Let's debunk this myth (or confirm it if you can).

Forums: Politics, Extremism, Us Politics
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The argument is being made that the current extreme craziness coming from the right is somehow proportional to an alleged equal craziness from the left. I understand the emotional appeal of balance and how pleasant it would be to think of such a world where everything was fair.

Of course this wishful thinking isn't supported by logic. There is no reason that things need to be balanced. Just because one side of an argument goes way overboard with extreme inappropriate and dangerous behavior doesn't mean that the other side needs to (in fact, I think it is a good thing when one side doesn't act irrationally).

But let's look at how illogical this myth is when applied to facts... we have prominent conservatives hinting at armed rebellion. We have a well-financed lawsuit against the citizenship of our president well after the election. We have extreme claims that minorities and homosexuals are threatening the fabric of our society that are being pushed by politicians and prominent Conservatives.

Now in an attempt to show that a significant part of the conservative movement hasn't completely gone off the deep end of the crazy, extremist pool-- people take things that prominent conservatives (including national elected officials and media personalities) have done and approved of with things that happen with liberals at the fringe of society with no prominant support. Of course, this is a silly comparison.

Let's compare apples with apples to test this myth. We can start with Michelle Bachman (a conservative Republican member of the House of Representatives).

Find me a Democratic or independent member of Congress that is even close to this level of extremist crazy...

Michelle Bachmann wrote:

"What we have to do today is make a covenant, to slit our wrists, be blood brothers on this thing. This will not pass. We will do whatever it takes to make sure this doesn't pass. Right now, we are looking at reaching down the throat and ripping the guts out of freedom. And we may never be able to restore it if we don't man up and take this one on."

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Type: Discussion • Score: 7 • Views: 1,351 • Replies: 16

When the left decided to we need to bailout the financial sector who made bad bets and did not look after the health of the "system" they betrayed that they are no better than Gordon Gekko, who would sell his own mother to make a deal, and send her COD. You want to talk about inappropriate and dangerous, you don't need to pick on the GOP, the Dems are a target rich environment.

At the end of the day both parties are dog ****, it is time to dispose of them and move on to something else. When what you are doing no longer works continuing to do the same thing is insanity.

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Target rich my ass. The kinds of things (birther movement, gun-toting "protesters", accusations of targeting grandma, etc.) that are being given approval by high profile GOP people just don't have a parallel on the other side of the aisle.

Does anyone really believe there is as big a list of people who have said and blessed off on crazy pronouncements on the left as there is on the right?

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@hawkeye10,

hawkeye10 wrote:

When the left decided to we need to bailout the financial sector...

Er... the bailout was put in motion by Bush.

Bush: Bailout plan necessary to deal with crisis

Quote:

September 24, 2008

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- U.S. President George W. Bush, saying "our entire economy is in danger," urged Congress to approve his administration's $700 billion bailout proposal.

"We're in the midst of a serious financial crisis, and the federal government is responding with decisive actions," Bush said in a televised address Wednesday night from the White House.

...

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@DrewDad,

Quote:

Er... the bailout was put in motion by Bush.

Bush had next to nothing to do with the bailout, he was toxic by that point. The dems passed the the bailout, the GOP was apposed to it. In the house it was Dem 172-63 for, for the GOP it was 108-91 against....on the second attempt. Both sides went for it in the Senate, ofter it passed the House. The Dems are responsible for it.

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@hawkeye10,

And if "the left" were purely responsible for it, one would not expect to see those 91 votes from the GOP.

Sorry, son, but it's a Bush initiative, passed with bi-partisan support.

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How far back do you want to go?
After the 2000 election, the left declared Bush an illegitimate President.
They called Colin Powell an "uncle tom", they called Condi Rice a name that I wont repeat here, but the first word was "house n!@@#$", they displayed pics of Bush dressed up as a nazi, they displayed pics of him looking like hitler,etc.

So, while the radical right does need to tone down the rhetoric and to actually stop and think, the left is not as innocent and as blameless as you like to perceive them to be.

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@mysteryman,

I think Ebrown's point isn't that there are crazies on the left, but that the crazies on the left aren't wielding power the way the crazies on the right do.

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How about the claims that Bush was behind 9/11? How about the impeachment resolution Kucinich introduced in Congress?

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@DrewDad,

Quote:

I think Ebrown's point isn't that there are crazies on the left, but that the crazies on the left aren't wielding power the way the crazies on the right do.

that is very interesting, because normal people would read the results of the last election as the Right being out of power, with the Left running the government.

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@Brandon9000,

Conspiracy theorists abound, and they are not exclusively liberals. People think odd things about Kennedy's assassination, the moon landing, and whether Paul McCartney is actually dead or not ('cause he's the Walrus, you know).

And if Kucinich thinks the President is guilty of a high crime, then it's his duty to try to impeach him. Just as it was the duty of the Republicans to impeach Clinton.

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@DrewDad,

DrewDad wrote:

Conspiracy theorists abound, and they are not exclusively liberals. People think odd things about Kennedy's assassination, the moon landing, and whether Paul McCartney is actually dead or not ('cause he's the Walrus, you know).

And if Kucinich thinks the President is guilty of a high crime, then it's his duty to try to impeach him. Just as it was the duty of the Republicans to impeach Clinton.

And the president is always guilty of some crime or other that the opposition needs him to be guilty of. It's continuing the election by other means.

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This is sadly nothing new our second President Adam was call everything but his name and that led to a federal law making it a crime to insult the president.

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http://olbroad.files.wordpress.com/2007/04/oklahoma-city-bombing-4.jpg

Right wing, or Left-wing violence?

Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols were not card carrying members of the American Civil Liberties Union.

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mysteryman wrote:

...Condi Rice a name that I wont repeat here, but the first word was "house n!@@#$",

You just, in effect, repeated it! You dummy.

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all I can say is that I am am an extreme leftist and also pure as the driven' snow.

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Wait... wait... just wait a minute.

I am putting forward a clear challenge, rather than a wandering discussion, I would like to see a side by side apples-to-apples comparison.

For example, Brandon, you point out that there were some who claimed Bush was behind the 9/11 catastrophe. OK then, represent your side--- get the quotes showing who claimed this, and how extreme were the charges. Then I will get the quotes on the right claiming that Obama is a part of a Moslem plot.

My claim is that any objective side-by-side comparison will show that todays right-wing is a special kind of crazy.

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Let's debunk this myth (or confirm it if you can).

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