Conservative radio host on 'where the right went wrong'

[fskimospy]

Wait - the New York Times is featuring an obscure person claiming to be a conservative but saying exactly the same things as the far left? Well, that hasn't happened since . . . always.

Virtually everyone on the right I know has become more liberal over time. People who used to almost fight me over gay marriage and the environment are now largely in agreement with me. And yet the far left would have us believe that the right has become radicalized.

Must be our lack of safe spaces, comfort animals and adult coloring books.

This world renowned, rigorous empirical evaluation of congressional ideology over time is wrong because I know a guy!

I am continually impressed at the wide variety of things that you consider yourself superior to the experts on. By all means offer us a critique of NOMINATE.

 

[werepossum]

This world renowned, rigorous empirical evaluation of congressional ideology over time is wrong because I know a guy!

I am continually impressed at the wide variety of things that you consider yourself superior to the experts on. By all means offer us a critique of NOMINATE.

Those adult coloring books are not working for you, dude. I suggest a pair of Rick Perry smartification glasses instead. Then maybe you'll finally be able to convince us that our nearly four trillion dollar annually federal government is the result of Republicans moving radically to the right on economic issues.

Is there a single issue on which you guys lack a "world renowned, rigorous empirical evaluation" proving that you are correct?

 

[First]

Those adult coloring books are not working for you, dude. I suggest a pair of Rick Perry smartification glasses instead. Then maybe you'll finally be able to convince us that our nearly four trillion dollar annually federal government is the result of Republicans moving radically to the right on economic issues.

Is there a single issue on which you guys lack a "world renowned, rigorous empirical evaluation" proving that you are correct?

Eff statistics and arithmetic, you know a guy, mang. Trust that gut werepossum, it has never served you wrong in the past.

 

[fskimospy]

Those adult coloring books are not working for you, dude. I suggest a pair of Rick Perry smartification glasses instead. Then maybe you'll finally be able to convince us that our nearly four trillion dollar annually federal government is the result of Republicans moving radically to the right on economic issues.

Is there a single issue on which you guys lack a "world renowned, rigorous empirical evaluation" proving that you are correct?

Thanks for proving my point. You never fail!

 

[Zaap]

If the left was in lockstep behind Hillary she would have won actually.

I said the left, not Democrats in general. The left was very much lock step behind her highness. It's just that you leftists (thankfully!) are way more of a minority than you imagine yourselves to be. Even most Democrats who voted HC aren't dyed in the wool leftists. Hillary's 'deplorable' comments for example... that was to entertain her leftist sheeple supporters. It (along with a lot of other crap from the left) rubbed a lot more other people the wrong way.


Just on this forum as an anecdotal example: a lot of right-leaning posters like myself were open about in no way supporting Trump, identifying BOTH candidates as crap choices.

The left-leaning posters here: I can't recall a one saying similar about HC. Most were in lock step with her and completely failed to realize her lack of appeal to non-far left people.

And here we are... you smug as most leftists convinced you called it right... having to enjoy 4 years of Trump. Congrats on the accuracy of your version of being right.

 

[bshole]

I said the left, not Democrats in general. The left was very much lock step behind her highness. It's just that you leftists (thankfully!) are way more of a minority than you imagine yourselves to be. Even most Democrats who voted HC aren't dyed in the wool leftists. Hillary's 'deplorable' comments for example... that was to entertain her leftist sheeple supporters. It (along with a lot of other crap from the left) rubbed a lot more other people the wrong way.


Just on this forum as an anecdotal example: a lot of right-leaning posters like myself were open about in no way supporting Trump, identifying BOTH candidates as crap choices.

The left-leaning posters here: I can't recall a one saying similar about HC. Most were in lock step with her and completely failed to realize her lack of appeal to non-far left people.

And here we are... you smug as most leftists convinced you called it right... having to enjoy 4 years of Trump. Congrats on the accuracy of your version of being right.

