Why can Republicans never admit they are wrong?

Question

I'm an independent by the way. I've simply noticed that when many Republicans are brought to task with obvious failures, they seem to resort to name-calling ("liberal" for some reason is the most common) and "we are never wrong" attitude. Not all Republicans, but more than most in my experience.

If you read many of the responses below, you see my point.

Answer 1

First, I think "never" is too strong, but "seldom" seems a good fit.

Second, it's difficult for most people to admit they're wrong, and contrary to my gut instinct, Republicans are people -- most anyway. Even Jesse Helms admitted he was wrong about AIDS.

That being said, since the 1990s, the Republican party has been heavily playing to not only a conservative audience, but a strongly religious one -- and it is the rare person who acts in the name of religion who will even consider that they might not be completely justified in all their decisions.

Taking their lead from George W Bush, who has been known to flash out in anger at any suggestion that his decisions (as the decider who decides) can be questioned, members of the Administration and many Republicans will not admit any questioning of their political motives, beliefs, or decisions.

But the clever thing they do is to project questionable motives onto those who challenge them, attacking the messenger for the message. I am skeptical of the Democrats as well, but I haven't seen this as consitently or viciously as I have Republicans.

I had a discussion about this topic recently with some friends about the disappointment and anger we had and discussed at Clinton's actions (we are all mostly liberal but independent), but didn't see anything like it coming from Bush supporters. Instead, many of them have commited to the most unimaginable contortions to justify and defend Bush.

Answer 2

I think Republicans don't have a viable excuse for believing that they know what they're talking about, half the time. They should know that the one of the founding fathers of this country (George Washington was his name), warned people against 'factions', which we now know as political parties. In his state of the union address, Georgie told America that factions would be the death of this country. Hmmm.

Have the Republicans ever studied history? Nooooo! That would only remind them of how their party has shifted from being the party of the man who freed the slaves, to the one that promotes the institutional subjugation and oppression of the grandchildren of those freed slaves.

Ignorant people often resort to name -calling to avoid being exposed for being ignorant. Maybe that's why they call Democrats, and anyone else who disagrees with them, silly names. I am independent, too. But I think I respect Republicans a lot less than Democrats for this reason.

Answer 3

Liberals suffer from it too. It is human nature. You need to hang out with better people.

What has always puzzled me is that is was Republicans that ended slavery, put the 63 civil rights, and the 68 bill as well, through the congress, invited the first black man to sleep in the white house,invited the first black man to eat in the white house, gave the first black man the presidential medal, desegregated the military, and passed the voting rights acts, and signed mlk day into law as a federal holiday, yet black people vote for democrats.

So why do black people keep voting for Democrats who never come through for them, and actively opposed them in recent history? is it because black American culture has become a culture of entitlement, and democrats love to buy votes with tax dollars?

Just wondering what the other side of the coin looks like.

Answer 4

Not sure but it does seem to be a something I noticed quite some time ago. G.W. Certainly doesn't want to ever admit he's wrong and boy, he's wrong on so many issues!
I think possibly it goes back to the Puritans. They never thought they were wrong either and had a "holier than thou" attitude which is dominate in the GOP too.

Answer 5

Does any politician admit to being wrong? Don't think so. But, I might ask, when is the last time that the Democrats admitted a mistake? No, they don't. Instead, they make all of their mistakes, which have carried over into Bush's administration, the mistakes of Republicans. Oh, come on; give me a break!

Answer 6

Brainwashed fanatics can never admit they are wrong. Also, would you be able to sleep at night if you suddenly realized that you voted for a man who has dragged us into a war that's based on a lie, has given us a record deficit, and is slowly turning our country into a dictatorship? The Republicans have to convince themselves that they are right so that they can salve their own consciences.

Answer 7

They do. You just can't hear it over Dem's screaming that they are wrong and should have to testify in front of some stupid committee about why they are too incompetent to be human beings. If you people would just shut the h*ll up occasionally Republicans might be able to get a word in edgewise.

Answer 8

This is a dumb stereotype. There are people of all political persuasions who are stubborn, dogmatic, and unwilling to admit they were incorrect about something. Similarly, I have found people of all political persuasions with whom you could have a reasonable conversation even if, in the end, you didn't persuade them to a different point of view.

I am a Republican; you clearly are not. Despite that, I won't resort to your level of mudslinging.

Answer 9

Typical liberal question...relying on anything BUT fact.

By the way, does anyone like to admit they're wrong? Last I checked, everyone's got a little pride issue going on.

Answer 10

It's Republican policy to do nothing about domestic issues, unless it is taking peoples rights away and imposing Christian right wing polices. It's their thinking that problems are solved by keeping government out of peoples lives (which is usually a good thing) except when they want to legislate morality (which is usually a bad thing)

Independent thinker.