Back from vacation -- wondering about politics

[dampscribbler]

We had a great time -- got warm, got a little sunburned (not enough for anyone else to notice, we are from Oregon, after all), got relaxed. And now it's good to be home! Although I have dozens of chores calling to me, so I'll have to post more details about the vacation later.

I've been trying to quickly cruise friends' ljs this morning to catch up a bit. There's lots of talk about Bush's news conference last night, which I missed due to the fact that I can't tolerate him in any size dose. My Bush exposure has to be filtered through The Daily Show, which is in repeats this week, so I'll have to do my own filtering somehow I guess.

There's nothing like driving 12 hours through farm country to remind you that there are a lot of people out there who really hate Democrats. What I want to know is -- why?????? Where and how did the democrats fuck up so badly that they are now seen as the party of the elite while the Republicans, of all things, are seen as the party of the common guy? I hope someone out there in LJland has some insight, because this is something that needs to be fixed, and fixed fast.

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

Well, religious or not, I think it goes back to intellectual laziness. I think the public has largely absorbed the never ending slander by the right. The word "Liberal" has been so smeared that it can no longer be used non-pejoratively among the general public. Advertising works well against those unwilling to think for themselves.

And it's a social pressure thing - I mean, why do people still take up smoking with all that is now known about it? The perception that smoking is "cool" is deeply ingrained, just as the perception that liberalism is uncool has become in many parts of the country. Younger folk tend to be more concerned with the coolness factor, and few are willing to stand apart from the crowd.

My father, a 71 year old, life-long Republican, now hates Bush as much as I do. Not so, most of my siblings. What does that say about the demographics?

Unfortunately, it's become counter-productive to frame things in a "Conservative" or "Liberal" context. That's the first thing the right does when they want to discredit the left. They've become Orwellian cliches. There is nothing conservative about running a $500 Billion deficit, yet those who do it are still "Conservative". War is peace; freedom is slavery, comrad.

To (try to) answer your main question, the pro-Bush people (of all ages) I've talked to generally seem to want some combination of the following three things:
1. The submission of American culture/society to their quasi-religious moral views.
2. Nationalistic (Narcisistic) pride.
3. Tax cuts for themselves without consequences.

Desire #1 I will leave to other discussions, except to say it goes back to a religious fundamentalism which cuts across nearly all denominational lines.

Desire #2 also requires a larger discussion, but it explains why there was so little opposition prior to the Iraq invasion. Most of Bush's lies were transparent before the war to anyone who was objective. People believed them because they wanted to believe them.

Desire #3 is apparently some sort of selfish mass hysteria - a complete refusal to deal with reality. Bush tells them that 2+2=7 and they cheer. And Bush gives them 7 now (6.9 for the rich and .1 to everyone else, which is apparently enough to shut them up) but they refuse to deal with the fact that somebody is going to have to pay back 3 later, plus a lot of interest. They got theirs, and that's literally all that matters to them.

- Bob