Jesus we are looking at her completely different. I saw her as an establishment candidate. She has never struck me as a leftist, more of a moderate and a definite neo-con on foreign policy.

 

[Zaap]

Jesus we are looking at her completely different. I saw her as an establishment candidate. She has never struck me as a leftist, more of a moderate and a definite neo-con on foreign policy.

Again, I didn't say she was a leftist. I said she made that comment to entertain her leftist supporters. It didn't resonate with anyone else. (Nor does most hard-left bullshit.) She was the establishment candidate.

 

[agent00f]

I don't know but I do know my madness is of such a nature as to provide me with an unerring capacity to spot the assholes in any relationship.

It's only detrimental to be gracious to people who don't reciprocate. I take it you & the bulk of Democratic centrism been trying for a while, and the results speak for themselves.

This is all straightforward game theory, aka wisdom quantified.

 

[agent00f]

Again, I didn't say she was a leftist. I said she made that comment to entertain her leftist supporters. It didn't resonate with anyone else. (Nor does most hard-left bullshit.) She was the establishment candidate.

^This makes for a pretty good example. The clintons are the picture of political centrism, and this is what they get. I'd say rightly so not because of any wish fulfillment, but it's simply the nature result of trying to appease pieces of shit.

 

[MrSquished]

I said the left, not Democrats in general. The left was very much lock step behind her highness. It's just that you leftists (thankfully!) are way more of a minority than you imagine yourselves to be. Even most Democrats who voted HC aren't dyed in the wool leftists. Hillary's 'deplorable' comments for example... that was to entertain her leftist sheeple supporters. It (along with a lot of other crap from the left) rubbed a lot more other people the wrong way.


Just on this forum as an anecdotal example: a lot of right-leaning posters like myself were open about in no way supporting Trump, identifying BOTH candidates as crap choices.

The left-leaning posters here: I can't recall a one saying similar about HC. Most were in lock step with her and completely failed to realize her lack of appeal to non-far left people.

And here we are... you smug as most leftists convinced you called it right... having to enjoy 4 years of Trump. Congrats on the accuracy of your version of being right.

Now I think you have even less of an idea of what you are talking about. First completely separating the left, or Leftists, and Democrats. What are you talking about. Many Democrats are Leftists, some aren't and more near the center. Some Leftists are Green Party and a whole bunch more are independents. But then again a very sizeable amount are Democrats. You can't just separate Leftist from Democrat or vice versa. They mingle a lot.

So in your attempt to obfuscate what are your definitions of Leftist vs a Democrat?

 

[bshole]

Now I think you have even less of an idea of what you are talking about. First completely separating the left, or Leftists, and Democrats. What are you talking about. Many Democrats are Leftists, some aren't and more near the center. Some Leftists are Green Party and a whole bunch more are independents. But then again a very sizeable amount are Democrats. You can't just separate Leftist from Democrat or vice versa. They mingle a lot.

So in your attempt to obfuscate what are your definitions of Leftist vs a Democrat?

Yea I am pretty confused myself. We almost have to have a prioritized list of issues or something.

On this forum, I have agreed with many people on many issues but have never agreed with any person on all issues. My big issues are the rich plundering society and neocon meddling in the Middle East. These issues resonate with a few people here but hardly a majority.

 

[agent00f]

Now I think you have even less of an idea of what you are talking about. First completely separating the left, or Leftists, and Democrats. What are you talking about. Many Democrats are Leftists, some aren't and more near the center. Some Leftists are Green Party and a whole bunch more are independents. But then again a very sizeable amount are Democrats. You can't just separate Leftist from Democrat or vice versa. They mingle a lot.

So in your attempt to obfuscate what are your definitions of Leftist vs a Democrat?

Yea I am pretty confused myself. We almost have to have a prioritized list of issues or something.

On this forum, I have agreed with many people on many issues but have never agreed with any person on all issues. My big issues are the rich plundering society and neocon meddling in the Middle East. These issues resonate with a few people here but hardly a majority.

