Liberal Condescension

[eisely]

One of the difficulties that lefties have in selling their ideas is their obvious condescension to the rest of us. This op ed from the Seattle paper captures the attitude perfectly.

_______________

 

The S factor explains Bush's popularity

 

By NEAL STARKMAN

GUEST COLUMNIST

 

Millions of words have been written as to the motivations of voters. Particularly in close elections, as in the 2000 presidential contest, pundits and laypeople alike have speculated on why people voted for whom. The exit poll has been a major tool in this speculation.

 

But the speculation misses the mark by far. It's increasingly obvious, for example, that none of the so-called theories can explain President Bush's popularity, such as it is. Even at this date in his presidency, after all that has happened, the president's popularity hovers at around 50 percent -- an astonishingly high figure, I believe, given the state of people's lives now as opposed to four years ago.

 

What can explain his popularity? Can that many people be enamored of what he has accomplished in Iraq? Of how he has fortified our constitutional freedoms with the USA Patriot Act? Of how he has bolstered our economy? Of how he has protected our environment? Perhaps they've been impressed with the president's personal integrity and the articulation of his grand vision for America?

 

Is that likely?

 

Granted, there are certain subsections of the American polity that have substantially benefited from this presidency. Millionaires and charismatic Christians have accrued either material or spiritual fortification from Bush's administration. But surely these two groups are a small minority of the population. What, then, can account for so many people being so supportive of the president?

 

The answer, I'm afraid, is the factor that dare not speak its name. It's the factor that no one talks about. The pollsters don't ask it, the media don't report it, the voters don't discuss it.

 

I, however, will blare out its name so that at last people can address the issue and perhaps adopt strategies to overcome it.

 

It's the "Stupid factor," the S factor: Some people -- sometimes through no fault of their own -- are just not very bright.

 

It's not merely that some people are insufficiently intelligent to grasp the nuances of foreign policy, of constitutional law, of macroeconomics or of the variegated interplay of humans and the environment. These aren't the people I'm referring to. The people I'm referring to cannot understand the phenomenon of cause and effect. They're perplexed by issues comprising more than two sides. They don't have the wherewithal to expand the sources of their information. And above all -- far above all -- they don't think.

 

You know these people; they're all around you (they're not you, else you would not be reading this article this far). They're the ones who keep the puerile shows on TV, who appear as regular recipients of the Darwin Awards, who raise our insurance rates by doing dumb things, who generally make life much more miserable for all of us than it ought to be. Sad to say, they comprise a substantial minority -- perhaps even a majority -- of the populace.

 

Politicians have been aware of this forever; they cater to these people. They offer simplistic solutions to complex problems. They evade directed questions with non-sequiturs. They offer meaningless, jingoistic pap instead of thoughtful policy. And these people, the "S" people, eat it all up with a ladle.

 

I don't have a solution to this problem. To claim I did would belie my previous arguments. But I do have some modest suggestions that might provide a start for discussion: an intelligence test to earn the right to vote; a three-significantly-stupid-behaviors-and-you're-out law; fines for politicians who pander to the lowest common denominator and deportation of media representatives who perpetuate such actions.

 

It's well past time that people confront this issue, no matter who's offended. We are on the way to becoming a nation of imbeciles. I'm certain that a plethora of "George W. Bush" jokes is already being circulated in every capital of the world. We can stop this sapping of our national integrity but we must do it soon, lest the morons become the norm and those of us who use our brains for more than memorizing advertising jingles are ourselves ostracized from society.

 

Let's start talking. Let's bring the S factor out of the closet and into the daylight where we can all see it, gulp at its hideousness and finally make serious attempts to bring it to bay.

 

 

[Achilleez]

The sad part is that many stupid liberal voters are driven by this kind of crap.

[NJCubScouter]

It seems to me that the person who wrote this article is engaging in the same kind of name-calling he is complaining about. Same goes for people in this forum who group a whole bunch of people together with labels like "lefties" or "liberal condescension."

[Fat Old Guy]

Well New Jersey Dude, liberals are condensing condensating condensending. Remember Algore and his eye rolling? Liberals are convinced that they are the repository of all wisdom in the free world. Liberals know that they know what is best for you and that you don't have a clue because you aren't as smart as they are.

 

Ever watch one of those late night talk shows with a liberal and a conservative "discussing" an issue? The liberal usually resorts to insults and then won't shut his pie hole to let the conservative make his statements heard.

 

What we'll do is put it in a lockbox. :-)

[NJCubScouter]

Thanks FOG, there's another example.

[Adrianvs]

Read Thomas Sowell's book, "The Vision of The Annointed" to see a detailed analysis of the doctrine and driving force behind liberal condescension.

[le Voyageur]

So begins the mudslinging as we go fourth into another election year, where we silly sheeples all will be forced once again to choose between the evils of two lessers....aye, the left and their love of nanny government, or the conservative right and their peachment for facisism. For me, I just wish that both sides would simply go away, and leave the world alone...

[OldGreyEagle]

Amen LV, Amen

[scoutingagain]

"...clowns to the left of me, jokers to the right...here I am."

 

SA

[KoreaScouter]

False dilemma. If your political conscience points you toward an independent, third party, or fringe candidate, you have every right to cast your vote that way. One has to understand, however, that in a two-party system, voting for candidates outside one of the two parties may make you feel better, but probably won't give you the end-state you want. Monolithic, homogenous, and somewhat predictable? Perhaps, but I'd rather have it this way than in an Italy or Israel, to name just a couple countries with multi-party systems where nothing seems to get done.

 

LV, if you meant "penchant for fascism", as I read the dictionary definitions, the only administration I can think of that came even close in recent memory is FDR's...a Democrat.

 

The assumption by liberals that only they know what's best for the individual becuase they're smarter than the individual, and they'll compel it according to their model, is the very essence of condescension. Their utterances, written and spoken, consistently reveal it.

 

KS

[NJCubScouter]

OK, I was going to respond to the last few posts, but you know what, let this thread be the land of make-believe. Just make up as much stuff as you want. It ought to be interesting.

[Fat Old Guy]

", the left and their love of nanny government, or the conservative right and their peachment for facisism"

 

Dunno, the left and their nanny goverment has more indicators of fascism than the right ever does. The left want the government to control everything and they want a police state to keep them safe which are hallmarks of fascism.

[Rooster7]

No - I think, mostly its just clowns to the left. Every party has its jokers. But as a general rule, Republicans police their own. Case in point - David Duke hasnt gained much ground since his coming out party a few years ago - YET, Al Sharpton is a Presidential candidate. A candidate that the likes of Howard Dean, John "F" Kerry, Richard Gephardt, and others take seriously. Why? Because they're pandering for every possible vote - no matter what the cost.(This message has been edited by Rooster7)

[Achilleez]

"It's true, we are hideous aliens bent on dominating the earth. But what are you going to do about it? You have to vote for one of us!"

 

"Well I beleive I'll vote for a third party"

 

"GO ahead, throw your vote away!"

[RobK]

If people really knew what Fascism was, they wouldn't constantly equate it with the right wing. Let's remember again the full name of Hitler's Nazi party: National Socialist German Worker's Party! Sound right wing to you?

 

Read for yourself what Mussolini said fascism was:

http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/mussolini-fascism.html