Slate: Why Americans Hate Democrats�A Dialogue

From Slate Magazine (Slate.com)

Why Americans Hate Democrats�A Dialogue
The unteachable ignorance of the red states.
By Jane Smiley

I say forget introspection. It's time to be honest about our antagonists. My predecessors in this conversation are thoughtful men, and I honor their ideas, but let's try something else. I grew up in Missouri and most of my family voted for Bush, so I am going to be the one to say it: The election results reflect the decision of the right wing to cultivate and exploit ignorance in the citizenry. I suppose the good news is that 55 million Americans have evaded the ignorance-inducing machine. But 58 million have not. (Well, almost 58 million�my relatives are not ignorant, they are just greedy and full of classic Republican feelings of superiority.)

And it gets better...

The entire text of this article was read on the air by Rush Limbaugh today. He seemed to find it very amusing and discussed it at great length during his radio program.

What do you think? Is Jane Smiley correct in her assessment of the situation in America?

Are Bush supporters victims of an "ignorance-inducing machine"? Has Ms. Smiley accurately described the typical "red state voter" by identifying their distinctive traits of "ignorance and bloodlust"?

Do you think Bush supporters are likely to change their political positions upon reading this article? Will this help close the national divide?

I recommend reading the article very carefully before commenting on it. Callers to Rush are commenting on it now, and millions of Bush supporters are listening.

Please remember that this is not the Mud Pit.

[edit on 11/5/2004 by Majic]

Not everyone in a red stste!!!!

I want my state BLUE!!!!

I'm scared!!!!


ps. I did hear someone say "Squeal like a pig" in the woods behind our house last week!!
hahaha

ok, everyone that thinks everyone who voted for Bush is a redneck, raise your hand.........

ok, one, two, awphuket, you all do, problem is, you'd be wrong.

everyone who thinks everyone who voted for Kerry is gay, lesbian, minority, metrosexual, norml activist, hippie or conspiracy theorist, raise your hand......

well, you're all wrong too.

i'm an artist, musician, photographer, writer, off-road enthusiast, welder and soon-to-be father and if i had gotten off my lazy ass and voted this time 'round, it would have been for Bush. not necessarily because i like him all that much, but because i agree with more of his stances on issues than i do with Kerry's. there are still some i don't agree with, but the issues i do agree with outnumber them a bit. he wasn't the best choice, but he was the best choice for now.......

A narcotics freak who preaches hate for the right wing christian movement who claims to know and love Jesus, the same man who never preached hate. What a group!

actually the number one reason why people didn't vote for kerry and voted for bush was this... MORALS! Thats right, people wanted a president with a set of morals. It had NOTHING to do with Iraq, the economy, but stances on Abortion, Religion, Marraige, and even MTV. MTV pushed and pushed people to vote for kerry, and kerry was even proud of MTV for doing this... guess what guys, AMERICA HAS MORALS! We are who we are today because of them. You think that we would be as strong as we are today without morals, NO WAY! We probably would have collapsed if we didn't have them. Now im not saying Liberals have no morals, im saying you do, but you just didn't realize that it was up for debate here. I have noticed that the people on this board seem to have 3 things in common, 1. they dont believe in God 2. They lack a strong moral code 3. Tend to be Liberal.

Those three are why you guys lost!

... What morals, did you see any weapons of mass destruction? How about preaching hatred of your fellow man, do you agree with the republican party in that regard? Your post just proved hatred is preached and believed by you and your fellow mates:

". they dont believe in God 2. They lack a strong moral code 3. Tend to be Liberal."

So being liberal is a bad thing? So Sam Adams must have been a bad guy even though without him and his buddies you wouldn't be preaching your rhetoric? Strong moral code means who tell everyone else they are dumb? What values do you have? Do you claim to be a christian and yet you preach hatred which is not a christian value?

Originally posted by Ryanp5555
actually the number one reason why people didn't vote for kerry and voted for bush was this... MORALS! Thats right, people wanted a president with a set of morals. It had NOTHING to do with Iraq, the economy, but stances on Abortion, Religion, Marraige, and even MTV. MTV pushed and pushed people to vote for kerry, and kerry was even proud of MTV for doing this... guess what guys, AMERICA HAS MORALS! We are who we are today because of them. You think that we would be as strong as we are today without morals, NO WAY! We probably would have collapsed if we didn't have them. Now im not saying Liberals have no morals, im saying you do, but you just didn't realize that it was up for debate here. I have noticed that the people on this board seem to have 3 things in common, 1. they dont believe in God 2. They lack a strong moral code 3. Tend to be Liberal.

Those three are why you guys lost!

Where is the morality behind the Iraq war? Are we truely killing terrorist insurgents who are there to wreck havoc on the country's rebuilding process? or are we killing Iraqi fathers and brothers that are taking up arms to revenge the deaths of their children, wives and neighbours.

Morals.. pfffft..

Bush won on morals????


roflmao

The drunken coke head finger-flipping murderer- stop make it stop

I can hardly wait until their judgement day. When they head downward...
Hide behind the bible while your alive and then pray like hell God doesn't condemn you when you die. What a way to live life.

