Conservatives Protecting the Status Quo At All Costs

[Joshua Purcell]

I have many regular political discussions with a group of people, all of which happen to be self-described conservatives (and most like the label capitalist libertarian more than Republican). I find it amazing what comes out of their mouth sometimes, and I always confront them on it but in a way that allows us to keep working together or to keep sitting across the table at Thanksgiving or Christmas. This last week I was talking with one guy who was particularly worried about the course our country is on, and he was referring to the Fed and how it spends the people's money to bail out Wall Street without any real oversight. This topic is actually something that politicians from all sides of the political spectrum say they are upset with, from the conservatives who all say they are for a smaller government to those of us on the Left who demand more democracy. He setup this what-if scenario up like this: Say the public succeeds in pushing to find out why the Fed made the decisions it did, and the facts around those decisions are so disruptive that it causes not only the Fed to break down, but the rest of the government along with it? He went on to talk about how China is currently overtaking us in many ways as the most powerful nation and we are currently fighting the War on Terror, and such a situation would be 'really bad' for all Americans regardless of their political slant. He ended by saying that the idea of investigating the Fed gave him pause, because he was afraid of the outcome. He then wanted to know what I think about how the scenario should let it play out.

So here was one of the most outspoken conservatives I talk with completely ignoring all the most important political ideals America's conservative movement bases itself on at the expense of making sure the status quo is protected. This was a good example of the blatant hypocrisy that many conservatives in the US base their whole political life on, which is this: everything they say or do is really just for one thing... to protect them and theirs. They only care about society as long as they keep their current benefits. They only believe in protecting or handing out rights so long as their current actions are justified.

My answer to his what-if scenario was that if finding out what was going on in the Fed were to make our current mode of government fall apart, I say let it burn. If our current situation is so fragile that actually seeing what is going on is enough for us to decide we need to scrap it and start over, then maybe that is exactly what needs to be done.

[Christopher Hill]

This really is a big theme in their pattern of thought.. But a lot of it I believe simply comes down to ignorance, many of them really believe what they preach, they think they really are supporting a small government and protection of civil rights, Many conservatives which I have talked to seem to have a almost Marxist world view, They merely have been told their whole lives that Communism is evil and still resist it.. It really is sad.

[P.O.U.M]

My friend's mom came over tonight to hang out with my mother. This woman happens to be a devout Christian and a Republican. I was getting ready to hit the gym while she was talking about Christmas traditions and some forth and made a joke about "make sure my son doesn't marry a Jew." And my dumbass of course says "What about a Muslim?" Suffice it to say, I made her shit list tonight. For a brief few seconds, I was thinking "Ohhh crap, I over did it."

But back to the point. Conservative's will go through great expenses at sacrificing their ideals to maintain the status quo. And I'm not talking about the politicians and ministers who couldn't give a damn about the conservative ideal to begin. More so the average person. The same lady I made the smart ass comment to earlier tonight. Would not let my friend vote in the last presidential election. Consequently I couldn't vote either because of her (long story, but I didn't care about voting Obama or every other protest vote everyone and their grandma was running. I just wanted to vote to support gay right's and get Mormon politics out of my state.) My friend couldn't vote because his mailing address is still at his mom's (for whatever fucking reason). And she refused to tell him where his polling place was because she knew he would vote in favor of gay marriage and of course Obama would send us straight to hell in a hand basket, providing the gay's didn't first. With holding mail is a federal crime. Not to mention there goes the great ideal of democracy right out of the window.

That's my brief story. But if you want to really see how hypocritical US conservatives are, look no further then the Daily Show and Colbert Report who point out how silly the conservative pundits and others are on a daily basis.

[Christopher Hill]

Reminds me of my friend's mom.. on facebook she was going on about how we need prayer in school.. so I asked her about whether she was a fundie wanting forced prayer or voluntary prayer.. and so she sent me this..

"I've never met a Christian who wants to force u to pray. I believe fundamentalists want to control u. U should be more scared of Muslims than Christians. Religious persecution is a big scary deal. As a Christian and someone who comes from a family of christians a d a relative of a few atheists I don't force anyone to pray nor do I agree anyone should. Personal decision The USA is about religious freedom and that's what conservatives believe, Is disagree with u completely. There isn't even talk about forcing prayer in school. That is just a throwback argument that people say conservatives want. U r confusing ur facts. Palin who I'm not a huge fan of has not said there should be prayer in school and neither has beck. Conservatives are for conservative ideas not all repubs are Christian. The liberal media like CNN and msnbc are more liberal. While fox news is pegged as conservative if u read ur facts u will find that they are the most unbiased news out there. Read the BBC or ap to get ur information or he drudge reort. Obama and his fellow Koop aid drinkers want u to believe all that u are saying and it sounds like they're doing what they set out to do."