I saw a bumper sticker today that read...
"Liberals vote their HOPE...
Conservatives vote their fear"My first reaction was irritation. There they go again, I thought. Liberals painting themselves in a positive light (i.e., 'hopeful') and Conservatives in a negative light (i.e., 'fearful'). But then after a few moments, I began to think, perhaps there is some truth to this bumper sticker...
Liberals "hope" that Ahmadinejad won't acquire a nuclear weapon. Conservatives "fear" that he will.Liberals "hope" that terrorists won't attack our country again. Conservatives "fear" that they might.Liberals "hope" that one-on-one talks with North Korea will produce results. Conservatives "fear" that they won't.Liberals "hope" that retreat from Iraq will save American lives. Conservatives "fear" that's a delusion.Liberals "hope" that diplomacy will work. Conservatives "fear" that it won't.Liberals "hope" that all people can be reasoned with. Conservatives "fear" that they can't.Liberals "hope" that embryonic stem cell research will make the lame to walk. Conservatives "fear" that we will merely be harvesting human lives for destruction.Liberals "hope" that aborted fetuses are not human beings. Conservatives "fear" that they are.Liberals "hope" that fetuses feel no pain during abortion. Conservatives "fear" that they do.Liberals "hope" that pardoned criminals won't be repeat offenders. Conservatives "fear" that they will.Liberals "hope" to remove all mention of God. Conservatives "fear" it might happen.Liberals "hope" to eliminate Christianity. Conservatives "fear" they'll be successful.Liberals "hope" to replace morality with hedonism. Conservatives "fear" the results.But as is the case with all bumper stickers, one cannot truly describe reality in a few mere words. The difference between Liberals and Conservatives goes a bit further than "hope" and "fear". Sometimes Conservatives rely upon fact, logic, reason, and historical evidence.
Liberals "hope" to reason with a misbehaving child. Conservatives "know" that a spanking works best.Liberals "hope" that more government will solve all the problems. Conservatives "know" that it won't.Liberals "hope" taxing the rich will bring equality. Conservatives "know" this only makes all men poor.Liberals "hope" that government hand-outs will bring prosperity. Conservatives "know" that it can't.Liberals "hope" that gun control will prevent crime. Conservatives "know" that gun ownership is a better deterrent.Liberals "hope" for utopia on earth by controlling men and telling them what to do. Conservatives "know" that freedom and democracy and capitalism are much closer to utopia.Liberals "hope" that peace comes through appeasement. Conservatives "know" that peace comes through strength.I'm sure I missed a few. Please feel free to add your own.
13 Comments:
Hawkeye
When I first started reading I thought,"wait a minute," conservitives don't fear they just KNOW that liberals are wrong. But then you told it like it really is.
But really it is the liberals that fear, they fear conservatives because they fear that they may be right. DebbieB
Debbie,
Your absolutely correct. That's why liberals rant with such vehemence and violence and vitriol (like that aliteration?)... because they're worried. If they were confident and unconcerned, they wouldn't even bother.
(:D) Best regards...
Liberals hope they can get away with their agenda.
Conservatives fear that they might.
Y'know?
Camo,
Good one! (:D)
Hawkeye,
I hope you are wrong,but fear you are right.
MAGGIE,
How the heck are ya? It's been awhile! Glad you could stop by my humble abode once again.
BESTEST Regards (:D)
I agree wholeheartedly with that bumper sticker.
Call me fearful...
Testing
Maggie,
1-2-3, 1-2-3
(:D) Regards...
Oh, Hawkeye, Hawkeye, Hawkeye! NOW I know why you hate liberals so much – you have absolutely no idea what they are on about. But congratulations on admitting that you do live in fear; insight into one’s denial is the first step on the long road to recovery from delusional psychosis.
Of course, as a conservative you believe that world’s problem can be fixed with a bumper sticker but as a reality-based leftie I know the issues are far more complicated.
Liberals rant because they are frustrated, because they see things going so mind-bogglingly wrong but, until very recently, they have been locked out finding solutions.
And Debbie, I can assure you that, whatever else is the case, I can assure you that we are not worried that you are right. We are worried that you are wrong. That is why we are not confident and unconcerned.
And now, with fact, logic, reason, and historical evidence at the forefront, I’m going to put you straight on a few issues.
While it is true that liberals "hope" that Ahmadinejad won't acquire a nuclear weapon they also fear that he will, but they fear conservatives ‘solution’ to the problem more.
While it is true that liberals "hope" that terrorists won't attack [y]our country again, again they are more afraid of the conservative solution as they think that method will make another attack far more likely.
Liberals "hope" that one-on-one talks with North Korea will produce results because, thanks the current WH regime, there are no other practical choices left.
Liberals don’t "hope" that retreat from Iraq will save American lives, liberals "know" that retreat from Iraq will save American lives.
Liberals "hope" that diplomacy will work because they “fear” the Conservative option.
Liberals "hope" that all people can be reasoned with. Conservatives "fear" that they can't so they want to shoot them first.
Liberals "hope" that embryonic stem cell research will make the lame to walk. Conservatives "fear" that we will merely be harvesting human lives for destruction. Liberals “fear” that conservatives do not properly understand the debate.
Liberals "hope" that the amount of fetuses that are aborted can be reduced. Conservatives "fear" the proposed methods.
Liberals "hope" that fetuses feel no pain during abortion, but seek to reduce their number. Conservatives "fear" how that might be achieved.
Liberals "hope" that pardoned criminals won't be repeat offenders; they also fear they will, but understand that everybody cannot be locked up forever.
Liberals "will" remove all mention of God. Conservatives are right to "fear" it might happen, but I assure them that their lives will continue unaffected.
Liberals "hope" to eliminate Christianity in public life. I’ll bet Conservatives DO "fear" they'll be successful.
