costs by about 80% (we have almost 1000 military bases in over 130 countries and are attacking sovereign nations on multiple fronts – NONE of this makes us safer and in fact creates/inspires extreme ill-will towards America). Subsidies for the petroleum industry should be cut; renewable energy has NOT been able to compete for decades because of the tax dollars that the petroleum industry has been handed by its puppets in government. Social programs should be examined & streamlined but not cut out altogether. The states should probably handle social programs more so than the federal government (something that they could probably afford to do if the unsustainable tax burden imposed by the federal government were removed).
George W. Bush was N O T a conservative (though he made some conservative rumblings in his first campaign).
Maybe you are confusing neocons with real conservatives???
one thing that I meant to include re: sustainable monetary policy – the privately-owned Federal Reserve needs to be audited ASAP and potentially decoupled from our currency flow. As it stands now; private bankers are able to directly influence markets by injecting liquidity whenever they like (ie: printing currency which we then owe interest on). IMO this is WAY too much power over markets for private bankers (you know – institutions such as Goldman-Sachs, Citigroup, etc etc) to have and should be controlled by the treasury & Congress.
You really should try to get an education in economics. You have been misinformed by the internet. Stop going to conspiracy theorist websites and spend that time studying economics. When you have learned how wrong you are, come back and thank me.
James – what exactly would I thank you for, making baseless accusations against me?
Do you have any specifics to reference or are you just going to spew ad hominem attacks?
liberals/conservatives/etc/etc/ad nauseum…are you people REALLY this stupid to think that EVERYONE who self-identifies as ‘liberal’ or ‘conservative’ believes ONLY what your foolish lists state?
You people are either completely ignorant or have a vested interest in further dividing good Americans with some sort of false right vs. left theater…why not put your energy into helping people find common ground instead of making sweeping generalizations about the ‘other side’ while blinding yourself with fawning hero-worship?
Just a thought…I suppose you could always just go back to making the world a more miserable place instead.
Actually, Joel, I have heard almost all of those points made by conservatives, in public, though not in the exact same words, nor back-to-back as they are assembled here. Bad logic is bad logic.
Well, Brightwater perhaps your ‘conservative’ friends are socially-conservative (or actually NOT conservative at all) or just confused?
My issue is with the divisive BS that is spewed, especially as it relates to people who may happen to have a different view on the role of government…there is a TON of common ground to be found but posting a bunch of illogical/racist/hate-filled stuff and claiming that people with opposing views on government ALL hold these views is either extremely ignorant or intellectually dishonest.
The country is filled with people who have differing opinions on the role of government; most of them want to work together as Americans to come up with solutions NOT throw epithets around and constantly bicker about differences (most of them are also NOT the racist, hate-filled bigots that the media wants you to believe they are). Helping the corporate-owned media to further divide the country is borderline evil IMO since we sit locked in a nasty stalemate while TPTB continue to poison, murder and imprison for corporate profit.
If you think that most democrat politicians are better in this regards (being owned by massive corporations that poison, murder & imprison) than most republican politicians you have not been paying attention for the past 9 or so decades…
We can either sit on our asses and throw bile at the ‘other side’ or we can ignore the theater being fed to us by the same corporations who wreck the world and work towards finding strength in common ground…
Yep, anybody who is honest at all will tell you they have heard the above contradictions many, many times. That is what makes this such an interesting piece-because it speaks to those of us who are sick of it! Does that mean that all “conservatives” are guilty of it? No. In fact, imo, the Republican party today bears no, and I mean ZERO resemblance to the GOP of the past. The party of today, the one this piece is about will likely draw out a lot of people who are immediately defensive because they see themselves in it and don’t like it. I know there are many representatives of the “real” Republican party that know that this is directed at the current crazies and since they feel the same way we do and recognize them for what they are, they don’t get too bent out of shape since they know they are not in this group. We miss those reasonable Republicans.
I tend to agree with you Colleen and would add that we’re STILL here! (ie: the civil/moderate ‘conservative’ types…from a political standpoint of course!)
