conservative

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What “Make America Great Again” really means

Whenever I hear conservative politicians say things like “Make America great again” I have to wonder. The economy is booming. Unemployment is at its lowest rate in ten years. The deficit has been reduced by 2/3rds. The stock market is at its highest ever and gas prices are at their lowest in years.  Foreign policy-wise, ISIS leaders have been killed, Qadaffi was removed, bin Laden is dead, and we have less troops overseas than we did eight years ago.trump

These are all things that, if a Republican were in office, conservatives would be citing to say how wonderful their President is.

So what do they mean when they say “Make America great again”?

It’s clear that they’re not talking about the standard of living, foreign policy, or the economy. What they want is to go back to the old ways. You know — an America where

  • Minorities know their place and aren’t all uppity and saying “Black lives matter”
  • Gays hide in the closet and don’t demand rights
  • Transgender people are treated like they have mental problems and are shunned from society
  • Women let men decide their personal health issues, especially concerning abortion
  • Non-Christians let Christians force their religious views into the laws
  • Immigrants are kept out so that we can keep a white majority
  • No one questions the rich and powerful or demands that they pay their fair share
  • Health care and other needed necessities are only available to those who can afford it

That’s the America they want back — where rich, white, Christian men run things and everyone else sucks it up.

It’s a definition of “great” that only applies to a small minority of Americans who have managed to convince the simple-minded and gullible that America is not about equality, opportunity, and freedom but instead about allowing those in power to force their views onto the rest of us.

 

 

 

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The Wrong Side of History

Have you noticed that there are no statues, postage stamps, or medals honoring George Wallace standing in front of the schoolhouse door saying “Segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever”?

That’s because, despite the fact that he had the support of many people, he was wrong. He was the Bad Guy who wanted to force his prejudices on everyone else.

The people who are now standing in the way of marriage equality are a pretty good mirror image of this. Oh sure, they absolutely think they are right and have the approval of their god in this, but so did the racists who fought to keep innocent black children from going to school.

None of these people will be reading this blog, so I’m preaching to the choir — but some of you may want to ask yourself that question. Are you on the wrong side of history? Perhaps on similar issues, such as transgender rights?

History leads to more equality, not less. History means more acceptance of those who are different from us. History skews liberal.

My conservative friends especially might ask this about many of their political views, perhaps concerning health care. Let’s face it, historically conservatives opposed social security, medicare, medicaid, gay rights, women’s rights, voting rights, the civil rights act, minimum wage, and many other progressive reforms that later became law and now are supported by the vast majority of Americans, including most conservatives. They were on the wrong side of history.

Are you?

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Jesus and Santa were white?

Megyn Kelly from Fox News is at it again, insisting that not only is Santa Claus white (despite being based on St. Nicholas, who was from modern-day Turkey) but so is Jesus (who was a Jewish lad from the middle east). BK Santa

This fits in with the conservative bubble, where everything involves them and has to fit into their world view or it either doesn’t exist (climate change, evolution) or it is changed to be just like them (Jesus and Santa).

It’s a lack of empathy, a lack of being able to see things from others’ points of view that is the basis for much of conservative thought. They are against gay marriage until they have a gay child; they are against maternity leave until they have a baby; they are against Obamacare until they need health care coverage for their family. Whatever problems anyone has don’t mean a thing if they don’t affect them personally.

Megyn Kelly has had to backtrack a bit over her statements, but, as you can expect, she now claims that she is a victim of racism. As if insisting that your personal heroes can’t be of a different color than you means you’re a racist! Oh, right, yeah it does.