[OB1kNOb]

"Hello? Anyone at home? Anyone? Heelloooooo?"

[PeterPrinciple]

I feel like I kind of been brain washed into thinking this way and have this image of every right-winged supporter to be a redneck, gun crazy racist.

---

Interesting comment. Why do you feel this way? Evidently, you were issued a thinking cap somewhere along the way.

One of the principles of conservatism is LESS govt. Another is that there is no perfect solution. Ask yourself this question. Do you want the government to take care of your health? Why and why not. Ask your liberal friends also.

[gogeo]

Nick, I'm not sure it makes sense to define your consciousness in political terms. My politics flow from my sense of ethics (right and wrong) not the other direction. My political beliefs are the residue of experiences lived and judgments made about those experiences...if my sense of ethics is my map for how I will live my life, my political beliefs are a judgment about how others should interact. Your own sense of ethics is the root.

I have a sense, wrong perhaps, that you don't have a fully defined belief system. If true, it's more appropriate to focus on how you will live your own life before you try to think about how all of us should interact.

In my case, it includes a willingness to live by those judgments made. I grew up in a totally dysfunctional home which was also liberal. One of the childhood lessons I took away was that if someone was asking me to feel, they were trying to keep me from thinking.

It's not a coincidence, IMO, that this is the MO of the con artist. I strongly resist being manipulated emotionally because I know I'm being asked to do something I wouldn't rationally decide to do.

Decide, then, how you will live YOUR life...then you will have some basis for deciding how others ought to interact. If you choose to live by reason, the result will be much different than deciding to live by feelings.

Should you decide to live by reason, you will at some point develop a reflex to ignore, then push back against those who make feelings their highest value.

You've then taken the first step to understanding what a conservative is.

Of course, committing to a life of understanding and reason is a hard road easily abandoned. You will not accept the judgments of others at face value, not allow your mind to be shaped by the pronouncements of others. I would never presume to know about liberals what I hadn't experienced myself.

It sounds like your sum of knowledge of conservatives is second hand, based upon the opinions and observations of others. I suspect you wouldn't allow others to choose your wife or your life's work, but you've probably unwittingly allowed others to shape your beliefs and what exists of your thinking.

If you want to know about conservatives, stick around, participate and post. One ancient Greek complained about those who stood on one foot and demanded to know the sum of human knowledge, concisely presented to them. Knowledge doesn't work that way.

You'll find that we're like any other group of folks, some drifting toward the deep end of the gene pool, some to the shallow end. You'll find folks who aren't too bright and you'll find others whose minds are a marvel to witness at work. You'll find no-names and others who are famous.

You'll find that we all like a good discussion but that we don't tolerate fools...what's important isn't the belief but the quality of the discussion.

That's a part of conservatism, too...if you doubt that, go over to DU and type, "I'm a conservative and I listen to Rush." See how long your account lasts.

Doing anything worthwhile is hard work. Understanding and wisdom is not a quick process. Good luck on your quest.

[apollo861]

I am reminded of that old saying:

Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day (Liberalism)

Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime (Conservatism)

[Theresawithanh]

Are you serious, and are you going to reply to any of the posts to you? Well, are you???

We're waiting...

[Neoliberalnot]

Liberals are stuck in a state of arrested development; never attaining adulthood, being personally responsible, and accepting that others might outperform you. Hallmarks of liberalism are ingratitude and envy—ingratitude for the sacrifice of others and envy of any person of accomplishment. The liberals have a list of items they hate which speaks to these issues: This list has been approved by the DNC platform and Terry McAuliffe. The fact is, most liberals fall into one of these Demo-constituency groups, and they are motivated by a hatred for one or more of the following: patriotism, the military, American autonomy, free enterprise, the Constitution, God, Christians, the Pledge of Allegiance, white folks without NAACP cards, gun-owners, school-voucher advocates, home-schoolers, rural folks, the South, independent thinkers (especially conservative blacks), SUV-drivers, heterosexual males, anyone who threatens Leftist eco-theological idolatry, traditional marriage and families, abstinence, unborn children, entrepreneurs, small business owners, large business owners (stockholders), nuclear energy, oil exploration, global warmers, anyone who listens to talk radio, anyone advocating individual responsibility, et cetera ....

Most of all, though, they hate haters — a “hater” being defined as anyone who dares challenge their Demo-constituency agenda. They are united in their hate for George W. Bush.

[aMorePerfectUnion]

The Ritual Blessin' o' the Troll

 

Gather round Stout-Hearted Men
for the ritual Blessing of the Troll.

Form a circle. Tighten it up so you have

good position for the spittin' part.