He's aware that the left is now divided between people who want to further appease the conservatives/trumpsters, and those looking to take a harder line instead of doubling down. It's no mystery which he prefers and thus what spouts from that mouth as a result.

 

[norseamd]

The left worships dictators too (see: Mugabe), but their LBD prevents them from seeing that.

I dont know how many leftists worship Mugabe.

I know there are obviously quite a few leftists who worship Fidel Castro and Hugo Chavez.

 

[Zaap]

bunchofblather...Some Leftists are Green Party and a whole bunch more are independents.

Yeah let's pretend for two seconds the green party took any significant votes away from Hillary. You can smoke screen it all you like with another storm of bullshit, but the fact stands. The left was more in lock step behind HC (with FAR fewer people calling her what she turned out to be: a shit choice of candidate) than the right was lock step for Trump and didn't call him the shit candidate that he was. And you STILL lost.

So in your attempt to obfuscate what are your definitions of Leftist vs a Democrat?

Confirmed idiot vs. strong suspect idiot.

 

[agent00f]

Yeah let's pretend for two seconds the green party took any significant votes away from Hillary. You can smoke screen it all you like with another storm of bullshit, but the fact stands. The left was more in lock step behind HC (with FAR fewer people calling her what she turned out to be: a shit choice of candidate) than the right was lock step for Trump and didn't call him the shit candidate that he was. And you STILL lost.


Confirmed idiot vs. strong suspect idiot.

Don't worry, the strongly suspected idiots'll keep sending those white welfare checks.

 

[bshole]

Confirmed idiot vs. strong suspect idiot.

So in another words, we don't have a meaningful definition. How the fuck can we be arguing about something when we can't even establish what we are arguing about?

I would classify a leftist as someone who supports scientific secularism first and foremost (and who will trade security for freedom). I would classify a rightist as someone who supports theocracy first and foremost (and who will always trade freedom for security).

This establishes the difference between lefts and rights. Rights are willing to believe things with no evidence while lefts always require evidence.

Is the definition I am using for lefts and rights consistent with your own? If so, why are you willing to believe things on bad or nonexistent evidence?

 

[Blackjack200]

I'm not sure if people realize how abnormal Republican behavior has been over the last eight years. Deciding that total opposition is the best strategy in a time of almost unprecedented economic crisis is not normal. Threatening to default on the nation's debt in order to win political concessions is not normal. Filibustering nominees at this rate and then refusing to staff the government is not normal. Shutting down the government in an attempt to repeal already passed legislation is not normal.

Our system only works if everyone participating in it is committed to the system more than they are committed to their personal goals within it and Republican behavior in recent years strongly draws that into question. I sincerely hope conservatives wake up to this fact, and soon.

I'd go further than eight years, though it certainly has accelerated. I think the impeachment of Bill Clinton was a major inflection point, and signaled that the right did not consider government of the left to be legitimate.

I'd also point out that the right has sought cover for it's behavior in drawing false equivalence from behavior on the left. And this is where the press has been especially damaging. The lazy "both sides" narrative, and the view from nowhere have allowed the assault on our institutions to continue without much notice.

 

[fskimospy]

I'd go further than eight years, though it certainly has accelerated. I think the impeachment of Bill Clinton was a major inflection point, and signaled that the right did not consider government of the left to be legitimate.

I'd also point out that the right has sought cover for it's behavior in drawing false equivalence from behavior on the left. And this is where the press has been especially damaging. The lazy "both sides" narrative, and the view from nowhere have allowed the assault on our institutions to continue without much notice.

I definitely agree that the press has enabled Republican behavior over the last 20 years and it represents an abdication of their responsibility to the country, but I'm not sure if it's just laziness. I think the constant false drumbeat by conservatives about media bias has succeeded in its goal of cowing the media so that they are afraid to report on things accurately.

