One of the dumbest ploys in the conservative quiver is the “public
apology.” This modern form of public shaming is childish and so transparently political.
And I would never ask a Republican to apologize for something they said honestly. Their inadvertent slips reveal who they are, and an apology doesn't take that back. It's what they probably say behind closed doors anyway.
So
in reaction, Schneider feels so embarrassed by his own parties low information
voters actions, that he wants to falsely equate Democrat criticisms with the racist, bigoted, gun toting senselessness of the teabilly party:
jsonline: Being liberal means never having to say you're sorry: Last month, the Madison Public Library Foundation ... scheduled an author meet and greet with William Ayers, a domestic terrorist and co-founder of the Weather Underground … It's not as if the liberal city of Madison is new to domestic bombers. For decades, the city has been home to Karl Armstrong … But thank God neither of these guys did something truly objectionable, like opposing Obamacare.
Conservatives are constantly having to apologize for the actions of fringe members of the Republican Party (whether they are actually Republicans or not). Every time some dope stands on a stage and demands President Barack Obama "put down the Qur'an," it is treated as if it were a strain endemic to the GOP.
These apologies even extend to "legitimate" actions, such as the tea party's mission to shut down the government in a feckless attempt to defund Obamacare. There has been a long, thoughtful debate on the right about the tea party's tactics … Yet there is rarely such reflection on the left when it comes to their party's most extreme elements. Democrats almost never have to account for the intemperate actions of their cohorts on the left.
Are you crying alligator tears yet?
Take, for example, Democratic Florida Congressman Alan Grayson, who last week sent out a fundraising email likening the tea party to the Klu Klux Klan, using a picture of a flaming cross to form the "T" in "tea party." If Grayson were a Republican, he'd be hung around the neck of every GOP politician across the nation.
I thought Grayson's picture was an over-the-top, hard truth about the tea party.
But Schneider, like every other Republican, considers actual criticism “name calling.” For instance, turning working Americans into low wage take-it-or-leave-it employees who can't get food stamps and are denied unemployment, is a form of slavery, so…
But Schneider, like every other Republican, considers actual criticism “name calling.” For instance, turning working Americans into low wage take-it-or-leave-it employees who can't get food stamps and are denied unemployment, is a form of slavery, so…
In his soon-to-be-released book, Gov. Scott Walker recalls when AFSCME leader Marty Beil called him a "tyrant," saying, "This is all about Scott Walker kind of bringing back, instead of public service, it is public servitude." Beil added, "He's the master of the plantation and we're supposed to be his slaves; that's his philosophy here." Beil made those comments in December 2010; Walker hadn't even taken office yet.
Of course, we all know what would happen if one of the Koch brothers would, say, compare Obamacare to slavery. Conservatives would have to rush to disavow it. But Beil helped orchestrate the Wisconsin Senate Democrats' flight to Illinois to jam up the Legislature for three weeks; he's no bit player. Yet Democrats' obeisance to Beil in blocking government is seen as "fighting for justice," while tea party actions to thwart Obamacare are something for which Republicans apparently have to apologize.
It’s hard to miss the false equivalence here, isn't it?
It's not as if there's a shortage of "what if the shoe was on the other foot" examples. At an anti-shutdown rally in Washington, D.C., two weeks ago, someone waved a sign saying "THANKS TEA-TARDS." Yet I would bet Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) isn't worried that she's ever going to have to explain why she's allied with some of these people.
Next time there's a big showdown between the parties, resist the urge to reflexively blame the tea party. Instead, think about whether the "Scott Walker is a slave owner" contingency is pulling the Democrats too far in their direction.
Sorry, the comparison just doesn't work.
"Like I've told my conservative friend in Milwaukee so many times before, liberals are nothing like conservatives; we don’t act, think or have any inclination to be like them, ever."
ReplyDeleteYou could've just said, "we don't think."
I'm not sure this conservative friend you keep mentioning really exists, but an apology from liberals to anyone under 30 would definitely be in order. Your sense of entitlement has enslaved them with so much debt they will never ever get out from under it.
An entire generation is lost and you morons still don't get it. Liberals just straight up don't understand money. If you can take a dollar bill out of your pocket and explain to me why it has value and what that value is worth, I'll be happy to show you the error of your ways. Not that you would ever be capable of learning anything.
Being conservative means you conserve. You don't spend your generation, and the following 2 generations into perpetual slavery. I don't know what being liberal means, or what you think it means since you have no clear argument or intended goal to put forth, but I know it means you definitely don't have the ability to think, reason, debate, produce or learn.
Another clueless "anonymous" comment.
ReplyDeleteOkay, let's see, maybe I'm making my argument over and over...blog post by blog post? No? Trying "reading."
Bush started out with projected surpluses and turned that into a $1.2 trillion deficit (especially after the great recession). The GOP during the Bush years borrowed us into this current deficit. So yea, it's the Democrats...liberals, who don't understand money management.
"Entitlement" is such a nice buzz word for you guys. Our entitlement programs prevent senior poverty, and came about because of that poverty. We pay into it, and cutting what we get at the end is cheating and a broken promise, which you're okay with because you understand money.
Medicare was also a gift to insurers so they wouldn't have to pay for that older high risk pool. Taxpayers pay for that now. But that's okay, business should just make money. Certainty right?
Your comment tells me you like scapegoating your problems, and can't take responsibility for your party's debts (that you and I are on the line to pay for eventually). We can't change the rules so we don't have to pay back the SS trust fund. Our representative borrowed from it, and that means taxpayers have to pay it back. But Republicans want to break that promise, walk on their borrowed debt to SS. That's responsible right? Oh, that's right, "we promised too much." Forgot the talking point.
You'r a freeloader that talks big, and has a party induced inflated view of yourself. You believe the myth of the "fiscal conservative." It's all marketing, and you bought into the lie. Makes you feel kind stupid now, doesn't it?
Look at our state's jobs and business record, and you'll see failure. But you would give it more time, right, not the 6 months you gave Obama to right the course after the Great Recession (caused by free market BS).
Can't handle the fact that my Milwaukee friend is real can you? I'm just making him up. What other fantasies help you deal with life's cruel realities...like your party failed and won't except it.
Buy a gun, that makes conservatives feel much better I hear.