Hippie Communist Liberals?

Question

Let me tell you tell you a little bit about myself.My father retired a Colonel after he had fought in World War II,Korea,and Vietnam.I myself served for twenty years in the Army,and I saw combat in Grenada,Panama and the Gulf War.I became ill in 2000 with cancer and retired in 2001.Otherwise,I would still be in the Army.I went into remission and worked two jobs until earlier this year when my cancer returned.I ended up having my left leg amputated at the hip.


I have never had long hair and have never used illegal drugs.I come from a family that has a long history of military service,who believe that duty to country is a top priority in life.

My late father was a New Deal Democrat and very Liberal in his political outlook.In his later years,he truly believed the Republican Party had been taken over by theocratic thugs,as do I.

My point here is why do conservatives think they have a lock on patriotism and honor?

Captain-How are those who opposed this war "equally responsible" for it?

And how can you accuse of not wanting the United States to win in Iraq when President Bush himself can't decide what "winning" is?

Answer 1

Hi "Guy"! First, I'm pleased to make your acquaintance! I sincerely wish you the best and hope your troubles with cancer are behind you now!

This will be a bit long because I'm going back 30 years, but in the end, I hope you'll see it as an honest attempt to answer your question...

At that time, right-wing religious coalitions were no longer satisfied with being on the outside of politics. They were organizing, building a collective voice and looking for power within the political arena. I lived in KY then, the South... Democrat, Bible Belt, pro-labor (union). Jimmy Carter was Southern, Democrat, farmer and Christian; he was "us". The Bible Belt believed they carried Carter to the White House, but they never figured he'd leave his religion at the door of the Oval Office and do a Playboy interview. :-) The South and the Mid-West Bible Belt was deeply angry and felt totally betrayed when he didn't buckle to their agenda.

The right-wing religious coalitions were angry, galvanized and homeless. At the time, the Republican Party was still the Gold(water) Standard of Conservatism (small gov't). The Republicans saw a great opportunity to increase their political base, so they welcomed the religious coalitions and Ronald Reagan happily took up their agenda. Not all Republicans were happy with their new cousins, but they liked the numbers. Goldwater was livid about it! Ironically, he was written off as stubborn (true) and obsolete (false), yet he was one of the few that saw the writing on the wall.

So, jumping to GWB's first term... we have a Republican Party that has traded 'fiscal conservatism' for 'social conservatism', and a 'morality rule' that's grown out of increased pressure from, and bowing to, the right-wing religious influence. This is what's behind Bush... a party with a strong sense of righteousness and intolerance, so his "my way, or the highway" approach fits snugly within the parameters.

Then we have 9/11, followed by a time of unity. Angry and defiant, but unified and unafraid. Bush carried that unity forward when he said in the State of the Union, "you're either with us, or with the terrorists". But wait, that was unifying only on the surface. The other message, the one beneath the surface, was a message of divisiveness. A message that said there is no middle ground, there is no room for critical thought and no room to criticise the government's actions. The ones who would do so, must be with the terrorists, they must be un-American, they must hate their country. See how unifying that is?

So, that's my opinion about how that lock on partiotism, honor and 'values' came to be. OK, You can wake up now and read the link. ~~Salute! :-)

Answer 2

Ha! idiot! If anything hippies were very near communist. haven't you ever heard Imagine by John Lennon. Plus, that wasnt a political movement at all and therefore it doesnt have anything to do with modern democrats, who, by the way, arent socialists. Socialists are usually found in the Socialist Party. But Glenn Beck doesnt tell you much about that does he dumbass.

Answer 3

I commend you for your service! Too bad more of our Military don't think the same way you do.....my guess would be it has been the last 2 Bush's that have attacked and gotten us into these wars....Now Bush SR. I agree with his decision but Dumbya (that's what I like to call him ) was rash in his decision and did not have the backing of Congress....All he accomplished IMO was to take America's eyes off the real threat Osama Bin laden and the conservatards are just following him like he was the pied piper...

Answer 4

Because it's the only thing they have. They say they're the party of soldiers and they fight terrorism etc. But really they're complacent in the main function of countries relating with one another: diplomacy. I haven't seen anything, in my entire time of viewing and analyzing the Bush administration in which Bush turned a negative aspect into a positive.

Now I am a Democrat, so perhaps I'm biased...but to be honest even Reagan had the red phone to communicate with Russia to prevent ever having to go to war.

Answer 5

It is their delusion. They also think they have the upper hand when it comes to honesty and family values. But we have seen contradictions to this as well in the past couple of years, haven't we.

And thank you for your service and sacrifice, as well as your father's. I also come from a military family of sorts - my grandfather fought in WWII, my father and uncle in Vietnam, as did my father in law. And all are also "liberal" democrats.

I scoff whenever I see a conservative shout that Democrats never did anything patriotic for their country. I know a few men that would beg to differ.

Answer 6

I served 20 years in the Army and retired. My son is currently serving in Iraq. Every time a liberal politician opens their mouth, they're either saying all is lost in Iraq, that General Petraeus will lie or they're spinning their original vote for the war in Iraq. If you can find anything patriotic in that rhetoric, then you've a better imagination than I do.

Answer 7

I thank you and your family for their service. I must say though that conservatives don't have a lock on patriotism, it's just that they support our troops efforts and would never spit on them or give comfort to our enemies while our soldiers are in the field. These actions, by liberals, are very unpatriotic which is where the argument lies. So it isn't that conservatives are the great patriots, more so it's the libs that hate our soldiers and country that is unpatriotic.

Answer 8

What I find hilarious about this question is all the responses agreeing with the idea that Republicans are bad. Somehow, it's not ok for Republicans to accuse someone of being unpatriotic yet it is acceptable and correct to say insulting things about Republicans. Isn't that unpatriotic in itself? To hold a double standard regarding someone's right to speak their mind?
I don't believe that Republicans think Democrats are unpatriotic. I think that because the Democrats do not want to see their country win in a war, they certainly do not seem to support their country. If someone wants to see their country lose, I think that is unpatriotic. So, as far as the war goes, the Democrats and liberals are unpatriotic. They want to see their country suffer losses, thats not patriotic. They want to see their country defeated, how is that patriotic?
Please, try and tell me that the Democrats want success in Iraq! All they want to do is call it quits, call it a loss, blame it on Republicans, even though they share equal responsibility.
They have no intention of seeing this war through to victory

All you people are doing the very same thing you claim to oppose! Is this Larry Craig's many id's or what on here, this is classic do as I say not as I do stuff. You guys should learn to read objectively and see what I see. It's rich.

Answer 9

Their tactic is always to demean and belittle. They make outrageously false claims and accusations at every turn.

They even make comments against welfare yet the red states are statically and numerically by far the largest recipients. They just appear to be in a deep state of denial about their own shortcomings.

Answer 10

I find, at least in my dealings with people in the real world, I only come across people claiming their opponents are unpatriotic from those that have never served and in short have basically been told what to believe be their preacher.