Why do conservatives attack anyone against their ideas by bashing them as liberals?

Question

I'm a moderate, far from liberal leaning, yet I chuckle everytime I read comments from conservatives who bash anyone who disagrees with their point of view by calling them liberals. Are we still living in the former Pres. George H.W. Bush era when he referred to liberals as the "L" word alluding that liberal was too filthy of a word to mention in public.

Answer 1

Well, I'd have to disagree with you somewhat.
Almost nobody 100% fits into any classification, but that doesn't mean that the titles don't basically fit.
After all, you're calling them "conservatives" yourself, so you're doing the same thing - using a title for an entire group, based on hearing their opinion on one or two issues
The truth is, Liberals these days don't like to be called liberals, so they use other titles, like "moderate" or "progressive" or whatever, which is silly.
I've rarely met anyone using these titles, that is really "middle of the road" politically, and I have friends that are literally so left-wing that they're essentially communists (wanting the government to nationalize all business, etc.), yet they insist they're not liberals.
Typically, self-titled "moderates" fit neatly into the mold of liberals (therefore deserve the title), because of the issues they believe in:

Pro-abortion.
Pro-tax increases.
Absolute near-obsessive hatred for Bush, Cheney, etc.
Against the Iraq war.
See little or nothing wrong with having Illegal aliens here.
Against school vouchers.
Want government paid health care.
Heavy regulation of businesss.
Support environmental regulation at any cost.
I'm not arguing the merits for, or against any of these issues above, I'm just saying they are in fact liberal issues.

If you are a "YES" in at least 75% of what I just listed, then you're not a moderate, you're a liberal.
Thirty years ago, they would call you a socialist, and fourty years ago, they'd call you a communist, so don't be so irritated at being called a liberal.

Answer 2

Yeah well both sides do it, the Conservatives just do it better.

The liberals call anyone with anything short of complete obediance to liberal tendancies a neo-con. Oops, should be in all caps right?

But it's true. And you'll probably get insulted in this question. Good luck with your answers though. I bet no conservative who does that really has an intelligent explanation.


{Edit}

I've heard the correct term for a left-leaning person is actually Progressive. But who knows.


{edit}

Crybabyliberal27:

Yes neo does mean new but in the political word it doesn't just mean new. Go to www.answers.com and type in Neo-Liberalism and look it up. You'll find that neo-liberals are FAR from most liberals and New Liberal makes very little sense gramatically. (This all goes for the same with Neo-Con and how Neo-Conservatives aren't the same as Conservatives. COMPLETELY different views on things)

Answer 3

I also laugh, because I am constantly called "the L word". Problem is, I am a fiscal conservative and a moderate Republican, and have been all my life.

Just shows you how narrow minded people can become when they dont understand the issues and are so far out on the fringes that everything left of their point of view, including most Republicans, are "Liberals".

Answer 4

I don't think it is just conservative ppl. who bash everyone. I know some liberal people who do the same, although I have to say I see more conservatives do it, although that, of course, is not indicative of all conservatives, just a small group. I believe that people just show that they are essentially uniformed and immature by acting like everyone in another political stance or party is a)the exact same on everything and b)completely stupid because they are not like them.

Luckily, most people left this behavior behind in high school...

Answer 5

I think that your problem is that the people who you are referring to are not Conservatives. They are Neo-Cons. True Conservatives (like me) do not support un-declared wars. We recognize the need to go to war if we are attacked, but it must be declared by Congress (as specified in the Constitution). We don't accept the idea of the US being under the UN. We want to see the US out of the UN and the UN out of the US.

We want a return to the gold-backed dollar and an end to inflation. We want an end to government interference in our daily lives. We want our Civil (Constitutional) Rights, particularly the Second Amendment. We understand the First Amendment as giving us the right to pray whenever or wherever we wish. And we understand that we cannot be compelled to pray. All restriction is on the state.

We do not believe in destroying the Right from unreasonable search (for National Security, or any other reason). We do not believe that any legitimate government can resort to torture.
We don't think that a woman has the right to kill her unborn child any more than we think that a husband has the right to beat his wife. Either we all have rights, or none of us do.

We believe that law-enforcement (with a few exceptions) is a local matter. We do not accept the idea of a national police force.
We want government off our backs and out of our pockets.

Answer 6

I agree. I'm a Democrat but I'm not a liberal. If I disagree about something with them they tend to attack and insult without finding out why I think the way I think. You're going to be insulted and called a liberal but don't worry they always do that.

Answer 7

Wow! Glad I'm not a "liberal" but then I'm not conservative either!
I notice that also (liberal bashing). But it is really no more than an underscore really, as it is a rather puerile way of thinking. Makes me believe that conservatives lack self-esteem, lack self-respect, are extremely egocentric, and are quite arrogant. If I am wrong, sorry, but this is what I see as I read those posts that are forever putting down liberals.

Answer 8

What's up with all the labeling in the first place?
You either agree or disagree. I'm getting sick of people generalizing so much. It is possible for a liberal to agree with a conservative and vice versa.

Answer 9

Do you know how many times I have been called a Bushbot, even though I have been openly critical of his handling of the war in Iraq, Immigration - the border issue, homeland secuity , to name a few..

It cuts both ways on this board..

Answer 10

Why do Libs attack anyone who disagrees with them as Neocon (they don't seem to know what a Neocon is & are too lazy to learn), Nazi, moron etc? You call yourself a "moderate" but if you don't see that there is more venom from the left than from the right, I have to question your self identification.