All the more reason for people to STOP making sweeping generalizations and/or engage in name-calling about ‘conservatives’ ‘liberals’ ‘repubs’ ‘dems’ etc and to SPEAK IN SPECIFICS (sorry, I’m not yelling at you Colleen but just very passionate about getting people to work together civilly!)
Thanks for making a great point!
Some good points but too many of your arguments are flawed and other arguments could have been better made
Liberal contradictions:
1. Christians are evil because they condemn homosexuality! Contradiction: So does Islam, but those guys are cool.
2. Gitmo prison is illegal, a black eye on American foreign relations and should be closed immediately. Contradiction: Unless Obama wants to keep it open.
3. The death penalty is MURDER! Contradiction: Abortion is a woman’s right.
4. Attacking a country that hasn’t attacked us first is shameful and illegal. Contradiction: Obama has bombed 6 countries since receiving his Nobel peace prize.
5. The Constitution says I have the right to free speech. Contradiction: I don’t care what the Constitution says – handguns should be illegal.
I always like to see children trying to assert themselves. It’s cute.
I always like to see someone stumped for an intelligent response, so the resort to name calling. It’s cute.
Oh ya, well you’re a smelly poopyface.
#1 is a false claim. Liberals are quite willing to condemn Islam, as I am sure you are aware, and that makes you a liar.
#2 is a false claim. Plenty of liberals are basing their decision to not vote for Obama again on Gitmo. That fact is quite obvious to anyone who pays attention. Again, you are caught in a lie.
#3 is equating a fetus with a human being and yet a miscarriage does not require a funeral. Dead people are legally required to have their bodies disposed of in an approved manner. Fetuses are not. The difference between the two is clear in law.
#4 is another misrepresentation of liberal thought. Straw men are easy to detect aren’t they? Why can’t you see them?
#5: Handguns are not speech. Very simple, right? Guns are not words. This is another attempt to trick people with false claims.
How’d I do?
Here’s a tip: honest opinions will never require you to lie to defend them. It is only when you are perfectly aware that you can’t defend yourself honestly that people will take the lie-first mentality and I can’t find any other way to take your 5 for 5 record on lies.
Have you actually thought through your own opinions or did you just absorb them from friend and family, never actually understanding what they meant?
Stick to the truth next time. You might learn something about yourself at the very least.
Missed on #5. Both free speech and right to bear arms are in the Bill of Rights. David didn’t equate guns to words, he just pointed out that modern “liberals” seem to only like some parts of the Constitution.
Now it’s someone else’s turn to point out which parts of the constitution the “conservatives” don’t like. First one to say “all of it” looses!
The gun and speech argument is weak. How about reasonable people are for gun control. Which to reasonable people means that people can own guns but there are reasonable regulations on their purchase and ownership. For instance, guns aren’t allowed in certain places because there’s really no reason anyone should want to carry one, say, into a library unless they want to kill someone or shoot up the books. For another example, the type of guns we own should be regulated because well, the people who want to own oozies generally aren’t your average hunter or marksman, they’re more like a gang member or terrorist. Furthermore beyond that, ANYONE can buy a gun at a gun show, even terrorist. So being reasonable, I ask for reasonable rules for our society to live by regarding all things, including guns. Reasonable means that the rule doesn’t infringe on anyone’s right nor does it allow for free for all lawless abandon. – I hope I made a small amount of sense. Over the last thirty years our country has become so deregulated there are no more social rules in place to keep people from damaging others. Society, like teenagers and children, need rules and boundaries so that they can function well.
1. Christians are evil because they are sdo hypocritical, and so are the muslims.
2. Gitmo should be closed because it violates the constitutional principle of the right to a fair trial. But when bush dumped the problem in his lap, Obama had the option to close the cam and send all the prisoners to america for trial when they really have no evidence to try most of them, or turn them loose and let them all go back where they came from. Imagine the hue and cry from the right THEN!
3.The death penaly is NOT murder, It is justifiable homicide carried out thru the legal processes and is specifically included in the constitution.
