Conservatives of convoluted thinking love to impugn the left for being quasi-compassionate while at the same time taking credit for being compassionate for those who are in need through no fault of their own. Then they diminish the list of the deserving by frowning on what they holistically perceive undeserving, such as teenage mothers are sluts, but ignore their courage or stupidity not to abort, object to health care for poor children whose parents are shiftless and can’t lift a finger to learn how to be parents, refuse to acknowledge that poor wages are a hindrance to those on the low-level of mental quality to provide for themselves.
In attacking the left as being elite fops, conservatives in political dialogue arrogantly corner the market on pragmatism and claim the engines of society, while liberals lie back and pare their fingernails as an icon of foolish idealism. It is politically correct for conservatives to denigrate Kerry for “band-aid” purple hearts, yet claim an exclusive right in supporting troops and veterans, many of whom hold these very same band-aid medals. They justify singling out Kerry because he was the one that made an issue of his Vietnam experience, omitting that they themselves painted him into a corner by questioning his experience to lead as a “wartime” president.
In addition, conservatives ignore their own faulty logic by condemning one who is pro-choice but still against abortion as having it both ways, when the logic is that in favoring pro-choice or pro-life is not the domain of politics but is a personal decision for a woman and perhaps the spouse. Taking the life of a fetus generically may very well be the jurisdiction of religion but still does not make it right when applied to a fetus in the private womb of a woman. Kerry can still be a Catholic opposed to abortion and still logically defend a woman’s right to her own body. Actually the conservatives were hoping to paint him into another corner so they could claim he based his thinking and leadership on a permission slip from the Vatican, and thus pleasing no-end the Christian coalition.
Conservatives also claim divine right to foreign policy. For two decades Nixon and his followers worked feverishly to keep China from a seat in the UN, but when Nixon visited China it was deemed an extraordinary accomplishment; had a Democratic president tried this he would have been crucified. When Clinton lobbed missiles into Afghanistan, it was Lewinsky’s tail wagging the dog. However, when Bush insensitively exploited 9/11, for a devious war in Iraq, it was strong leadership. Any hint of questioning the validity of our presence in Iraq is immediately countered with the inference that critics are not supporting the troops or placing them in unnecessary harm’s way. When liberals parry that it is not a matter of supporting troops but saving them, it is tossed off as soft and fuzzy foreign relations.
Conservatives take their lessons from Madison Avenue, knowing that politics is brutal sophistry clothed in emotions. Liberals are still parked on the boardwalk in search of people with common sense and looking to the sea to bring to our shore a redemptional wave of sensitivity.
Copyright © 2004 Richard R. Kennedy All rights reserved. Revised: October 21, 2004.
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