I mean look at Trump, he brazenly put forth an almost unceasing torrent of baldfaced lies on a daily basis and it took until the final days of the campaign for the news media to start reporting obvious lies as...well...lies. They reported on the Clinton Foundation as a possible source of corruption or conflicts of interest despite there being no evidence for it at an equal or even greater rate than they reported on the Trump Foundation from which we had numerous documented cases of Trump enriching himself with his own foundation's money and while Trump was facing multiple fraud lawsuits.

It's hard for me to imagine why news organizations would commit that level of journalistic malpractice other than a very conscious effort to avoid being called biased. What they don't seem to realize is that conservatives will ALWAYS claim the media is biased against them no matter what it does.

 

[agent00f]

I definitely agree that the press has enabled Republican behavior over the last 20 years and it represents an abdication of their responsibility to the country, but I'm not sure if it's just laziness. I think the constant false drumbeat by conservatives about media bias has succeeded in its goal of cowing the media so that they are afraid to report on things accurately.

I mean look at Trump, he brazenly put forth an almost unceasing torrent of baldfaced lies on a daily basis and it took until the final days of the campaign for the news media to start reporting obvious lies as...well...lies. They reported on the Clinton Foundation as a possible source of corruption or conflicts of interest despite there being no evidence for it at an equal or even greater rate than they reported on the Trump Foundation from which we had numerous documented cases of Trump enriching himself with his own foundation's money and while Trump was facing multiple fraud lawsuits.

It's hard for me to imagine why news organizations would commit that level of journalistic malpractice other than a very conscious effort to avoid being called biased. What they don't seem to realize is that conservatives will ALWAYS claim the media is biased against them no matter what it does.

This is the perfect example of what happens when naive meets malicious. Seems egalitarian leftist education left out the reality that there are a lot of shitstains in the world.

 

[Blackjack200]

I definitely agree that the press has enabled Republican behavior over the last 20 years and it represents an abdication of their responsibility to the country, but I'm not sure if it's just laziness. I think the constant false drumbeat by conservatives about media bias has succeeded in its goal of cowing the media so that they are afraid to report on things accurately.

I mean look at Trump, he brazenly put forth an almost unceasing torrent of baldfaced lies on a daily basis and it took until the final days of the campaign for the news media to start reporting obvious lies as...well...lies. They reported on the Clinton Foundation as a possible source of corruption or conflicts of interest despite there being no evidence for it at an equal or even greater rate than they reported on the Trump Foundation from which we had numerous documented cases of Trump enriching himself with his own foundation's money and while Trump was facing multiple fraud lawsuits.

It's hard for me to imagine why news organizations would commit that level of journalistic malpractice other than a very conscious effort to avoid being called biased. What they don't seem to realize is that conservatives will ALWAYS claim the media is biased against them no matter what it does.

Yes, and the right's attacks on the press go back to the early 90's as well. It's amazing and pretty unsettling how long it's been going on. It's increasingly obvious that there's a huge appetite on the right for "news" that will validate their views and justify their hatred. That's what's taken them from Fox News, a deeply slanted organization that still has some journalistic standards, to Breitbart, Infowars, and now teenagers in Macedonia. It's how you end up with guys shooting up DC pizzarias. This is real life. And what's the road back to sanity? I'm afraid I agree with you that there's no clear path forward anymore. The mere act of trying to improve something makes you a target for hatred.

 

[Moonbeam]

I definitely agree that the press has enabled Republican behavior over the last 20 years and it represents an abdication of their responsibility to the country, but I'm not sure if it's just laziness. I think the constant false drumbeat by conservatives about media bias has succeeded in its goal of cowing the media so that they are afraid to report on things accurately.

I mean look at Trump, he brazenly put forth an almost unceasing torrent of baldfaced lies on a daily basis and it took until the final days of the campaign for the news media to start reporting obvious lies as...well...lies. They reported on the Clinton Foundation as a possible source of corruption or conflicts of interest despite there being no evidence for it at an equal or even greater rate than they reported on the Trump Foundation from which we had numerous documented cases of Trump enriching himself with his own foundation's money and while Trump was facing multiple fraud lawsuits.

