OH, THOSE MUDDLED LIBERALS

NY Daily News ^ | 1/18/05 | John Leo

[areafiftyone]

In my ceaseless efforts to discover how liberals think, my great advantage is living in Manhattan, where everybody is liberal. It is here that I recently discovered a relatively new argument about terror: The next attack on America, if it comes, will likely be minor and tolerable. I was assured that a dirty bomb is the most likely weapon, and that it would probably do no more damage than an industrial accident would. So not to worry. The real problems are fear, panic and violations of civil liberties - not terror.

If these notions become conventional among the left, the Democrats stand a good chance of losing the next four or five presidential elections.

Here are some other themes of liberal conversation, Manhattan division:

• A near-total inability to admit substantial progress in race relations. As racism keeps fading, the left seems determined not to notice the improvement. Last month at Slate, Mickey Kaus caught The Washington Post offering a gloomy version of a very good set of economic indicators for blacks, including the fact that the portion of black households making $75,000 to $99,000 quadrupled between 1967 and 2003. "Naturally, WAPO thinks the picture is bleak!" Kaus said. Naturally.

• Behavior doesn't count. If minorities are "overrepresented" in prison and "underrepresented" in college, this is deemed to have nothing to do with the crime rate or lack of preparation in schools, because behavior doesn't count. It's society's fault.

• Bush got reelected because Americans are stupid. A couple of days before the election, I chatted with a prominent liberal who said over and over that Bush is a liar and Americans are dumb. This is no way to build a Democratic constituency that can win.

• Finally, I reluctantly report that liberal friends basically reject give-and-take political discussion. They are polite and tolerant, but their opinions reflect a body of remarkably settled thought that leaves little room for dissent or new ideas. To their token conservative friends (like me), they seem ever more isolated from the thoughts and concerns of their fellow Americans.
  
  

[Feiny]

It will be just a minor attack...maybe a car bomb....hell, Israel puts up with that almost daily. What idiotic thinking. I guess they never bothered to consider why we have not been attacked since 9-11....somehow I doubt Bush would get the credit.

[SMARTY]

They put their blinders on a long time ago. Nothing will change for them.

[Rummyfan]

Bump!

[dirtboy]

I was assured that a dirty bomb is the most likely weapon, and that it would probably do no more damage than an industrial accident would.

This from the same folks who had a cow over Three Mile Island's minor release of radioactivity.

So let's review the current state of the liberal mindset:

Radioactive industrial accidents: Big deal if American business does it. No big deal if anti-American terrorists do it.

[areafiftyone]

NYers constantly walk around with blinders on. You walk around the city here and its like 9/11 never happened. People have become so complacent again.

[handy old one]

Stab me with a pin I will bomb you to?? Sound like a good defense to me.

[eyespysomething]

Yep, we need to get it to where its just a nuisance, like in Israel.

[American_Centurion]

Radioactive industrial accidents: Big deal if American business does it. No big deal if anti-American terrorists do it.

I'm tempted to steal this for a tagline, but my friends would instantly know it was stolen.

Quick someone else grab it!

[dirtboy]

Go ahead and use it. Some liberal will create another inane utterance worthy of a tagline tomorrow, and the next day, and the next, and the next...

[Larry381]

Reminds me of last Sept when I was shopping in an uptown Manhattan bookstore during the Rep convention and the female clerk asked me who I was voting for. When I told her Bush with a big sh*t-eating smile on my face I swear she actually went pale in the face, handed me my change with a sneer and walked quickly away from me like a had a communicable disease. Man did that feel good.

[NutCrackerBoy]

Liberal friends basically reject give-and-take political discussion. -John Leo

Today's liberals grow weary of dialogs ending up in irreconcilable differences of assumptions. If they argue honestly, they run up against an assumption of their own that is painful to pick apart.

[jdege]

They just wish they lived in a world where Marx was right, instead of wrong.

[areafiftyone]

LOL I'm sure it did!

[Phantom Lord]

Finally, I reluctantly report that liberal friends basically reject give-and-take political discussion. They are polite and tolerant,

100% false. Liberals are raging with hate and intolerance.

[Fintan]

Behavior doesn't count. If minorities are "overrepresented" in prison and "underrepresented" in college, this is deemed to have nothing to do with the crime rate or lack of preparation in schools, because behavior doesn't count. It's society's fault.

 

True story:

I work in retail management. Last night at one of our stores, an African-American male was caught uh, red-handed trying to shoplift 4 DVD's. When he was nailed, his first response was to call the store employee a "racist pig" and create a general ruckus.

When the cops arrived, he also called them "racist pigs" (they were real thrilled with that: I watched the security tape), and proceeded to tell them that his lawyer would have his lawyer sue them because the arrest was made solely on the basis of his skin color, and they could expect to be "unemployed by the end of the week".

Yep. Society's fault.

 

[Blood of Tyrants]

This is no way to build a Democratic constituency that can win.

SHHHHH! Don't tell them. Let them become ever more shrill and marginalized.

[Blood of Tyrants]

Go ahead. I stole mine.

[Blood of Tyrants]

But now they get dangerous as before they were somewhat laughable and annoying. They are getting to believe that the people who vote for conservative values are truly stupid. Since they have determined that conservatives are stupid, they they have the RIGHT to take over their lives by any means necessary. But they will be doing it for the greater good of society, you see, and when you do it for the right reasons, then the method that which you do it doesn't matter.

They have used the judiciary to do this for years and years. When they manage to get a 'Rat in the White House by completely corrupting the election process (as we have seen, there are several states where Kerry won by much less than the 120,000 votes in Ohio, yet they couldn't give a 'Rats @$$ about examining those states), they will stop at NOTHING to achieve it because they KNOW that they will have limited time before the population gets wise to them.