Golmer's Blog

#tcot and #teaparty conservatives (actually conservatives in general) rant over and over against liberals, destruction of our nation, big government, etc. The charge is that “liberals” are destroying the nation and that they are creating a nanny state, and moving towards socialism, etc.

I happen to agree with part of that sentiment, but I charge that it is not liberalism that is destroying this nation - it is extremism. Extremism on both ends of the political and social spectrum - and the polarization of our nation as a result. Everyone knows that the “teaparty” movement is primarily conservatives, but there are also a lot of moderates and even some liberals that are tired of the destruction of this nation through polarization. They are tired of liberal and conservative extremism that results in stagnated government that has wild mood swings every 4 or 8 years.

So let’s start with a few of the core problems conservatives have that, frankly, make the entire movement retarded.

1. “Big Government.” Conservatives cannot charge liberals (like Obama) with creating big government without indicting themselves - that is exactly what they created during the Bush Administration. The liberals TAX and spend money beyond our means - the conservatives BORROW and spend money beyond our means. The only difference is that conservatives hide the true cost better than liberals. The net result is the same - debt for our children and grandchildren and a long-term debtor status for our nation. Further, conservatives rail against liberals for big government and government interference, but are perfectly willing to push for the full weight of federal government intervention in our affairs when it suits their needs on certain key issues - like abortion, right to die, “defense of marriage,” prayer in schools, teaching creationism in schools, gun rights (I’m actually for this one because it is hard-coded in the constitution), and any other issue that interferes with their largely religious viewpoint on those issues. In short, you cry foul when it suits you to either support OR decry “big government.”

2. Whom you choose as your leaders. There seems to be only a few qualifiers to be a political leader, candidate, or spokesperson for the conservative movement. Those seem to be a) recovering alcoholic or drug addict, b) of an acceptable Protestant denomination (well, some catholics are okay as long as they are willing to state publicly they don’t work directly for the pope), c) either an old white guy, or someone of a protected class that will make conservatives more palatable to moderates.  Your best efforts are @GeorgeBush, @SaraPalinUSA, @RushLimbaugh, and #Glenbeck? Really? You seem to hire people that are easy to point out as misogynic, racist, bigoted, religiously intolerant fools. But they have the right qualifiers right?

3. Obama is a liberal. He ran as a liberal. His leanings are big-government and socialist in tendency. But he is also a black man, and your movement (or at least the large public facing portion of it) are misspelled sign waving, conspiracy theorist, confederate flag waving, racist, WASP, ignorant trailer park trash who have no clue how our government works - but that is exactly whom Beck, Limbaugh and Palin cater to. Do you really want the conservative movement tied to ignorant fools? Evidently you do, based on whom you have representing you and whom you have supporting you.

4. You choose to build your case against Obama and his liberal, socialist-leaning policies not by valid and logical argumentation, but by attacking whether he was born in the US or not, attacking him personally with clown and hitler posters, and berate him for spending money when you gave George Bush a free pass to wreck this country wholesale on the Republican conservative’s watch. You attack his use of teleprompters (as f that matters), claim he wants death panels and free abortions for everyone, and claim he is going to rip the guns out of your hands. Almost all of the weak, vapid points you attack him on can be easily debunked just by using a little basic research - hell you can even debunk most of it on snopes.com. But you fail in this regard - you perpetuate ignorance and stupidity every time you forward a conspiracy theory email to your conservative friends.

So here is the challenge. I challenge republicans and conservatives to actually RESEARCH your talking points. Whenever someone forwards you a “death panel” email or an “Obama is a Muslim” email or an “Obama isn’t a US Citizen” horse shit, or any of the other myriad of frankly retarded and ignorant things that you use to foment hatred on the right, THINK, RESEARCH and find out for YOURSELF whether what you are perpetuating is crap or not. And ask yourself are you hating Obama because he is a liberal progressive black man or because he is a black man? If you hate Obama for spending our money, why did Bush get a free pass for doing the same AND entrenching us in an intractable war? It seems like 90% of the problem with making this nation better is extremist and frankly IGNORANT positions - positions not even based in fact - controlling your movement. 

If you really want “teaparty” style change, then you should at least have not only valid arguments, but have actual solutions to fix our problems with. Do that, and I might just join the movement. I happen to think extreme liberalism is just as stupid as extreme conservatism. Neither view is tenable. 

For the trailer park folks, sorry I used so many big words. 

P.S. Could you at least TRY to spell your ignorant signs correctly? If you can’t spell the word for an important social or political issue, you ought not be arguing the position your sign is made for.