4. Abortion is not murder because the supreme court ruled that HUMAN life begins somewhere in the second trimester when a fetus becomes viable outside the womb. So the govt has no right to prohibit first trimester abortions. The states have the right to regulate 2nd trimester abortions and prohibit 3rd timester abortions unless it would jeopardize the life or health of the mother.
4. Obama was handed 2 full scale wars when he took office. No one said it was illegal to attack a country that hasnt attacked us, not even the UN. Every country has the right to protect itself from terrorists operating in foreign countries. The question is- is it worth the price?
5. The constitution gives you the right to bear arms as part of a well regulated militia. The govt certainly has the right to regulate what KIND of arms you can own, such as atom bombs, cruise missiles, tanks, and yes even handguns. The govt certainly has the right to insure that all handguns are REGISTERED in order to regulate the militia, or even to ban handguns if necessary. But i dont see the democrats trying to ban guns at all. Daddy Bush DID ban certain “assault” rifles though. And that was constitutional! wasnt it?
“A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”
Sorry, but no where in that sentence does it say that a person needs to join a militia, only that militias are necessary. In fact, in 2008 (District of Columbia v. Heller), the Supreme Court specifically ruled that the Second Amendment protects an individual’s right to possess a firearm. unconnected to service in a militia.
You lose.
The right of THE people to bear arms… NOT the right of people, ie individuals, to bear arms, but the right of THE people: that is a collective term and as such refers to the right of THE PEOPLE (as in WE THE PEOPLE) collectively to bear arms, in other words through a militia or army.
Actually the entire constitutional clause is ungrammatical nonsense. It makes no sense whatsoever. People choose to interpret it as meaning one thing or another, but basically it can mean whatever anyone wants it to mean.
Cameron,
It “makes no sense” because you can’t find your misinterpretation in the actual words.
“Well regulated militia” means that a governmental agency (state, county, city) is in charge of determining who should have access to guns and the training in how to properly use them.
It has nothing to do with allowing any idiot to have assault weapons (which did not exist at the time) and are intended ONLY for military applications.
You need to see a therapist to learn to deal with your penal insecurities.
Oh, and the assault rifle ban was enacted in 1994 and signed by President CLINTON, not “Daddy Bush”.
You lose again.
1. Muslims aren’t trying to make anti-gay bigotry into United States law, so who cares what they think?
2. Gitmo IS illegal,a black eye on American foreign relations and should be closed immediately. Too bad Congress voted to not let Obama close it like he said he would. Ignorant people blame Obama for this.
3. If a fetus is a fully realized person with all the rights of an adult on death row, why do we not have funerals for miscarriages? Good luck answering that one!
4. You forgot the the part where we had to make a reason up to invade Iraq (Afghanistan, otoh, was harboring Osama and refused to give him up). Going in to stop genocide is a perfectly valid reason. Unless you’re a conservative. Then there has to be oil there as well.
5. According to the Constitution, there is no reason I cannot own a fully functional stealth bomber, a modern day tank or a ground to air missile. Yet, I am prohibited from doing so. When you can comprehend why some weapons serve no useful purpose to a private citizen, you will understand why liberals want more limitations on weapons.
But aside from all of that, liberals are not the ones constantly harping that the Constitution is sacred and cannot be altered. That would be conservatives who are not bright enough to know what the word “amend” (as in Amendments) actually means. It means the Constitution can be changed and is not set in stone. It’s a very subtle point and I completely understand why it is so complicated for you. It’s all good.
According to the constitution we have the right to free speech and to bare arms. I can’t understand for the life of me why there is confusion about that between dems and rep. Free ppl don’t need a party name to expain these things to them.
As far as I’m aware, the right to bare arms is completely uncontroversial: no one is saying you must have long sleeves at all times. The right to BEAR arms, on the other hand…
Not exactly.
1. Christians do not have the right to make their beliefs into law, and force the rest of the US to follow those beliefs.