 

[Like saying grace before a bad meal,
the Ritual Blessin' o' the Troll is necessary
because of who we are - not because of
any merit in the Troll himself. Yes, it
is distasteful, and some would say disgusting.

And they'd be right...

 

yes it's a heavy duty that falls upon us

as manly men before he goes
to his just reward.]

 

I will start...

 

We are gathered around this poor pathetic
soul   joelrakengames today for the

Ritual Blessing of the Troll.

 

He is a woeful creature, to be sure.

 

It pains us to look upon him

as we gather round him.

Th' best tha' could be said for him is that he's

a hairy fellar. Skinny to be sure and pale of complexion.

 

We see his brain has been warped.

It is twisted. 
He has become but a shell of what a thinkin' human should be.

No worse thing probably could we say

than he has become a liberal.

 

[yes, this is the time to spit upon him - spit freely now]

 

Yet, as we know,

all progress starts with telling the truth.

So truth it'll be for this hairy one.

 

We should well remember that this troll

used to be human

(at least we suspect)

as Gollum hi'self was at one time.

That was quite some time before.

He can no longer think clearly

enough to escape from soundbites and

DU talking points.

They drip from his lips and

fingers like vomit. (An' if you're standin'

close enough to the Circle of Stout-Hearted Men,

I'm not sayin' anythin' you don't know already.)

He can't spell.
He can't think.

And sadly, he hasn't the wisdom to know
these things are true.

So we ask a blessing on his brain.

Aye, it's a tall order, we know.
Allow him to go forth after this

RIGHTEOUS ZOT!

with a brain that functions once again.

May the

LIGHTENING BOLTS

of the Zot! reawaken that long dormant
brain that is hangs like legs on a paralytic man.

 

The brain isn't the worst part ...

 

His soul is in worse shape than his brain -
if you can imagine such  dire straits.

And of course, this is assumin' he has a soul.

Admittedly, it seems doubtful today,

but we can hope.

Whereas he was born in sin,

yet could have made something of his life,

here he has ended up.

And it falls upon us in the Blessin' of the Troll

to hold this to the light -

He is twisted in soul.

He is stunted in moral development.

His beeber is stuned.

An' we should rightly say, he is

pathetic
 - and this even for a troll.

He can no longer tell right from wrong.

He has no moral compass to guide his poor troll rantings.

Perhaps it was the use of the weed.

Perhaps something stronger.

We'll never know,

for he's in no state to tell us,

 let alone repent from the depths of his depravity.

 

Or perhaps he's been over imbibing the hard drink.

If so, it should be noted that he can't handle his liquor.

As such,

he is certainly no longer a man.

He has become just an empty shell.

But a human shell who's only purpose is

to provide space for a Kerry bumper sticker,

which explains the ugly tattoo.

 

(fellars, bow your heads as I speak of the Viking Kitties of Death)

Whatever started him down this path,

may he be blessed to turn after the

VIKING KITTIES OF DEATH

come with their claws blazin'

... and they will, for sure.

May the pain and terror of these

noble beasts chase him back
to the straight and narrow way -

from which a man should never stray.

 

May he have such a fear in his soul that

he will look back on today as a blessing, for sure!

 

There is little more that can be said about this sad,
pathetic creature who is before us today.
There is little enough left of human form,

nothing

that is good,

or noble,

or worthy,

or excellent.

We wish that it were so,

fer it pains us to look upon him.

 

He has become little more than a pile of

what could have been human and yet now is stillborn

as it sits within our circle of stout-hearted men.

 

What is left here after the

RIGHTEOUS ZOT

(which he deserves)

shall be scraped up and returned to
the last known address. And if one of you
good gentleman is willing to spare a zip-lock
baggie, I believe that will do it.

 

Now, unless another of our best has
any other blessin's, we commend this hairy
wayward troll to the

 ZOT!

copyright 2005-2008, ampu

[Joe 6-pack]

If you evaluate the Conservative and Liberal movements with an open mind, I think you’ll find Conservatism to be far more intellectually consistent across the boards. Certainly, Conservatives may disagree amongst themselves on certain issues, but generally, once you accept the concept of moral absolutes and inalienable rights, you have a consistent frame of reference from which virtually any issue, be it war, taxes, abortion, etc. might be viewed and evaluated.

[Graybeard58]

Hi Nick. I have a grand son named Nick, he’s 8 years old and a conservative. Not yet a member here but I’m sure he will be some day, along with my 2 sons and a grand daughter, who already are.

Good luck, I hope you are serious.

[mysterio]

Welcome to FR.

[Hot Tabasco]

have this image of every right-winged supporter to be a redneck, gun crazy racist.

