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by YankeeTarheel
My problems with Conservatives are simply that most are not at all conservative, nor do they fit the definition of what, say, a Buckley Conservative might be.(I'm not even sure he was really a Conservative...but I won't get into that).
Mostly I despise that someone, like a Dinesh D'Souza or an Ann Coulter or Trump throws out something that's down-right slanderous and so patently false, and then gets picked up by the so-called "conservatives" and is taken as gospel.
Somewhere up in this thread one of our new "conservatives" said that he found some Democrats who are patriots. You see? That's pure and utter BULLSHIT! I do not know one Democrat, one Liberal, or one Progressive who doesn't love America with all of their heart, not one. But what they DO do is feel that they MUST criticize the shortcomings, both in lack of compassion for our fellow citizens, and for violations of the Constitution.
Just today, the President is out there saying Democrats want illegal immigrants to pour across the border and immediately register and vote for Democrats.
He said Democrats want to raise YOUR taxes (the ordinary people) , want to destroy our economy, take your jobs and give them to foreigners.
He went on to say that because of the Democrats, the immigration question cannot be settled, and if they would just come to the table it would all be cleared up in an hour.
Every single word of that is factually exactly the opposite of the truth. In fact, it's flat-out lies, yet every person in the place cheered him on!
1) NOBODY wants illegal immigrants to pour across the border unchecked. But we have LAWS that allow people at the border to apply for asylum, laws that are being ignored, and we want them followed instead.
2) NOBODY wants new immigrants to immediately vote, nor is anyone proposing repealing the laws that say first an immigrant must be able to get a Green Card, then must live and work here for at LEAST 5 years before they can even APPLY for citizenship. And NOBODY is advocating allowing non-citizens the right to vote. Not in the DemocratIC Party, the Republican Party, or in ANY nation on Earth--a Trumpian blatant lie, yet believed.
3) Democrats don't want to raise ordinary people's taxes, they want to hold them constant or lower but opposed the trillion dollar tax cut that went to the top 1% (and most of THAT to the top 0.1%) and corporations. And, like it or not, Trump HAS raised everyone's taxes regressively because who do you think pays those duties on now-more expensive goods? WE DO! Until 1913, that's how the Federal government raised money--tariffs and duties that raised the price of good to ordinary people.
4) Democrats don't want to destroy the economy--Republicans nearly did between 1995 and 2009. Remember the bailouts of 2008? And the hemorrhaging of jobs by the economy? Oh, and the $1.4 TRILLION dollar deficit? All that was the result of Republican policies. Obama fought to reverse that and did. And under Clinton the WORST quarter America had was still better than the BEST quarter America had under Bush--you can look it up.
5) Take your jobs and give them to foreigners? We can't even FILL all the jobs now because unemployment is so low. We are technically at full employment (there are technical reasons why SOME unemployment is needed as people move from job to job). Besides, it was Reagan who began the process of shipping jobs offshore back in 2001--to undermine the unions.
6) Since the Republican hold both the House and the Senate, and have no problem setting aside the filibuster rule and every other Senate "courtesy" rule, the Democrats simply do not have the power stop ANY action that Trump, McConnell and Ryan agree on. If it fails, it is TOTALLY because neither can control their caucus enough to get it done.
These are all factually demonstrable events, yet Trump's lying and Republicans' belief in them is MY issue with Conservatives.
If Democrats say water is wet and Republicans say no it's not, and we have "alternative facts" to prove it, there is NO basis for discussion, for debate, for bi-partisanship, or for compromise.
Remember: The idea that one side shouldn't compromise starts with Newt Gingrich, first as a back-bencher in the minority, then as Speaker. Hastert went further and wouldn't advance ANY legislation that didn't get a majority of the majority, even when there were EASILY enough votes for a solid bi-partisan majority. Boehner would advocate a policy, as would McConnell, but as soon as Obama endorsed it and the rank & file shrieked that Obama couldn't be given a "victory" both would then oppose the policy.
Modern-day obstruction was invented and implemented by Republicans, SOLELY to achieve power.
That's why I'm not a Republican, not a "Conservative", and despite being Progressive and a gun-owner, have real sympathy for TRUE Conservatives like George Will, Bill Kristol, Joe Scarborough, Christine Todd Whitman, Steve Schmidt, and others like them.
"Even if the bee could explain to the fly why pollen is better than shit, the fly could never understand."