Muslim’s have the exact same right to the Freedom of Religion as the Christians do. That is not, in any way, saying that they are “cool”, just that they have the right to practice their religion as they see fit, unless it is actively harming someone else. Being afraid that they might, eventually, harm someone is not a valid reason to make laws against them.
2. Gitmo IS illegal. Obama tried to close it, Congress overruled him. Obama cannot just do whatever he wants, nor has he tried. When Congress refused to close Gitmo, it was no longer in his hands. Period. Pretending that it still is is refusing to deal with reality.
3. The death penalty is not murder, it is punishment for crimes committed by that person. Dem’s (not Libs!) contend that, since so many people who were sentenced to death (and those who were actually put to death) have been found to have been not guilty of the crimes that they were sentenced for, that it should be held in abeyance. Even executing one innocent person is wrong. Period.
4. Lying about a country’s intentions, and providing false intel to the people who’s job it is to decided whether to use military force about those intentions, is illegal. Not to mention just play unethical.
Honoring the contracts that our country has agreed to is, also, unethical.
BTW, his peace prize was because of his intentions of talking to other country instead of “shooting first and asking questions later”.
5. You have the right Freedom of Expression (which includes speech) as long as you are not harming someone while doing so. Stating facts, btw, is not considered to be harming anyone.
The majority of the US, Dem’s included, has no intention of making guns illegal. However, regulating them is another story. We have the right, as a country, to decide reasonable regulations.
The US Supreme Court ruled, in the summer of 2008, that citizens are protected under the 2nd Amendment to own guns. Who, exactly, has introduced legislation to take away guns since then? Even Obama said that he would abide by it. Which makes sense since he taught Constitutional Law for 12 years.
Tgeer, thank you, especially for your points in #1 and #2. The key point in #1 is that it has nothing to do with what Christians believe vs. Muslims. Christians are the only major religious group that is trying to enforce their beliefs on all Americans, never mind that we are a melting pot of many religions, including Atheism. (And, by Christians, I don’t mean all Christians, but I do mean vocal Christian groups and some Republican nominees like Santorum. Heck, even Romney hasn’t infused his Mormon beliefs into his campaign to the extent that Santorum has.)
And #2 leads to a good point about the role of President and of government in general. As President, Obama cannot do everything. We have an entire Congress who is also responsible for our country as well. Obama tends to get blamed a lot for things, some of which may be actually his fault, but some of which may actually be the result of Congress overriding Obama.
as a rebuttle so far as i’ve seen:
1)hmm…nothing beyond the first amendment, and assuming your both literate and actually able to find and use google, I wont actually post it in this reply.
2) here whttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guantanamo_Bay_Naval_Base#Detention_camp he tried to…the senate stopped him
3) I am pro choice, and my reasoning confuses a lot of people, I dont know why. here it is: I HAVE no right AT ALL to tell ANYONE what to do with their own bodies… I understand that I live in the real world, and if i value my freedoms I must respect another’s…
4)hmmm, havent heard anything about that….
5)welp, handguns…are a grey area, a rifle, while also useful for killing someone, can also be a survivial tool… a Desert eagle or .44 magnum(as an example)…thats for when you really want to stop someone…but hey! its a FIREARM::gasp::they are abridging my freedom!!!
Boy, you guys really don’t listen, do you?
1. Christians as a group are not evil. The Christians that consider gays evil are evil because they are taking a group of people who do no harm and are just living the way God made them and Christians, who should be accepting of all, choose instead to judge these people. Muslims are not “cool” and we have the same problem with their standing on gays as well. They are another religion, whose members, like Chrisitians, should be able to worship wherever they want and should NOT be assumed to be terrorists based on how they look. Can’t believe I actually have to explain this to you.
2. Not all of us feel that way about Gitmo. Some of have no feelings about it at all. Either way, you don’t hear this contradiction all of the time.
3. The death penalty is murder. You are taking someone who has already been born and was living on the earth, and are taking it upon ourselves to decide whether or not to kill this person. Abortion involves a woman, and usually a blastocyte, something that is NOT born and could NOT survive, and is making a person decision about HER body and HER uterus that will impact her for the rest of her life. You do not know her situation, and it is none of your business.
