Liberal Talking Points to Right Wing Lies (Part 3)
Posted: Thursday, August 25, 2011
by e
Dhammabucha Rocksprings Meditation
In Parts one and two I mentioned that these are counterarguments to right wing lies, and perhaps the last chance at civility. If this doesn’t work with the kind of sociopaths we hear all day on hate radio and faux news, then there is perhaps no other option than what Danny Schechter suggested in his article on Al Jazeera:
“Some of us argue with them, thinking our facts can refute theirs - but at bottom, fanaticism is not neutralized by rational argument. You need countervailing power and a willingness to fight for another vision.”
Lie #12. Illegal immigrants are not human beings and do not deserve any kind of civil rights.
The Truth: What can I say? Please review the tendencies of right wingers, or sociopaths in part 1 of this series.
Lie #13. Nobody has the right to take end their own life no matter how much they are suffering, but the government has the right to execute criminals.
The Truth: Again, the constitution is a document about individual rights regarding our own, private lives, tempered by the social good. Taking one’s own life is much different than taking another’s life. Religious fundamentalists want to stick their noses in everyones’ business. Beware.
Lie #14. Christianity is right, secularism, atheism, and humanism is wrong. The country won’t advance until Christian fundamentalists control all peoples’ lives
The Truth: Unless you want an Iran, never let theocracy even get the slightest foothold, fight it aggressively just as you would fight a cancer.
Lie #15. The public school system indoctrinates Americans.
The Truth: Yes it does. But not like the Catholic Church or the Baptist Sunday School does. That’s merely belief. Public schools are all about real science and non –religiosity.
Lie #16. Universities are a breeding ground for Liberal notions, no matter how radical or how lacking in educational value.
The Truth: Too bad that open minded institutions as well as open minded cities become liberal. Hmm, maybe it has to do with an intelligent observation that we are all, ALL, one, not merely religious bigots with self-reinforcing distorted views.
Lie #17. To create a judicial/legal system based on fundamentalist Christian conservative beliefs.
The Truth: This is happening now as a right wing congress refuses to appoint any of Obamas court appointees to the court. If this isn’t warfare, I don’t know what is.
Lie #18.To keep everything Just as it is, white, rich, Christian and Republican.
The Truth: Good luck
Lie #19. To be suspicious of all government.
The Truth: Yes, because government is about all of the people, not just fundamentalist right wingers.
Lie #20. To create an unregulated capitalism where money is above people.
The Truth: A good example of unregulated capitalism is what happened in 2008. Workers lost their jobs and homes while banks and Wall Street got bailed out. And we might not recover as a country for decades. America is all about and always has been about socialism and capitalism 50/50. Every time capitalism got out of control, the country has failed.
Lie #21. Everyone should be able to carry a concealed weapon anywhere and kill any animal that moves with no sensitivity at all. (Again, read the tendencies of a sociopath
The Truth: A gun mentality equates into a violent country. Bush was a good example of that and it killed many kids as well as broke our country. Gun toting cowboys are losers. This is sociopathic nature. Guns are designed to do one thing – kill. Of course, as stated above, sociopaths don’t know how to love. Love is word that enrages sociopaths.
Lie #22. To keep the military just as it is, spending 20 times more than any other country, and to keep gays out.
The Truth: Oops, too late. Gays are in. All of the conservative goals will be reversed in time. All of them. They are always on the wrong side of history because history is all about change, and right wingers can’t stand change.
Lie #23. All people should be on their own with no social support what so ever. Just like the old days on the prairie. Tote a gun and fight for yourself.
The Truth: This is of course against everything that a just and contented society aspires to. This is the 2% of Americans who hold all the wealth and are trying to control the rest of us. Don’t let them do it.
Lie #24. To end all social safety nets.
The Truth: Yep, back to the good old days. This is utter stupidity. If workers aren’t taken care of, they rise up and take care of business! (Egypt, Libya). Wealthy, selfish people take note; when the downtrodden and the ones taken advantage of by the upper class hit a tipping point, there is no going back.
Lie #25. All of our problems are the result of liberal policies.
The Truth: The facts are that the Republican Party been the party of the wealthy and considers the liberal party as socialistic or the party of obstructionism regarding unrestricted capitalism. Liberals are for the working man and woman. Republicans are for capitalists. Since a working nation requires a compromise on these two ideologies and since the Republicans have decided not to compromise any longer regarding social values, there is nothing left to do but fight them. There is no more dialogue possible. The country will now fail. The poor will get hurt the most. If they get hurt enough, capitalism will be crippled for decades. When people have no jobs, no homes, no hope, socialism is the only thing that might, I say might, avoid a revolution. It only takes a tipping point, and with the attitude of the right wing congress, that point is close. This is playing with fire because of stupidity. Sociopaths, similar to bullies, always get their come-uppance in the end.
Lie #26: Cut social programs and tax the poor and middle class, but keep the corporate and wealthy tax cuts because they are the job creators.