Don't call me a redneck, I'm a yankee.....

[mnehring]

Simple answer to your question; do you have a mother-in-law?
Why would you want the entire federal government to become just like your mother-in-law?

[7thson]

ALright, I'll take the bait. If you are seriouse, here are a couple questions?

Have you read the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States? If so, do you believe what the documents state? If you do, how can you mesh together liberal policies and the two documents? Do you believe in God? What does that have to do with anything? Well, if you believe in God, then do you believe that God wants us - humans - to be free? If so, then do the policies and laws created and enforced by liberals, keep us free or enslave us?

[Old Professer]

Naptime is at 11:00.

[MortMan]

What I'm asking is for somebody to give me some things that you feel are very positive contributions the GOP makes for our govt.

Here's a serious and hopefully substantive answer:

The United States was founded with a government of the people, by the people, and for the people.

The premise of your question is backward. Our government was created to serve the needs of the people (i.e.: the country). It was not created to have its needs served by the people that created it. Most, if not all, of our politicians have either forgotten, forsaken, or never learned this simple truth.

The United States government has become the father we never wanted - overbearing, confiscatory, brazen, and stupidly spend-crazy. Instead of performing the tasks it was supposed to take care of, it has branched out into all areas of our lives - daily or otherwise. This corrupts (some might say "perverts") the ideals of liberty this nation was founded on.

So, to cut to the chase, I am conservative because I believe that a government of the people, by the people, and for the people - the government this great nation was founded on - is antithetical to the bloated monstrosity that now demands servitude from its subjects -er, citizens.

Does that help?

[Riverman94610]

I can help you on the abortion issue.
Do you not think it is somewhat of a contradiction that liberals are anti-death penalty and very indignant when babies are accidentally killed by US bombs in Iraq but seem to be so indifferent to a young life snuffed out in the womb?
I can even share some of the qualms the libs have over the death penalty.And mourn for those innocent children killed in Iraq.
But,if you say you value human life,why do you not agonize over third trimester murders aka abortions?

[MrB]

Seriously, if you want a good dose of “why be a conservative”, read these books by the best thinker of our time, Thomas Sowell.

http://www.amazon.com/Conflict-Visions-Ideological-Political-Struggles/dp/0465002056/ref=pd_bbs_sr_6?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1207682334&sr=8-6

http://www.amazon.com/Basic-Economics-Citizens-Economy-Expanded/dp/0465081452/ref=pd_bbs_sr_8?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1207682334&sr=8-8

http://www.amazon.com/Applied-Economics-Thinking-Beyond-Stage/dp/0465081436/ref=pd_bbs_sr_5?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1207682334&sr=8-5

http://www.amazon.com/Vision-Anointed-Self-Congratulation-Social-Policy/dp/046508995X/ref=pd_bbs_sr_4?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1207682334&sr=8-4

[RandallFlagg]

I salute you for coming here seeking knowledge.

[Anitius Severinus Boethius]

when dealing with illegal immigration

Ok, let's begin with this one. Examine the words you used here. Words are important. They mean specific things. They do not morph meaning based upon intent.

You used two words in particular that used seperately should give you pause.

First, you used the word "immigrant". The word "immigrant" simply means a person who moves from one place to another.

Almost everyone in the U.S. is an immigrant, even at a localized level, so immigration is no problem for 90% of Conservative.

Second, you used the word "illegal". The word "illegal" simply means doing something outside of the bounds of the law.

Now let's seperate that from the word "immigrant" and attach it to another word. Let's say the word "entry".

Would you feel comfortable letting someone have "illegal entry" into your house? What if they just broke in to eat a sandwich because they were hungry and while they were there they cleaned your dishes and fell asleep on your sofa watching your TV?

Would you say, "Oh, that's no big deal. They just wanted a sandwich and they did the dishes I didn't want to do anyway and there is plenty of room on my sofa."

Or would you yell and scream at them for being in your house and call the police?

Let's say you did what we all know you would do and yell and scream and call the police. And then let's say that your neighbor called you a racist and a greedy, hateful person for doing so.

Doesn't sound fair, does it? And all because of that little word "illegal".

Illegal immigrants are breaking the law by being "illegal" immigrants. Just like a burglar is breaking the law by "illegal" entry.

So that is lesson number one. Words mean specific things.

[alarm rider]

Nick,

Four points. Read Carefully.

1. Not all Republicans are conservatives.

2. Get out of Illinois and go visit your own country.

3. It's up to you to do your own research, come to your own conclusions and do your homework.

4. A bunch of fine people have served, suffered and died for your rights. Remember them first, foremost and always.

Regards,
AR