I have to take my kid to a class–make with some of this insight you can figure out the rest for yourself-although I doubt itl
3.
1. Christians are evil because they condemn homosexuality! Contradiction: So does Islam, but those guys are cool.
> No, Christians need to leave their beliefs out of civil law. Islam is a fine religion, but just like Christianity, the fundamentalist radical fringe is evil. Usually (though not always, admittedly) only the rabid fringe (yeah, we have one too) accuses Christians of being evil based on some Christian’s beliefs over homosexuality. Most of us only accuse individuals who lie and fear monger, or commit torture in the form of “therapy” of being evil. Oh- and we are loud in our condemning of Islamic nations who kill GLBTs, or nations like Uganda.
2. Gitmo prison is illegal, a black eye on American foreign relations and should be closed immediately. Contradiction: Unless Obama wants to keep it open.
.>Obama signed the orders to close Gitmo. The legislative branch needs to allocate the funds. Yes, it will take money to close the prison, and somewhere to put the present prisoners- the states are pitching a bitch over the thought of Gitmo prisoners in their prisons. Can’t blame this one on Obama.
3. The death penalty is MURDER! Contradiction: Abortion is a woman’s right.
>Only a contradiction if you believe a fetus has all the rights of an independent human being. Most liberals do not believe conception= full fledged human being. Nor are all liberals against the death penalty. I just do not want to ever see it used if there is the slightest chance the guy is innocent.
Meanwhile, the right to lifer is pro death penalty and doesn’t want a woman whose life is in danger to get an abortion, even though the chances are the fetus dies too. That isn’t just a contradiction, it is sick.
4. Attacking a country that hasn’t attacked us first is shameful and illegal. Contradiction: Obama has bombed 6 countries since receiving his Nobel peace prize.
Uh…. Attacking/invading a country before all other options are exhausted is shameful. Attacking/invading as part of a UN or NATO action is perfectly legal. I can’t come up with 6 unless you count Iran/Afganistan. Also not a contradiction, unless you are saying liberals LOVE the fact Obama has bombed 6 countries?
5. The Constitution says I have the right to free speech. Contradiction: I don’t care what the Constitution says – handguns should be illegal.
Very few liberals (none I know) think handguns should be illegal. Personally, I think they need to be licensed, just like having a driver’s license because it makes sense. I’ll even toss a sop to original intent and waive licence/ registration requirements for anyone maintaining a black powder musket. I know a lot of liberals with firearms, you are listening to NRA propaganda.
OTOH, The neo-con (the dying breed of old time conservative is not part of this, though they enabled the neo-cons to gain ascendence) has no problems with GWB penning up protestors, with corporate dollars trumping (hee, like the Donald) the individual constituant when it comes to influence in legislation, no problem with condemning non-existent “Death Panels” while supporting the insurance companies’ right to deny coverage to anyone with the misfortune to get sick or have a coverage lapse. No problem condemning Obama for “partisan politics” yet they state that to them compromise is Obama coming to their position. Claim the deficit is the most important problem we have, while creating budgets and policies which add to it.
Sorry. You guys have nothing.
Good work, Justin! Conservatives today are know-nothings. They don’t know\, they know they don’t know, and they don’t care. Rational thinking, study of history, and reference to experts all are habits of the liberal “intelligentsia.” Intelligentsia, of course, meaning people who oppose them with rational thought. Yesterday (7/19/2011), Democrats in the House felt forced to use Reagan as an argument against the Tea Baggers, thinking (foolishly) that Reagan’s support of raising the debt ceiling would matter to these fools. Even Reagan, when he supports positions that these unintelligent reichpublicans oppose, becomes irrelevant. Several of the people who discounted Reagan’s views had named their children after Reagan. How in the hell can we hope to deal with such idiots?
assuming you’re a progressive, you should be thanking Conservatives because after all they simply are there to continue the Progressive agenda! They may slow it down but they sure as hell dont have the courage of their convictions. Now I ask you, since the Progressive agenda has been so good for America, why are we heading for Greece status? Any plans to fix that or do you simply want to be in Power no matter what? If Conservatives are such idiots, explain to me why the Inner Cities, that Progressive policy dream come true is so “wonderful”. thoughts??
