Liberals, take a long look in the mirror: evidence shows you're more poorly informed & less tolerant

Minneapolis Star Tribune ^ | May 5, 2012 | KATHERINE KERSTEN

[rhema]

We've got a vivid picture of the Republicans and conservatives in our midst. They're a sour, dour lot -- close-minded, tight-fisted and intolerant. Some are businesspeople, greedy and self-interested. Others are rednecks, poorly informed, clinging to their guns and religion.

If only these folks understood political issues better and cared more about their fellow man, they'd be liberals, right?

Think again. A growing body of research is shattering this conventional wisdom.

Survey data make clear that Republicans, on average, are better informed than Democrats about political issues. Data from the American National Election Study has confirmed this over the years, and an April 2012 Pew Research Center survey -- "What the Public Knows about the Political Parties" -- is the latest to document it.

On eight of the survey's 13 questions about politics, Republicans outperformed Democrats by an average of 18 percentage points. "Republicans fare substantially better than Democrats on several questions in the survey, as is typically the case in surveys about political knowledge," according to the study.

The widest gap -- 30 points -- came on a question about which political party is "generally more supportive of reducing the size of federal government." Seventy-six percent of Republicans, but only 46 percent of Democrats, correctly named the GOP.

Republicans even know more about Democratic leaders: 75 percent of Republicans identified Nancy Pelosi as a Democrat, vs. 59 percent of Democrats. And while 73 percent of Republicans knew Franklin Roosevelt was a Democrat, only 58 percent of Democrats did.

But surely liberals, widely praised for tolerance, are more open-minded than conservatives toward people with different views? Whoops.

A March 2012 Pew report, entitled "Social Networking Sites and Politics," found that 28 percent of liberals have "blocked, unfriended or hidden someone" on social-networking sites because of their political postings, compared with

[rhema]

A March 2012 Pew report, entitled "Social Networking Sites and Politics," found that 28 percent of liberals have "blocked, unfriended or hidden someone" on social-networking sites because of their political postings, compared with 16 percent of conservatives.

Come to think of it, that shouldn't surprise anyone who's spent time on a college campus. We're used to hearing that left-wing students have shouted down a conservative speaker. But when did you last hear about conservative students silencing a liberal speaker?

[LouAvul]

Liberals are the absolute bane of civilization and complete wastes of oxygen. The world would be a better place if they simply walked into the ocean. And kept walking. Jaws would love it and it would be the first time they did anything to benefit anybody.

[Navy Patriot]

KATHERINE KERSTEN, soon to be “missed” by friends at the Red Star Tribune.

[Bullish]

And besides that.... Liberals smell bad too.

[Navy Patriot]

So it’s you that’s been poisoning sharks lately.

[SusaninOhio]

What gave them away? The fact that a lib cannot comment without using filthy words and attacking the speaker/writer, or the fact that libs can’t form a grammatical sentence while frothing at the mouth?

I love it when a lib replies ‘You idiot’ and other charming sentiments to something I wrote. That is sure to win me over to their side (whatever it is, they are frothing and swearing so much it is usually hard to tell what their side IS) -

I have seen this consistently as I am sure all of us have. They have no control over their mouths or their keystrokes and simply spew whatever nonsense they last read on Liberal Matters or Politico (after the swearing, the name-calling and the frothing, of course).

I wish they would use some originality in their name-calling. The same claptrap becomes quite boring after a while.

[HiTech RedNeck]

Don’t be dissin’ us rednecks

[SandRat]

Liberals are so slimy and sour it would give Jaws an upset stomach.

[HiTech RedNeck]

They're a sour, dour lot

Trivia: sour and dour are eye rhymes, but dour actually rhymes with boor and doesn't sound like dower.

[WashingtonSource]

Bump

[Skooz]

BFL

[St.Mark]

What can I say SusaninOhio I agree well said!

[I Drive Too Fast]

File this under Duh.

[rhema]

And let's not forget the refined and genteel signs they invariably carry at their rampages rallies.

[zoso82t]

I’m certain no one reading this is surprised. On the whole, FReepers are a brilliant bunch, especially compared to the cranial diarrhea that comes from the left. It’s not hard to be civil when you’re right!

[RC one]

the average democratic voter isn’t smart enough to survive in the wild. The average republican is smart enough to thrive in the wild.

[rlmorel]

This is an analysis I did comparing a liberal protest (when antiwar liberals marched on Washington in 2007 at the Gathering of Eagles on 3/17/2007, to a conservative protest in 2009, the March on Washington on 9/12/2009. Both times I stood with the DC Chapter, a bunch of dedicated conservatives.

What stuck me most was the difference in our signage, liberals versus conservatives

This is from the Gathering of Eagles in 2007 as the liberals came over the Memorial Bridge, we waited for them in the circle. This is what we saw. Look closely at the signs:

...and contrast it with the Taxpayer's March on Washington 9/12/2009:

It is my conclusion that these empty headed liberal jackasses don't have an original thought in their heads. They have to have someone print up signs for them, and any original ones looked like they were either done with crayons, or had foul language in them. Again, contrasted with the conservative signs, the conservative signs were well crafted, original, and often entertaining or witty, but made the points without resorting to profanity.

