Confronting Unethical “Conservatism”

[Emproph]

I wrote this first part after receiving an email from mumsy dearest to the immediate family that really got my goat, but before I could start this thread I ended up responding to the email directly which I is included further down.

This is the emotional set up and was all I was going to post to start this thread, but apparently I need to be angry to pack a punch. It’s a bit long but I think it’s much more dramatic the way it all worked out.

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I was at my parent’s house recently and my brother (Mr. NRA-4-EVR) was there too.

He was saying to my mom, disdainfully, how Hillary Clinton was saying that “It’s time stop thinking about the individual and start thinking about the community,” and my mother retorts “Yeah, just like Pelosi.”

I patiently inquired as to what exactly was wrong with that thinking and was told by my mother that it was “communistic,” at which point my head promptly exploded. Upon reassembly I was then treated to the story of Dr. Zhivago and how the Russian government took the property from the rich and gave it to the poor, implying that if we don’t stop these newly empowered “tax and spend” Democrats the same will happen here.

I found out that they support tax cuts for the wealthy, corporations, and cutting of government benefits and programs for the poor. If anyone wants what they have they can just go out and work for it – even though they’re also against the minimum wage. I tried to counter on several points but they had excuses galore, finally I brought up Iraq and the unnecessary billions we’re spending there and got the FREEDOM FREEDOM FREEDOM mantra, “Yes I’ll let my neighbor down the street starve and go homeless if it means protecting freedom!"

I actually had to explain to my brother that there were no WMD’s and Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11 and when I mentioned the civilians we are killing he said he couldn’t believe our soldiers were killing them, as though the ONLY culpability in a person’s death is the person pulling the trigger. Creating the situation that unnecessarily kills people, A-OK.

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Long story short – and their story is a typical one – they mistake Republican for true conservatism and Democratic compassion for taking what’s “mine.” I don’t do well under pressure so I want to be prepared with a list of things to rattle off next time as to where their ‘precious’ tax dollars ARE being spent, as this ignorance continues to rear its ugly head.

And to clarify just one thing, the real issue is not that they may be wrong on the facts, it’s that they don’t care enough to research and KNOW whether or not they are right OR wrong on the issue, not unlike our beloved Dobson drones.

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So I’m looking for things like statistics and/or congressional bills that have been passed where they cut taxes for the wealthy but also cut benefits to veterans. Anything along the lines of “You don’t want to spend money on this, but you’re willing to spend money on this?!” More money spent on prisons vs schools would be a good example.

One actual example I remember was approving the 20 million dollar victory party for Iraq yet cutting some 14 million in funding for improved helmets to protect those in combat (I’m still looking for the source on the latter). Cutting veterans benefits or gear for the troops is primo info. Like when anti-gay bigots “love” homosexuals by treating us like dogs, they “support the troops” and wounded Iraq veterans by ensuring their financial insecurity and health care misery – and that of their families.

Let me know if anything comes up like this or if you remember anything from the past few years. I’ve been watching C-SPAN like a hawk since ‘04 and I know I’ve witnessed scores of examples in that time. If you don’t have the source don’t worry about it, I can always do a search if I get desperate.