“Progressive agenda”
What agenda, exactly, is that? Every single Dem that I know (we are not progressives,, no matter how much you want to change our name) wants this country to get stabilized and start doing well again. Saying, or implying, otherwise is simply a lie. Saying, or implying, that we want to change our system of Government is not only a lie, it’s a stupid one. The only people who say those things are fear mongers, and the idiots who believe them without double checking what they are told.
ALL the people who are saying the Dem’s are marxist, socialist, communist, etc., are idiots. In looking over the official descriptions, this country and our politicians don’t even come close to meeting them. So, why do you people continue to lie and refuse to educate yourselves? Are you so afraid of being wrong, that you refuse to even look?
We are not coming even close to what is happening in Greece, because the reason for what is happening in Greece are not the same things that are happening in our country.
“Any plans to fix that or do you simply want to be in Power no matter what?”
lolololol Where did you get this ignorant idea? Dex, WE are not the ones who are willing to send this country into another Great Depression in order to defeat a sitting President. Do you know ANYTHING about economics? Or how a Government works? I ask this because so many people who believe as you do have shown, quite obviously, that you don’t. At all.
Who said that the inner cities are wonderful? Please cite facts, not just this generalized mess.
Economics 101 –
1. In order for a country to run well, people have be working. The people who work don’t just pay taxes, they BUY things. If you are not working, you can’t, you just don’t have the funds.
2. When people buy things, the people that they are buying from have a higher income and demand for more things to sell, which means that they can spend more money.
3. When the people who sell things get more people buying them, they can (and do) hire more people to sell those things.
4. The people who produce the things that are being bought can hire more people to produce them, because the demand for them has risen.
5. In order to get those products to where they can be sold, they use some kind of transport.
6. The more that they to transport, the more that those running the transport HAVE can hire more people to work for them.
7. The taxes that are collected for all of things goes to the Government. County, State and Federal Government. Those funds go to finance the Departments that make sure the we have food that won’t poison us, that our electrical grid is compenent, that our water is not being poluted, That our children are getting an education, that the poor getting Federal Checks (Seniors and the Disabled) in order to make sure that they don’t die because of lack of funds (it has, btw, worked for 75 years. And the right has been trying to dismantle the programs for 75 years).
As an aside, the Social Security program is FULLY funded by FICA taxes. The money for that program does not come out of the General funds. In fact, the program has done so well that our Congress has “borrowed” the money from the SS Fund and used it for other purposes. They have replaced those funds with US Bonds and has been paying the interest for the bonds back into the fund. Those bonds will be worthless if the Government does not raise the debt ceiling in a timely manner. The people who are telling you that the SS Fund doesn’t work are liars. Period.
Here are some further economic facts-
1. For each department whose budget is cut, employees (who pay taxes, buy products, etc) will be out of a job. This is a fact, not conjecture.
2. See point number in the rest list, and repeat.
The GOP, last fall, ran their campaign on making more jobs. And they were elected based on those promises. So, why are they so determined to take away jobs instead? Even the conservative economists are saying that what the GOP is doing will take us into a deeper depression than the Great Depression. And it would ricochet around the world. That would be extremely bad.
The amount of denial of reality in your words is horrendous. You capitalize words like you have been watching too much of that idiot Glenn Beck. Is he where you picked up your false talking points?
Truth beats lies. Come back when you can defend your opinions with the truth.
Ultimate Contradiction to #1: Corporations, especially those that make record profits, need taxpayer subsidies and generous tax breaks so they can take proper advantage of that Invisible Hand of the Free Market System.
For #8, besides traitor, you forgot that they’re “emboldening the enemy”