I'll repost what i wrote in another thread here:

The last thing you guys need now is republicans telling democracts to be more like them.

You live in a democracy, a deliberately competitive form of government with two side's. Having one nation all dancing to the same tune falls short of being a healthy democratic system, listen to each other for christ's sake.

Not only do the republicans alienate the world (or themselves i should say), now they are alienating half the population of their own country.

[edit on 5-11-2004 by electric squid carpet]

Originally posted by electric squid carpet
listen to each other for christ's sake.

I'm afraid the only thing the we'll be going to be hearing from the Bush/Rep is about their Christ.

Misfit

man, that is a heinous title. self contradictory, too. it implies that democrats aren't american..
funny, too. if only repubs are american, america enjoys freedom from choice!

war is peace. freedom is slavery. ignorance is strength. all hail the glorious leader.

If I was high up in the democratic party I would have pause in agreeing with an article like that. If you think that only ignorant red necks and jesus-freaks voted for Bush you are gravely under-estimating and misinterpreting your opponents.
As a conservative I love reading stuff like this. It just means that many far left liberals just don't get it. There is one way you get votes. People are more informed now than ever before. The old guard of mainstream media no longer has the monopoly on information. You can't spin your way into gettting votes anymore. People know when they are not getting the full story, people look askance at shifiting positions and condesending rhetoric. Liberalism by default assumes that everyone is stupid, ignorant and needs to be taken care of by the self-proclaimed intellectual elite. In a free country this philosophy can't work.
You want to win elections? Describe your positions and why you believe it is the best way. If you are honest and convince enough people your ideas are sound, you will win.

From Slate Magazine (Slate.com)
By Jane Smiley

...The election results reflect the decision of the right wing to cultivate and exploit ignorance in the citizenry...

I think she answered her own question. Most conservatives are aware that many liberals not only disagree with them on issues, but go even further, considering them stupid, ignorant, uneducated, morally inferior. They think that, because conservatives are supposedly stupid, that they don't know they're being insulted or toyed with by some liberals who run for public office... then these liberals are shocked when their candidates lose elections.

It's hard to vote for anyone who thinks that you're stupid, that they're better than you, and that they should determine what's good for you because you "obviously" don't know what's good for yourself.

51% versus 49%.

That seems like far too small a difference to be making these kind of claims about 'America'.

Love the 'healing' tone too.

Morals and Christianity need to stop being lumped together.

And yes, Bush DID win on morals. You might think it's hilarious but that IS true. Look at what happened to gay marriage. Shot down in all states. There are many people who have never set foot in a church that do not believe gay marriage should be legal. Don't blame it all on Christianity.

There is nothing wrong with being liberal except when they push their agenda on everyone else or when they bash conservatives. Even liberals have their limits. They are for gay marriage and yet they aren't for siblings getting married or a Father marrying his daughter. I don't believe they would go for a 40 year old man marrying an unrelated 10 year old either, but I could be wrong.

If Republicans are against gay marriage because of Christianity, why are liberals against polygamists? Why are liberals against a man marrying his dog?

If liberals feel justified in drawing the line for reasons other than religion they should understand that conservatives aren't always drawing their lines based on religion. It IS a matter of morals and where you draw the line, NOT a matter of religion.

Jemison

A poem to Bush

PSALM 2004

Bush is my shepherd, I shall be in want.
He maketh me to lie down on park benches.
He leadeth me beside the still factories.
He restoreth my doubts about the Republican Party.
He leadeth me onto the paths of unemployment for his cronies'sake.
Yea, though no weapons of mass destruction have been found,
He makest me continue to fear Evil.
His tax cuts for the rich and his deficit spending discomfort me.
He anointest me with never-ending debt.
Verily my days of savings and assets are kaput.
Surely poverty and hard living shall follow me all the days of his administration,
And my jobless child shall dwell in my basement forever.

dgtempe, That was hilarious, where did you find that one. If you don't mind I'd like to copy it and send it back to my conservative family back in Wisconsin. They like to send me all that holy roller crap, so when I get a good one I like to repay the favor so to say. As for morals I myself like to think I have good morals. I believe that no one should try to push their morals onto someone that doesn't have the same morals as them, not meaning that anyones certain morals are better than anothers. I thinks it's ones belief system that sets their morals. Thats why morals should be left out of politics, because not all peoples beliefs and morals are the same. imo

Originally posted by friday2112
dgtempe, That was hilarious, where did you find that one. If you don't mind I'd like to copy it and send it back to my conservative family back in Wisconsin. They like to send me all that holy roller crap, so when I get a good one I like to repay the favor so to say. As for morals I myself like to think I have good morals. I believe that no one should try to push their morals onto someone that doesn't have the same morals as them, not meaning that anyones certain morals are better than anothers. I thinks it's ones belief system that sets their morals. Thats why morals should be left out of politics, because not all peoples beliefs and morals are the same. imo

www.newyorkslime.com...

Now dammit dgtempe, you were supposed to WARN ME about these things coming, lol.

Jeez, one more of those and I'm gonna watch my monitor go pppttttzzzzzzKKUUPPLLAAMM

Misfit