Originally posted by: jrenz
Originally posted by: Craig234
Why do so many righty posters come across as frat boy mentalities?
Originally posted by: Harvey
...Asshole In Chief ...
...war of LIES...
QFT! :laugh:Originally posted by: PrevaricatorJohn
Personally, I have no clue...
ASSHOLE IN CHEIF
FUCK GEORGE W. BUSH AND HIS ENTIRE CRIMINAL ADMINISTRATION! :thumbsdown: :| :thumbsdown:
Prick and Vice Prick...
...Asshole In Chief...
What were you saying Craig?
PS - I guess mods are above the law when it comes to the language filter.
I'm not saying that the lefties don't have our own issues in some posts.
But that's not what I mean by "frat boy". There's a special sort of attitude which treats issues and human beings as nothing but objects for playing games in policy debates, whether it's who can 'win' a nuclear war because they have more people left at the end, to playing board games around wars in regions of the world to increase our own power there, but notably with a sort of sneering sarcasm.
Two examples really hit the issue I mean - the expression that William Kristol always wears, with a sort of sneering smile on the verge of a boyish laugh no matter what he's saying, and the 'hehe' snicker of George Bush after whatever policy statement that Jon Stewart satirizes.
Another classic example is the Wall Street Journal editorial board, who is filled with these frat boys, not only calling the poor 'lucky duckies', but taking pleasure in the anger it caused. It's the same sneer that they take when Ann Coulter calls another democrat a 'lovely human', or with getting away with the false story claiming the Clinton administration trashed te White House when leaving. It's that sort of 'getting away with something wrong as long as it hurts the other side' immaturity.
It's the same syndrome seen by the Karl Rove crowd, going back to their days in the college republicans, pulling similar 'pranks' (it's the same mentality that led him to later 'dirty tricks' like planting a microphone and accusing the opponent of doing it; it worked, his candidate then won); the same mentality that has led the Dartmouth Review newspaper to say outrageous things against gays or pull stunts like offering a white-only scholarship, and snicker at the outrage they cause - not really serious, but enjoying the hostility.
I see this in the 'right wingers', not the real conservatives like the Barry Goldwater types, who are properly contemptuous of these foolish, mean-spirited people.
They seem to have a special arrogance that leads them to treat issues that affect people as a game for their amusement.
There were stories of George Bush at Harvard, he'd say something outrageous in class about Viet Nam to offend people and snicker, and then in a cowardly way deny saying it.
In fact, I'll use that as an example of this 'frat boy right-wing mentality', excerpting an article about Bush at Harvard:
"I don't remember all the students in detail unless I'm prompted by something," Tsurumi said in a telephone interview Wednesday. "But I always remember two types of students. One is the very excellent student, the type as a professor you feel honored to be working with. Someone with strong social values, compassion and intellect -- the very rare person you never forget. And then you remember students like George Bush, those who are totally the opposite."
One of Tsurumi's standout students was Rep. Chris Cox, R-Calif., now the seventh-ranking member of the House Republican leadership. "I typed him as a conservative Republican with a conscience," Tsurumi said. "He never confused his own ideology with economics, and he didn't try to hide his ignorance of a subject in mumbo jumbo. He was what I call a principled conservative."...
Bush, by contrast, "was totally the opposite of Chris Cox," Tsurumi said. "He showed pathological lying habits and was in denial when challenged on his prejudices and biases. He would even deny saying something he just said 30 seconds ago. He was famous for that. Students jumped on him; I challenged him." When asked to explain a particular comment, said Tsurumi, Bush would respond, "Oh, I never said that."
In 1973, as the oil and energy crisis raged, Tsurumi led a discussion on whether government should assist retirees and other people on fixed incomes with heating costs. Bush, he recalled, "made this ridiculous statement and when I asked him to explain, he said, 'The government doesn't have to help poor people -- because they are lazy.' I said, 'Well, could you explain that assumption?' Not only could he not explain it, he started backtracking on it, saying, 'No, I didn't say that.'"
Bush once sneered at Tsurumi for showing the film "The Grapes of Wrath," based on John Steinbeck's novel of the Depression. "We were in a discussion of the New Deal, and he called Franklin Roosevelt's policies 'socialism.' He denounced labor unions, the Securities and Exchange Commission, Medicare, Social Security, you name it. He denounced the civil rights movement as socialism. To him, socialism and communism were the same thing. And when challenged to explain his prejudice, he could not defend his argument, either ideologically, polemically or academically."
Students who challenged and embarrassed Bush in class would then become the subject of a whispering campaign by him, Tsurumi said. "In class, he couldn't challenge them. But after class, he sometimes came up to me in the hallway and started bad-mouthing those students who had challenged him. He would complain that someone was drinking too much. It was innuendo and lies. So that's how I knew, behind his smile and his smirk, that he was a very insecure, cunning and vengeful guy."
"I used to chat up a number of students when we were walking back to class," Tsurumi said. "Here was Bush, wearing a Texas Guard bomber jacket, and the draft was the No. 1 topic in those days. And I said, 'George, what did you do with the draft?' He said, 'Well, I got into the Texas Air National Guard.' And I said, 'Lucky you. I understand there is a long waiting list for it. How'd you get in?' When he told me, he didn't seem ashamed or embarrassed. He thought he was entitled to all kinds of privileges and special deals. He was not the only one trying to twist all their connections to avoid Vietnam. But then, he was fanatically for the war."
Tsurumi told Bush that someone who avoided a draft while supporting a war in which others were dying was a hypocrite. "He realized he was caught, showed his famous smirk and huffed off."
Tsurumi's conclusion: Bush is not as dumb as his detractors allege. "He was just badly brought up, with no discipline, and no compassion," he said.