Dr. Frank's What's-it

And then, on the other hand, you get this kind of statement from the President of Bob Jones University, where Bush famously gave a campaign speech in 2000, about the prospects for the next 4 years.

http://www.bju.edu/letter

It includes such inspiring statements as, "In your re-election, God has graciously granted America—though she doesn't deserve it—a reprieve from the agenda of paganism."

"Don't equivocate. Put your agenda on the front burner and let it boil. You owe the liberals nothing. They despise you because they despise your Christ. "

"Undoubtedly, you will have opportunity to appoint many conservative judges and exercise forceful leadership with the Congress in passing legislation that is defined by biblical norm regarding the family, sexuality, sanctity of life, religious freedom, freedom of speech, and limited government."

and, my favorite,

"If you have weaklings around you who do not share your biblical values, shed yourself of them."

Yeah, I actually used to refer to myself as a member of the cultural elite and go back and forth between being remorseful and angry that everyone else wasn't as cool as me. Then I got over it and realize me and my friends weren't better than everyone else.

Sorry, Ted, if everyone was as cool as you then you wouldn't be "elite" anymore. And that fact that you are "elite" means you're a minority. So, uh, get used to it?

And fortunately people who listen to freaks like the president of Bob Jones University are a fringe wacko minority. I have a feeling they are about double the number of lefty wacko's (judging by poll numbers of people who identify themselves as liberal or conservative...usually about twice as many conservatives) but that still makes them a fringe minority.

BTW, when I wear my t-shirt from the Onion that says "You're favorite band sucks," does that make me a hypocrite?

You're right Nick, that sounds pretty crazy.

This column is satire, right? Good thing those yahoos in the red states can't read, right, Ted?

People wonder why living in San Francisco has made me less liberal. Why would anyone want to be part of anything as pissy and intolerant as Ted's world?

The "cultural elite" formed their own little club because nobody else wanted them. Funny how a group of rejects who are fairly crafty can manipulate the ones that rejected them in the first place to envy them now....

I'm jealous of Ted Rall. He watches cooler movies than me! Oh, to live such a life.

Well, maybe my t-shirt would at least make me grammatically incorrect, if that's what it said. Doh!

So this is the guy the conservatives have been talking about? Ted's a bit of a weenie.

On the other hand, he has now coined the phrase "slutty abortion vixens". I'm gonna try to fit that into a conversation this weekend.

he brings up a lot of interesting points that I think are being brushed over in both the mainstream media and on the interent because the supply of dusch bags is frighteningly low.

it sounds extremely crazy...

i wouldn't "shed" myself of anyone no matter
what they think of my values. i mean maybe its one thing if you get nothing back from people but
negativity(not to be confused with irony or sarcasm of course)but otherwise i don't know.
i'd much rather listen to opposing concerns and why they are and try to understand then just leave them in the dust because they're a little cranky...err...grout-chy. (tee-hee stold your pun)

anyways,i guess i shouldn't give it that much merit. silly people thinking silly things. that's
what i generally think a lot of the time when i don't agree with people on both sides of the fence. I could think they are comical,but more I think they're silly and a little sad.

Thomas Sowell has a book called The Vision of the Anointed. The theory of the book is that all liberal ideology is principally based on naive narcissism; a thought that, "since we are smart/ special/ better than everyone else, we should get to rule them/ plan the economy/ decide what's good for them."

Considering all the things like this flying around nowadays, I'm having trouble denying that thesis. I mean, I want to, but...

"Liberalism" covered an enormous amount of ground even in its heyday. I agree, Swimmy, that a lot of the Liberal tradition was what you describe -- establishment "liberals" like Clark Clifford who thought their "qualifications" meant they should run the country. But "liberalism" also referred to using the power of government to open up opportunties for the majority of Americans -- giving people the legal right to organize unions, giving everyone the right to vote, expanding access the health care and education and electricity. And that was all about letting people make their own decisions, not doing it for them.

I think liberal ideology from the 30's forward basically meant government intervention to expand those opportunities. And I think the narcissistic types tend to ally themselves primarily with whoever seems to be in power, whatever their ideological stripe. That is, many politicians were liberal in the 50s and 60s because being liberal meant you got access to power. Now those people tend to be conservative for the same reason. Power is the issue for many politicians; ideology is secondary. I suspect that people like Horowitz and Peretz have changed their ideological stripes to ride whatever seems to be the cresting wave of power in DC.

Ted Rall's absolutely hitting the nail on the head and you know it.