Liberals do not "hope" to replace morality with hedonism, but they wouldn’t mind blending the two.
Liberals may "hope" to reason with a misbehaving child because the "think" that spanking is child abuse.
Liberals "”know” that more government won’t solve all the problems, but can solve some. Conservatives don’t know WHAT to think.
Liberals "hope" taxing the rich will bring equality. Conservatives "think" this only makes all men poor, but conservative are wrong.
Liberals do not "hope" that government handouts will bring prosperity, but they “hope” they might bring some equality, or at least some food. Conservatives "hope" that it won't.
Liberals "hope" that gun control will prevent crime. Conservatives "think" that gun ownership is a better deterrent, but again conservatives are confused.
Liberals do not "hope" for utopia on earth by controlling men and telling them what to do. Conservatives "know" that freedom and democracy and capitalism would be closer to utopia in only people would do what they are told.
Liberals "hope" that peace comes through not through appeasement but diplomacy. Conservatives "think" that peace comes through strength, but again they are so very wrong.
Do you really want to live in fear? Isn’t it better to live on your feet than die on your knees? What is wrong with hope? Isn’t Christianity all about hope?
Unlike conservatives, we hope that we are right. We do not say we KNOW that we are right. Those that are so unshakable in their beliefs generally turn out to be wrong. Hitler? Wrong. He scared his population and he turned out to be wrong. And the evidence so far is that your policies are wrong. The only thing we “fear’ are absolutists. And the conservative agenda. We’re scared of that too.
This isn’t about “fear”, “hope”, or might or might not “know”. The differences can be brought down to this: Liberals want to regulate the economic and deregulate the social – conservatives want to regulate the social and deregulate the economic.
Cheers
Elroy
Elroy,
If I live in fear, then you can be sure that it is not fright, terror or panic, but rather apprehension, consternation and concern. I fear those, who like yourself, fail to use fact, reason, logic or historical evidence to analyze issues, but instead you rely on media hype, allegation, innuendo, hyperbole and poll numbers.
I find it humorous that you suggest I have a bumper-sticker mentality when commenting on my post which mocks a left-wing bumper-sticker. BTW, I see WAY more bumper-stickers of the left-wing variety than of the right-wing type. In fact I have NO bumper-stickers on my car whatsoever.
The term "reality-based leftie" is an oxymoron.
Despite your claim to the contrary, you DID NOT use facts, logic, reason or historical evidence in reply to my comments. You merely re-stated my comments inserting your own values. Saying that Conservatives are "confused", "wrong", or "mis-guided" is simply a statement of your opinion.
Now, before we get too far, let me say that this post was not intended to be anything more than an observation about my feelings concerning a single left-wing bumper-sticker. It was not intended to be a critical analysis of any sort. But then again, I was not the one who went out of my way to say that I was going to use fact, logic, reason, and historical evidence... but YOU DID. Therefore, the fact that you claimed to do so, and failed miserably, shows that once again I am right.
QED.
If you live in apprehension, consternation and concern then that is because you do not properly understand the issues. I assure you that we fact, reason, logic and historical evidence to analyze issues – these are indeed our weapons of choice. However, when I experience my daily dose of O’Reilly and Hannity I see nothing but media hype, allegation, innuendo, hyperbole and poll numbers.
On the matter of the ‘bumper-sticker mentality’, I have no bumper stickers my car either but I suppose both sides are as bad as each other in this regard as there sure are PLENTY of right-wing ones to choose from. In fact, you created quite a few in your post! Quick! Ring Timmer and he can turn ‘em into T-Shirts!
The term "reality-based leftie" is not an oxymoron so much as ‘compassionate conservative’ is, but the term is not one of ours – it came from one of Bush’s advisors when he told reporter Ron Suskind that Ron was from the ‘reality-based community,' which he defined as people who 'believe that solutions emerge from your judicious study of discernible reality. Ron says he mumbled something about ‘enlightenment principles and empiricism’ but the advisor interrupted.
'That's not the way the world really works anymore' he said, 'We're an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality. And while you're studying that reality -- judiciously, as you will -- we'll act again, creating other new realities, which you can study too, and that's how things will sort out. We're history's actors . . . and you, all of you, will be left to just study what we do.'
So there you go. It is the left, apparently, that are the ‘reality based’ ones. The conservatives, by their own admission, just make stuff up.
And I DID use facts, logic, reason and historical evidence in reply to your comments – you just don’t know where. Ah well. I did re-stated your comments inserting my own values; that was the whole point, although I will admit that merely saying Conservatives are "confused", "wrong", or "mis-guided" is simply a statement of my opinion and not much of an argument per se. Sorry. From now on expect me to answer in a far more full, thorough and unexpedited manner.
Although you say your post was not intended to be anything more than an observation about your feelings concerning a single left-wing bumper-sticker and not intended to be a critical analysis of any sort, that’s what it turned out to be. You left no stone unturned in your search for ways in which to oversimplify a situation to the conservatives’ advantage, so I had to respond; can’t let y’all get a free kick like that, can I? Now, it is true that I could have done a better job of turning them around but it was getting late. Not my best work. Would you like me to try again? Honestly, it’s no problem.
Um, you most certainly WERE the one who went out of their way to say that they were going to use fact, logic, reason, and historical evidence.
I quote:
‘But as is the case with all bumper stickers, one cannot truly describe reality in a few mere words. The difference between Liberals and Conservatives goes a bit further than "hope" and "fear". Sometimes Conservatives rely upon fact, logic, reason, and historical evidence.’
There. Feeling better now? And of course you too failed miserably, which shows that once again you have fallen somewhat short of correct.
QED.
Cheers
Elroy
Elroy,
Yaawwwwnnn. BOR-RINGGG.
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