[rlmorel]

See my post at #18...

[rlmorel]

If you REALLY want to get a snapshot of the typical Democrat voter, watch John Ziegler's "Media Malpractice: How Obama got Elected and Palin was Targeted".

The video itself is good, but the real meat of it, why the mechanics of what the liberal media did is played out in one of the features of the documentary.

They went to a Obama rally, and interviewed people waiting to go in.

They asked:

What party currently controls congress?
I don't know
Republicans
Republicans
Republicans
Republicans
I don't know

Do you know who Barney Frank is? How about Nancy Pelosi? Harry Reid?
I don't know
She's pretty cool
I don't know who that is
I don't know him
Don't really know Barney Frank
Nothing
Who?
Don't know him
Who is Harry Reid
Don't know him
Who is he?
I think she is a fair lady. (Ziegler: Is she a republican or Democrat?) I don't know.
I don't know him
I don't know her
I don't know him either.

Which of those people wore clothes that their party spent $150,000 on? Which has a pregnant teenage daugher?
Sarah Palin
Sarah Palin
Sarah Palin
I know that would be Palin...ahahahahahah...they made a big deal about that...but ya gotta look pretty, right? Heheheheheh...
Palin
Palin
Sarah Palin
Palin
Sarah Palin
Palin, Sarah Palin
Sarah Palin
Palin
Palin
Hah. Palin

Which candidate said they could see Russia from their house?
Oh, that would be Palin
That woman, Palin
Sarah Palin
Palin
Palin, Sarah Palin
Sarah Palin
Uh, I can't remember her name right now, uh, Palin
Palin, hahaha

Which candidate claimed to have campaigned in 57 states?
Hahahahahah, Sarah Palin, I don't know
57 States? I don't know, probably Sarah Palin
Fifty...fifty seven states? Hahahahah, I have no idea...57 states? I have no idea.
I don't know, was that Palin? Hahahahahah
57? I don't know...Sarah Palin?
57 states? Hah. That sounds like something Sarah Palin would say. Hah.
McCain
I would put that on Palin
McCain

Which candidate won their first election by getting all of their opponents kicked off the ballot?
I don't know. That sounds like something Sarah Palin would do, but...I don't know.
Sarah Palin?
Oh my God. I don't know. Who? (Ziegler: Obama.) Are you serious? Wow!
Huh. Sara Palin?
Oooohhhh. Was that McCain?
I don't know. I don't have a record of that.
Hmmmm. Uh, that probably had to be McCain.

Which candidate said that Obama would be tested in his first six months by an international crisis?
I don't know
McCain
I don't know
McCain
McCain
McCain
McCain

Which candidate had to quit a previous presidential campaign because they were found to have plagiarized a speech?
Uhh...probably McCain
Wowwwwwww! Uhhh...I don't know, but that's exciting...who? (Ziegler: Joe Biden.) Are you serious? Shut up!
Don't know that one.
Which, ah, eh, uh, I don't know.

Which candidate said that his policies would bankrupt the coal industry and make energy prices skyrocket?
Uh, I don't know.
Maybe Biden, he has a way of putting his foot in his mouth. (eh heeehehheeeheeeheee)
I heard that. I haven't really looked into that one, but it did make headlines.(Ziegler: Did you find that troubling?) Uhh...I don't have a lot of trust in the media to know where that was coming from.
McCain
McCain
McCain

Which candidate said that the government should redistribute the wealth?
I don't know
(Ziegler: So you agree that the government should redistribute the wealth?) Yeah.
Redistribute the wealth? I like it. From what I know about it...which might not even be the right thing, I like it.
To redistribute wealth? I don't know, it sounds like a good thing, but....heheheheheheheheheh

What do you think of Bill Ayers?
I don't know. I don't know who he is.
I don't too much know anything about him.
Bill Ayers? I don't know.
A washed up terrorist.
I don't know Bill Ayers.
No, I don't know him.
Yes.....but.....I....don't know the details. (Ziegler: Where do you get most of your information?) NPR...and...PBS

Where do you get most of your information?
Mostly from the news medium. TV, CNN...uhhh...Bill Maher is a good one.
I don't watch a lot of media. Yeah.
Um, I don't have a TV, so I read the New York Times, but...BBC, I guess, if I watch TV, CNN. (Ziegler: Do you watch MSNBC?) Yeah, it's pretty cool. I like...John Stewart, heheheh...(Ziegler: You get your news from Jon Stewart sometimes?) Yeah...the Colbert Report....
I think I'm not as informed as I thought I was. Umm...but I still don't think I would change my vote.

Note: If you can't tell, I thought of all of them, "Erika" had the best opportunity to see the truth someday, and she had the funniest responses. There was a tie between two I disliked the most, and who were the most pretentious snotty liberal kool-aid drinkers..."Janan" and "Adarsha". The rest of them were just dumb, ignorant Obama voters.