The difference-maker in Bush's re-election was overwhelming support from people who are objectively ignorant of facts.

According to a University of Maryland's Program on International Policy Attitudes, 75 percent of Bush voters think that a Saddam-Al Qaeda link has been proven, and 20 percent say Saddam ordered 9/11?

People who still believe those stories, despite that they are verifiably false, are objectively uninformed and unknowledgeable about the most important issues in the world.

I.E., they're stupid.

And any attempt to defend, excuse, or cloak this ignorance is damaging to the country, not to mention highly disingenuous and arguably a form of "reverse-PCism."

Call a spade a spade.

Lots of the people who voted for Bush don't know basic facts that aren't even subject to dispute.

That's undebatable.

The REAL debate should be whether the Democrats ought be pragmatic and Macheavellian like the Republicans and pander to the stupid, as Bill Clinton suggests, or should they, as Ted Rall / Howard Dean types suggest, put all their chips on promoting an alternative ideology rooted in a 60's Civil Rights / Kennedyesque liberal principles.

Personally, I can't decide which I'd prefer.

The former is less risky and easier to accomplish, while the latter is more difficult to accomplish but is potentially more rewarding in the long term.

Reasonable minds can certainly go either way on that one.

Arya, all the geniuses need to do is convert around 3 million morons before the next election. Shouldn't be too difficult. Starting now...

If Ted Rall is hitting the nail on the head, does that mean that if I dress better, eat better food, and watch cooler movies, I will also come around to the right position on whether Saddam was linked to Al Qaeda?

I have so much to learn.

Frank: It doesn't take "genius" abilities to understand basic facts regarding world events. Any idiot can do that.

As such, all that is necessary is to convert 3 million morons to mere idiots before the next election.

Blixa: You have it backwards. Dressing better, eating better food, and watching cooler movies are the *symptoms* of intelligence, not causes.

Arya, I wish you luck in converting morons to mere idiots. You're off to a great start with your winning rhetoric.

"Blixa: You have it backwards. Dressing better, eating better food, and watching cooler movies are the *symptoms* of intelligence, not causes."

Ohhhhh. Well that explains guys like Einstein's and Hawking's kickin' style, I guess, eh? I wonder what "cool" movies are on Hawking's Netflix list at the moment...

Actually Aryamehr why don't you just tell me what's on yours? What "cool" movies do you watch as a symptom of your intelligence? I'm dying to know! I want to be more like you. (You know, INTELLIGENT.)

Arya is demonstrating what I call "Lefty Tourist Syndrome", wherein leftists are like the stereotypical dumb American tourist in a non-English speaking country. They think that by talking slowly and loudly that people will magically agree with them.

Michael Moore's announcement today that he's making a rehash of F9/11 so the people who voted for Bush will understand next time fits this perfectly as well.

Oh my lack of God, I have misjudged poor Ted Rall all this time! I didn't realize that he was a product of (gulp) the suburbs! How that must have crushed his poor, sensitive, soul. Witness this:

"'Well,' they'd grimace when confronted with a new musical genre or fashion trend, 'that's different.'"

Can you feel the intolerance, the HATE??

Yeah, Angie, I'm extremely familiar with the pain of public insensitivity to innocent enjoyment of obscure bands. It shouldn't happen to a dog.

So basically (putting 2 and 2 together) Rall got beat up by the jocks at his high school for liking "gay" bands, is that it? ;-)

Shows how out of touch I am. I wasn't aware of any "gay" bands sexcept for Pansy Division. Those guys scare me sometimes. A little too graphic.

jeez, zaph, get with it. it IS the 21st century. crikes.

Arya,

Being "ignorant" of the facts cuts both ways. How many lefties have yet to come to terms with the implications of the UN Food-for-Oil scandal, especially vis-a-vis Kerry's fantasy internationalism on Iraq? Read the key findings of the Duelfer report and judge for yourself.

Americans may be ignorant, but their common sense generally leads them to correct judgements anyway, something many in the ivory tower left seem incapable of.

I don't think it is rediculous to say that, on the whole, smart people listen to more intelligent music and watch more intelligent music than stupid people. They probably tend to read more intelligent books too. Does anybody here listen to Dr. Franks music because they think the lyrics are so stupid?

For those of you unaware of gay bands, there's always the Gayrilla Biscuits, Pink Steel, and Ziegenbock Kopf.

(Okay, so they're all joke bands. Still.)

Yeah, I know, this thread is dead. But the gay word needs to be spread!