Response to Comments: Why I Dislike Conservatives
(originally posted in comments section re: Which is worse?)
I'm sure what you'd like me to say is that I dislike people in red states because they drive pick-up trucks stacked with guns and Bibles and smoke Marlboro reds on the way home from their sisters' trailer. Honestly, that seems to be the perception shared by many liberals here in the northeast. I shouldn't say that I dislike conservatives, more so that I do not understand them. To some degree then, it is a fear of the unknown, and I will admit that. Personally, I have many problems with the Bush administration, none of which you've yet to hear, I'm sure. For one, I disagree with the manner in which we essentially circumvented the United Nations in going to war with Iraq, and essentially left that institution impotent in our wake. Secondly, although I consider myself a Christian, I believe passionately in the separation of church and state. I fear that the president has a large conservative base that wishes to erode this provision.
Regarding the president himself, I recall something my father taught me growing up. He owns his own business, relatively small, but as a child I was convinced he ran the whole world out of the office downstairs. Once, I asked him how he managed to do so many things, to be in so many places at once, and yet to lead with such success. He told me "Well, obviously I can't do it alone. Smart men surround themselves with smart people." I belive that is the mark of a great leader. Therefore, I hold President Bush accountable for the apparent lapse of judgement in chosing an unscrupulous Secretary of Defense and an irresponisble Attorney General (only two among those I disagree with). People always poke fun at the man because of his draw and his mispronunciation of words, but those things do not mark the intelligence of a man. An effective leader must know how to deligate judiciously, and at the very least, to surround him/herself with sound advisors.
In response to the conservative ideolody, I guess that it can best be summed up by my preference for the first and tenth amendments (free speech and power to the states) and my general disagreement with the second (right to bare arms).
posted by M. Rybacki at 9:59 PM
1 Comments:
Ok, so Bush flipped off the UN, to do something you think is wrong. But what I'm asking is, why do you think it's wrong? Fine it may be wrong under the UN but most conservatives really believe what they are doing is right. Conservatives would say that democracy is a good thing, that Saddam was a cruel dictator, that leaving the country would be the an evil in itself. The Bush administration would say "look, there are elections!". Isn't that a good thing?
Now you may liberals may say, "but look at the hundreds of thousands of people who died!". Now yes, that is a bad thing just like the lack of utilities/security and soldiers/journos dying and so on are negatives, but when all that stuff stops, the soldiers leave, and there is peace and security, won't it be worth it then?
You may say "well that might not happen" and true it may not, but in my opinion and the opinion of many conservatives, the recent high turnout at the election, and the fact that the insurgents don't represent the opinion of the majority of Iraq's, the future looks bright for the people of Iraq.
Essentially, what I think a lot of conservatives think, is that the positives (democracy, free speech, participation in the global economy) that may come out of the invasion outweigh the negatives (civilians/soldiers deaths, lack of services/security) which I see as temporary.
What's wrong with idealism?
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