Back in late 2012, shortly after Barack Obama defeated Mitt Romney, I posted the following on Facebook. It saddens me that nothing has changed with the Leftist talking points or tactics; arguably they’ve only gotten worse over the last 12 years. Here’s what I wrote back then:
Here on Facebook, I deliberately stayed silent about politics throughout the recent American presidential campaign. I felt that expressing my own opinions would accomplish nothing positive and only help to alienate my Left leaning friends & acquaintances, of which I have many. But the day after Barack Obama’s big victory, two acquaintances published this graphic:
In one case it was with the tagline, “Doesn’t seem like a coincidence…”
What would a reasonable, middle-of-the-road person conclude from the comparison of an historical map that showed the “slave states” in America with a 2012 map that showed which states had Republican majorities?
The response I left merits repeating here, albeit edited for a more general audience:
I have MANY American friends who voted for Mitt Romney for one reason & one reason only: fiscal responsibility. It saddens me beyond belief that in 2012 the “level” of public discussion has devolved to a point where:
- If you believe that able-bodied individuals should not be entitled to endless money from the government then you “hate the poor”.
- If you believe that ever growing annual deficits (now in the trillions) are a destructive thing and completely unsustainable then “you are unprogressive” and “your values are entrenched in the past”.
- If you believe that the term “marriage” should remain between a man & a woman, even if you want full benefits for gay couples, then you still “hate gay people”.
- If you criticize Barack Obama for … well, anything … then “you’re a racist”.
- If you think there might be something wrong with aborting a perfectly healthy baby in the 2nd or 3rd trimester then “you are interfering with a woman making decisions about her own body” and “are waging a war against women”.
- If you are concerned about ever-escalating healthcare costs taking up a larger & larger percentage of the budget then “you don’t care about the sick”.
- If you believe that public school teachers need to be accountable (ie. can be fired where warranted) then “you hate children”.
- If you don’t believe in higher & higher taxes “for the rich” (aka “business owners grossing over $250K) then “you are selfish and hate the poor”.
- If you don’t believe in the government getting involved in more & more private sector industries then “you are unenlightened and don’t have a vision for the future”.
Let me be clear, I am not saying that any one of my friends who consider themselves on the “Left” politically has said or thinks everything on this list, but I adamantly believe that every point is very much part of the narrative in America today. Furthermore, based on the way Stephen Harper is similarly demonized, it’s not too different in Canada either. The end result is that no actual problems ever get fixed. After all, how can two sides come to agreement on anything when one side believes themselves to be “enlightened and good” and is convinced the other side is “backwards and evil”?!
Moot point today.
For the sane people have come to recognize every accusation as the crazies confession.
And the sane really do outnumber the lying and lazy.
The Demon Rats,our “Liberal” have shown their true colours..
Statists to the core.
The evil of which they have been shrieking,has proven to exist..in them.
So no agreement is possible,as so many former left supporting voters have recognized and acted upon.
All those “former Democrats” did not come from nowhere.
Every single citizen, who has attempted discussion with our Progressive Comrades has learnt this lesson.
As you say,they accuse of motives never considered by a rational person.
You feel unclean when exposed to such perversion.
And eventually you do realize,people go crazy in herds,returning to sanity individually.
You can’t fix stupid.
I am seeing signs of hope in the US (in part because of the very clear Trump victory), but not seeing much to discourage this irrationality in Canada. Moreover, even with Trump being elected, there are still far too many people who push cultural and economic nonsense. Look at all the “supposedly” smart people who will not even engage in a conversation about whether or not human produced CO2 is a factor in climate change. They have drunk the kool aid and are not likely to change their minds. I think the schools are largely to blame.
Have faith Linda. Do not waver … because I had nearly lost faith in the common sense of Americans. After the HISTORIC vote totals for the patently fraudulent Obama and Biden. I thought that America had tipped over that magical 50%+1 of SANE people in America who will vote intelligently. 2016 restored my faith as Donald Trump sent HER back to HER crypt. But then the Biden election suggested there were 81 million Americans who would vote AGAINST common sense. I was dazed and confused. But I did not lose faith … and look what Trump just did. He just restored my faith in the base intelligence of the American people.
LindaL You are correct it started in the schools back in the early late 70’s or early 80’s I do believe…starting with our children (Communism). You will own Nothing and be Happy! Trudeau going forward with his father agenda to take away our Canadian identity. Destroy the Canada we know and love. Trump being elected in America will help shed some light on what is happening around the world. Other countries gov’ts taking over Canada from within! Starting with China and more!
It all started with witch burning!
And somehow you escaped.
Oh, but they got his mom.
It reminds me of Trump’s Madison Square Gardens (MSG) gig when the left compared a 1939 NAZI gathering at MSG to the Trump gathering as similar. What wasn’t mentioned was that the 1939 NAZI gathering consisted mostly of Democrats.
Similar to what is shown here. The areas that were pro slavery before the civil war consisted of Democrats.
“If you don’t believe in the government getting involved in more & more private sector industries then “you are unenlightened and don’t have a vision for the future”.”
If only there was a name for a political system that allowed for private ownership of the means of production as long as you did what the government wanted.
We can call it “The third way” and it’s been popular with democrats going back to at least FDR
JD: When the government starts to take over private ownership of production as long as you did what the government wanted…it is called Authoritarian Capitalism. This can include personal freedom, property rights an so on. Trudeau’s Canada!
It has nothing to do with Capitalism; it is just outright Authoritarianism.
Production and businesses in and of themselves do not capitalism make. There was production and industry in the USSR. They exist in China now.
Capitalism entails free and competitive markets without government direction or interference.
You wrote
“. The end result is that no actual problems ever get fixed. After all, how can two sides come to agreement on anything when one side believes themselves to be “enlightened and good” and is convinced the other side is “backwards and evil”?!”
I perceive it from the point of view that there are some that will believe in the divine right to rule and see no problem with making everyone a ward of the state.
Then there is the opposite side that perceives a danger to such an arrangement and wants the state to be limited in its reach.
The first will be swayed by the state when whatever it is they are offering is called a benefit. Naturally those that see the danger will be framed as the bad greedy heartless people that will take away the so-called “benefits” graciously given by the state, even go so far as to accuse their political opponents taking away “rights”.
Rights, by the way that only exist on paper as opposed to what is right by nature.
This is where I stop due to the fact that it would lead to a long dissertation on what a natural right is or is not, and the distinction between natural law and legal fiction.