Libs/Cons and Me.

Libs Say the Darndest Things - My Comments in italics.

1. Christians. Believing Christians are scary folks, sort of proto-fascists, who would kill or convert us all to their strange and scary beliefs if they had the chance.

I find this staggeringly ignorant. It implies, among other things, that nothing worthwhile was accomplished in Western Civilization before, let's say, the Sixties. (Well, whatever, dude... )

There is reason to fear the amount of control that some Christians appear to want to place on our lives and our culture. There is a difference between saying that something is wrong for you and to avoid it - and something is wrong for everyone and to force your ideas on others. It is true that religion has done much for our culture though, and it is a solid point that it is under-estimated how much it has done by some groups on the left.

2. Jews. Peaceful Orthodox Jews are just as bad as head-chopping Islamic fascists. Because they're all fundamentalists! (No kidding.)

There are some Jews that are just as violent and extreme as some Muslims.

3. Capitalism. Corporations are evil. Capitalism murders just as many people as Stalin and Pol Pot did. Every political system kills millions of people. (The mind reels.)

Any time a system is defended for its own sake and not for the ideas of the system it will lead to the abuse of power and humy rights. There is nothing in Marxist logic or Capitalist logic that proclaims that people must be abused or killed. It is the people who commit these crimes who should be blamed for these crimes.

4. Tolerance. You can't trust other ethnic groups, and even your own. One liberal friend can't stand Russians, Turks, and Poles. Another is deeply suspicious of Southerners and Midwesterners, considering them guilty until proven innocent. Another is suspicious of Blacks; however, a Black liberal I know thinks that Whites are "ice people." A very radical friend thinks that hippies are fascists. (Honest). This is just a sampling of liberal tolerance and openmindedness.

This is not liberal open mindedness, most people are not 100% conservative or 100% liberal so it isn't fair to proclaim that everything that a liberal friend says is a liberal idea. On a side note, these fears are sadly part of humyn nature - we fear what we do not know and understand.

5. America. Americans are contemptible. Europeans are wonderful. (Facts are irrelevant).

I take issue with this as well, people are people and there is little difference between nations and races, much less than what people would believe. Blind hatred of your own country which this appears to be, is no better than blind patriotism in my book. (At least blind patriotism is constructive)

6. Genocide. The US murdered just as many Native Americans as the Nazis killed Jews. Oh, and the Spanish Inquisition killed 9 million women. (Both bizarre, historically; no respectable historian agrees, but it's in the minds of your neighbors. They are still allowed to vote.)

I agree this is nuts, we have to stop reliving the crimes of history.

7. Mind-reading. Liberals can read the minds of conservatives, without, of course, bothering to read anything conservatives have written, or even talking to them. Many libs are firmly convinced (without a shred of evidence, of course), that conservatives hate Blacks, Jews, Gays, and Women.It does not seem to occur to my friends that it's difficult to read other people's minds; or that conservatives might actually be far more tolerant than liberal race demagogues, judging by their own words.

Just as many Conservatives think that Liberals hate God, Family and Church.

9. Israel. Israel is a pretty bad and nasty place. This is from a very liberal friend with many Jewish friends.

It is hard to pick a horse in that race, they are both scandalised and abusive and violent, maybe not equally but I don't have enough knowledge to sepperate them.

10. Militarism. Israelis are "militaristic," according to a very liberal Jewish professor. This is the first time I realized that defending your country against murderous assaults on innocent civilians is "militaristic." I thought militarism was the Prussians in World War One shouting "Hoch! Hoch!" while the Kaiser's troops went goose-stepping by with pointy-headed helmets and fixed bayonets. No such thing. Militarism = self-defense. Amazing.

It is true that much of their militarism is in response to the violence around them. The first thing that happened after the nation was created - was that it was invaded by all of its neighbors.

11. Population. The world has far too many people, and (hint, hint) it would be a lot better if a lot of them died or were never born.

Population is declining in the modern world, and beginning to level off in the developing nations.

12. News vs. propaganda. Any news source other than the mainstream media is right-wing propaganda. Indeed, anything suggesting that liberals are less than 100 percent right is right-wing propaganda. This comes from a friend who engages in constant self-censorship, who becomes visibly agitated when his beliefs are gently questioned.

Dito for conservatives.

13. Dictators. Stalin was not so bad. Yes, he killed millions in the Gulag, but so did the United States. As for Castro, he is a great and wonderful hero. So is Hugo Chavez. However, Augusto Pinochet was a bad, bad guy. (Bizarre beyond belief.)

Agreed, the left is certainly inconsisten in who it supports and who it doesn't.

13. Republicans. Assassinating Republicans is a pretty good idea, as long as somebody else does it. (From a prominent liberal community leader.)

Killing is never an acceptable form of political exchange.

15. The Supremes. Justice Clarence Thomas is a dunce.

Doubt it...

16. War. War would go away if just Republicans stopped stirring it up.

Ohh like the one in Bosnia?

17. Criticism. Thinking negative thoughts about people is the source of violence in the world.

There is a grain of truth to this, in most cases the violent thought preceds the violent deed - but most negative thoughts do not lead to negative deeds.

18. Relativism. Reality is only a social agreement. There's no such thing.

Much of what we call reality is a social agreement - but not all.

19. GlobWarm. Human-caused global warming is probably a lie, but it's a useful lie. (I swear).

I think it is a danger, but regardless there are steps that we should be taking.