The Truth: This backwards trickle down economic fairytale has decimated workers for thirty years now since Reagan invented it. Wages have not increased after inflation, for thirty years, while income for the top tier of the wealthy class has increased 232%. Trickle down wealth DOES NOT WORK for the poor and middle class, only for the wealthy and corporations. What creates jobs is when somebody buys something. Business will not hire until they need more people to take care of increased business. Cutting their taxes won’t encourage them to hire if they have no customers coming in the door, and if they do, higher taxes don’t hurt. I have never heard a businessman say tha they would not hire because he was afraid that his taxes would go up, or that he was afraid of future regulations. That's a bogus myth put out by the capitailsts. The company doesn't hire becasue nobody is buying their stuff. Taxing the corporations and the wealthy puts more money in the workers pockets and they will spend it. 70% of GDP is consumer spending. When we put money in the corporations or the wealthy pockets by tax cuts, they merely spend it by expanding overseas or gambling on Wall Street. Nouriel Roubini: “Karl Marx said it right, at some point Capitalism can self-destroy itself because it cannot keep on shifting income from labor to capital without not having excess capacity and a lack of aggregate demand, and that’s what’s happening. We thought that markets work, they’re not working, and what’s individually rational, every firm wants to survive and thrive and thus slashing labor costs even more, my labor costs are somebody else’s labor income and consumption. That’s why it’s a self-destructive process.”
Lie #27: Obama caused our economic mess.
The Truth: After Republican successfully pressured for deregulation of Wall Street causing the biggest credit and financial disaster in history, Bush hatched the TARP program when his economic advisor went to congress and told them that if they do not approve TARP, the banks would fall off a cliff and the entire world would go into depression. Obama walked into this mess. The mess began with Bush who took a budget surplus and turned into a huge budget deficit by starting two useless wars and cutting taxes mostly benefitting the wealthy. Obama had no choice but to fund the failing economy. If he would not have and had done what conservatives wanted – austerity measures in the face of a deep recession, we would have had a repeat of the 1937 mistake during the Depression when we contracted instead of expanded the money supply leading to the downturn that lasted until WWII forced us to spend. Historically governments spend out of a recession and save during good times. Republicans however choose to ignore this and want to drive the economy into the ground. Why? Because they want Obama out of office. These are the kind of people you do not want to trust if you make less than $250,000 a year. Why do they want Obama out of office? well, just look at the record - how many minorities and blacks are represented in the Republican congress? The Republicans are the party of the white and wealthy.
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Top-level comments on this article: (4 total)
What's sad is that many of the oppressed vote for their oppressors because they have been led to believe that God protects and glorifies those that give their livelihoods and yes, their lives, for the great white wealthy establishment. The exact same brainwashing tactics that drive men/women to fly planes into buildings and blow themselves up in the name of Allah. Jesus Christ, how much ignorance can society sustain?Just read an article about high divorce rates in Red states which is seemingly counter intuitive to Bible Belt hype. Seems that the main reason is lack of education and a disdain for their parent's fundamentalist rigidity regarding no sex before marriage. So they get married young and stupid just for sex. Blue states with more liberal ideas wait to get married and try each other out for awhile - reducing the divorce rate. There is a lesson in here somewhere :)Conservative lessons to be learned. Excuse me..hehe! Goes something like this. Blue states have a lower divorce rate because they are better educated and then prepared once they enter the marriage. Red state (corporate America's) solution, eliminate the blue state, their elected representatives, any records or literature suggesting that this might be the case, pump millions of dollars into the religious and their appeasers get out the vote campaign and immediately implement intelligent design only classes in your schools curriculum. Problem solved.These are not only sociopaths, they are truly insane. Can you imagine the damage they will do to the vast majority of people in America if they ever get in power? Face up to them every chance you get. The problem is, the conservative websites rarely have a comments section following their lying articles. . Odd isn't it?It amazes me how many people think that just because they read it on the Internet, heard it on the radio, or saw it on Faux News, it must be true. I'm stuck in a red state, and the education is so poor here that there is no sense in even arguing with these people.
Even when they do listen and understand logical and reasonable points put before them, they ignore them because the far right tells them it's okay to hate certain groups of people because the Bible tells them so.
Great article... I like the way you think. :-)That's how sociopaths are. Proselytizing religion is the same process. Listen to other views only for the reason of arguing your point better. No open mindedness, just views that will not and cannot change. Much like bullies - you can't reason with them, you can only confront them.
Fantastic, e, and thank you for number 27! I'm so sick of all the Barack Obama bashing that's happening. And yet he retains his dignity. Extraordinary. I love your response to all these lies, but especially number 18! What a wonderful and important article.Hey Jen, good to hear from you. I calls 'em like I sees 'em, you know!
Best.......e
I agree with Ingrid that just because you read it on the internet doesn't make it true....this covers many issues including health ones I have found lately. ScaryHi Marijo. Even the Mayo Clinic and WEB MD gets it wrong many times. And also, things change as research improves. Exercise, and lots of fruits and vegetables still seem a good bet.
Best......e
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