It's hard for me to imagine why news organizations would commit that level of journalistic malpractice other than a very conscious effort to avoid being called biased. What they don't seem to realize is that conservatives will ALWAYS claim the media is biased against them no matter what it does.

The media is owned by the rich and the rich have a priority to make money. I think you can trace media appeasement of the right to desire not to lose eyeballs for advertisement as the real source of the wish not to offend. It used to be we have just a few major broadcasters that competed on journalistic objectivity as a source to pull audience but not there are places like Fox Smooze that provide the conservative brain defect with a safe space. Today people have the option to watch cult media that is tailored to produce a community accepted place for lunatics. In this way all the worst of our nature can be view as righteous and dignified with the accompanying stimulus to magnify them. Schools also used to teach people the habit of thinking which develops the liberal qualities of the brain. The whole purpose of an educated mind is to be able to rationally judge data without personal bias. Rationalizations were exposed early on for what they are, lying to yourself. The number of enfeebled minds that post here with pride and glee is quite something to see. We have completely lost the art of self examination. All that matters is image and ego and Trump mastered that form. He is what everybody who is nobody wants to be. He's going to make us great again. Really, when was it the brow-beaten wage slaves were great? If you want to be great you have to be something other than brain dead and neither Trump nor the rich are't going to help anybody with that.

 

[fskimospy]

Yes, and the right's attacks on the press go back to the early 90's as well. It's amazing and pretty unsettling how long it's been going on. It's increasingly obvious that there's a huge appetite on the right for "news" that will validate their views and justify their hatred. That's what's taken them from Fox News, a deeply slanted organization that still has some journalistic standards, to Breitbart, Infowars, and now teenagers in Macedonia. It's how you end up with guys shooting up DC pizzarias. This is real life. And what's the road back to sanity? I'm afraid I agree with you that there's no clear path forward anymore. The mere act of trying to improve something makes you a target for hatred.

I wish I didn't agree. Sigh. Conservatives have set up an entire alternate reality for themselves and when people or organizations point that out or threaten that worldview they are accused of being part of the conspiracy. This extends far beyond media too, I mean how many times have we heard on here that there's a massive conspiracy of climate scientists to push fake global warming in order to get science funding? How often do we hear that BLS is conspiring to hide inflation or pump up job numbers?

 

[ITJunkie]

Where the right went wrong? Did anyone see the results of the election?

Both parties are wrong. Instead of pragmatic middle ground, compromise and concern for the average people both parties have run as far from the center as possible and become even worse than the stereotypes say they are. The Republicans are seen as backwards bible-thumpers who will wreck the earth to favor business and piss on anyone that needs a helping hand. They're worse. The Dems are seen as weak, unable to protect the country, unable to keep jobs, unable to help people feel safe and willing to tax and spend until 90% of the country is living off the federal teat and totally dependent on handouts to survive. And they're even worse than that.

And that's what American politics is now. Both parties are at the extreme and who wins depends on who fucked up last. Bush fucked up, so Obama won. Obama and Clinton fucked up, so Trump won. When Trump fucks up the next democrat will win and when he/she/it inevitably fucks up the the next republican in line will get a turn.

Well frickin said!

 

[werepossum]

Yes, and the right's attacks on the press go back to the early 90's as well. It's amazing and pretty unsettling how long it's been going on. It's increasingly obvious that there's a huge appetite on the right for "news" that will validate their views and justify their hatred. That's what's taken them from Fox News, a deeply slanted organization that still has some journalistic standards, to Breitbart, Infowars, and now teenagers in Macedonia. It's how you end up with guys shooting up DC pizzarias. This is real life. And what's the road back to sanity? I'm afraid I agree with you that there's no clear path forward anymore. The mere act of trying to improve something makes you a target for hatred.

Thank goodness the left doesn't do anything like that. We might have people actually murdering cops, for instance.

 

[theeedude]

The Right went wrong with Nixon, and has been doubling down ever since.