Lattes, Limousines and Lefties: How Conservatives Pigeonholed Those Poor Liberals

NY Times (Week in Review) ^ | 3-2-03 | Geoffrey Nunberg

[Pharmboy]

The cyber edition left out a few things that the print edition had, a call-out bolded copy and a short note on the author:

Linking consumer preferences to personal values--can the talk radio hosts of the left compete?

Geoffrey Nunberg, a Stanford linguist, is heard regularly on NPR's "Fresh Air" and is the author of "The Way We Talk Now."

Can anyone get the point this linguist is attempting to make? That libs have been picked on by the media? That conservatives have NOT been picked on? Is this guy the dumbest Stanford perfessor ever? Help me out here, Freeps...

And another thing: when Ann Coulter says "my people" she doesn't mean that she COMES from Queens you dolt; she means that they SUPPORT her...

[smokeyjon]

"we needn't go much further than people's readiness to start sentences with "Liberals are . . ." and to go on to describe liberalism as something between a personality disorder and a market segment."

Bingo! You've finally got it!

[Pharmboy]

Yeah--I did like that sentence.

And another thing he DOESN'T get: he doesn't understand that conservatives think for themselves enough to drive Volvos and drink double lattes if they want to.

[cajungirl]

What he doesn't get,,libs don't want us to have limos and lattes. conservatives want us all to have limos and lattes. See they, the libs, wanta hog it for themselves with us as their serfs happy to be "iin our place" with our tiny cars and unheated houses while they jet around in luxury making everyone mad at rich people. Conservatives get thrilled at poor people getting rich, we encourage it, we admire it, we want it!!! And want it for whomever can get the grit to earn it.

[Voltage]

Liberalism, at it core, is about raising taxes. Without that revenue it has nothing to offer.

Try selling higher taxes on the radio! Failure is assured.

[majordivit]

Or listen to Ann Coulter, who grew up in New Canaan, Conn., and her paean to the New York's other boroughs, as reported in The New York Times: "Queens, baseball games — those are my people. American people."

Lib charlatans posing as 'journalists' never tell the truth. They know why labels against conservatives don't stick. The truth is that it doesn't matter if a leader of the conservative movement does not come from a'working class' background. If he or she is a true conservative, then he or she isn't promoting high tax, intrusive government, failed welfare state programs, and political patronage designed to keep hard working americans and hard working entruprenurial small business owners down.

[nightdriver]

"Can anyone get the point this linguist is attempting to make?"

Actually, I can't. That is what I thought was deficient in the article too. This pointy head flails and flogs and makes no headway along the lines of cogent thought. Rather typical malady amongst liberals.

[SandRat]

You think of Bill O'Reilly describing himself as a "working-class guy" — this from an accountant's son who grew up in Levittown, N.Y., the El Dorado of the postwar middle class.

One reply is simple and you can cite me. My dad was one of those returning "Greatest Generation" guys who got married immediately after coming home. He went to college for 3 years on the GI Bill (didn't finish because I showed up, he-he-he). Got a job as a Technical Writer of machine manuals for a machine company and bought a Levit-Style home for us.

This was working middle class for our parents and us as we grew up. This for a large segment of america shaped us and grounded us. Libs don't get it, on anything period.

[Yardstick]

This guy brackets Gordon Liddy with Rush Limbaugh, then subtly insults their gravitas and wit. I would agree that Liddy is pretty mediocre, but Rush's gravitas and wit are undeniable.

[Pharmboy]

Excellent sound-bite insight. Thank yew...

[demkicker]

"Can anyone get the point this linguist is attempting to make?"

I think he's trying out for the big lib talk radio host. He's got my vote. ZZZzzzzzz

[ProudGOP]

Can anyone get the point this linguist is attempting to make?

Actually, I thought his point was pretty clear. The Conservatives have successfully branded Liberalism. Its not about ideas or freedom or personal responsibility or Government waste or personal finances. Its about branding, and most of the great unwashed masses have fallen for it.

I think thats pretty funny because his whole article reeks of the elitism that is prevalent in Liberal thinking. i.e. that most people are too stupid to see through a slick marketing campaign, unlike the good professor.

[KarlInOhio]

Still others said liberals won't engage in demagogy...liberals are too nuanced.

Nothing is quite as demagogy free and nuanced as having "Nazi" and "fascist" screamed at you because you belive that government is taking too much of your money (and therefore your labor and life) and has its nose in too much of your business.

[Pharmboy]

Brilliant tagline--LOL!

[First_Salute]

Bump.

[Pharmboy]

I had written that in my original post, but ascribed the labeling to the media rather than conservatives. I discarded that point because it seems so unbelievable since the left own the media...but thanks for your comment.

[No Left Turn]

liberals are boring policy wonks, liberals are too nuanced.

Nuanced, huh?

No Blood for Oil.

Bush=Hitler.

SUV owners are terrorists

Nuanced like a bat to your head.

[sam_paine]

Can anyone get the point this linguist is attempting to make?

This article reads like tubin' out of season in the Guadelupe River, like in February: Drifting aimlessly, no directional control, cold as hell, pretty scenery.

[Nick Danger]

the skepticism that might greet the formation of a pro badminton circuit.

This may come as a surprise to people, but there actually is a pro badminton circuit.

Professional Badminton Players

[MarkL]

This guy brackets Gordon Liddy with Rush Limbaugh, then subtly insults their gravitas and wit. I would agree that Liddy is pretty mediocre, but Rush's gravitas and wit are undeniable.

Actually, Liddy is one of the best educated, most intelligent, and sharpest radio hosts around! Don't forget, in addition to being a convicted felon, he was both an attourney and an FBI agent.

You may not agree with him, and I often don't, but he's someone that I would love to spend time with socially, as I enjoy hanging out with people who are smarter than me... Sometimes I actually learn something! That's why I love FR! LOL

Mark