The Non-Reality-Based Community
I realize it takes a special kind of cognitive dissonance to be a conservative these days, what with the whole going to Iraq over that pesky oil WMD WMD-related program activities link to al Qaeda and 9/11 rape rooms spreading freedom and democracy thing -- not to mention so many, many more issues that they have to negotiate with their ideological blinders on -- but every once in a while, even I'm amazed at just how obtuse and how out of touch with reality some of these folks can be.
Take, for instance, two of the responses I got to this particular graphic regarding the Birth Tax that I sent around not too long ago... I thought it was pretty easy to understand, pretty self-explanatory, and made a succinct point, one that would be difficult to dispute. Not so in the world of the people who get their knowledge and information (and marching orders) from Faux News, Limbaugh, Hannity, Novak or any of the rest of that cabal of conservative assclowns.
One response, from a person who regularly chimes in with the latest from what used to be the fringes of wingerdom (but now seems to be increasingly the voice of the conservative mainstream), started out this way:
"A truly bizarre statement. I'm not sure I understand it. Does it mean all children from now until we are blown up by the Muslim world will owe $36,000? I know a few people that pay that much in taxes every year. Being the police force of the world is a tough and expensive job, but somebody's got to do it. Unless you want to be passive like the Europeans were before WWII and basically are now. They didn't get it then, and they don't get it now. These extremists are playing hard ball. Unchecked they would control that entire region within two decades. Who would stop them? How much would it cost our children and the children of the world then?"
Setting aside his historical inaccuracies, yes, I suppose the idea that every child born in the US is now responsible for an enormous amount ofTorture Party Republican-created debt would be difficult to understand... if you still believe that Republicans are the party of fiscal responsiblity. That perception, though, has long been blown away by the reality of the mounting deficits that Reagan introduced in the '80s, and that Bush the Lesser has refined into a fine killing art here in the 21st Century.
My correspondent goes on to rant and rave in typical Freeper style... "Ted Kennedy... hasn't said anything accurate or intelligent in weeks, if not years... Terrorists love guys like Kennedy... Free speech doesn't cut it when you make statements like Ward (Churchill) makes... As long as there are scumbags like (Kofi Annan) in charge of the UN, I am plenty worried... There's also a good chance we might have found WMD if we hadn't dicked around with the UN for two months before going in. One thing I'm sure of, the WMD would show up sooner or later with somebody like Kerry in charge. It could happen with Bush too, and it's very possible that the destruction of this planet is imminent and inevitable."
Blah de blah de blah blah blah, and also yadda yadda. Typical wingnut boilerplate.
But as wild-eyed and ridiculous as that letter was, the second one was even worse. This was from a guy with whom I have had a few testy exchanges in the past, but I have to admit -- grudgingly -- that he occasionally makes a good point. Not this time. The response I got from him to the Birth Tax graphic has to be one of the dumbest things he -- or anyone I know -- has ever said. It was simply this:
"Yes, and decades of uncontrolled entitlement spending by a Democrat-controlled congress had nothing to do with it."
I get it. It's all the fault of the Democrats! Criminey, how could I not see that?
Because, let's see, the Democrats last "controlled" Congress back in, what was it, 1993? After that, the deficit was not only paid off under Clinton's watch, but he left office in 2000 with a hefty surplus in place. Then Bush the Lighter came in and essentially pissed that all away like a drunken sailor on a crack-bingeing two-week furlough, cutting taxes for his wealthy pals and corporate contributors while spending money like Armageddon is tomorrow and incurring great debt by killing thousands of military personnel and civilians in wars of choice that further drained the government coffers until we find ourselves saddled with a choking, killing debt the likes of which this country has never before seen. But, see, that's the fault of those damn Democrats!! Somehow, back there in the late '80s and early '90s, they must have done something to cause our surplus to vanish and our platinum card to max out. Beacuse there's no way a fiscally responsible Republican would do something like that.
I'm guessing that what happened was that the Dems actually used time travel. They secretly visited the 21st Century and enacted legislation -- unbeknownst to the rest of the members of Congress or the White House or the public -- that would cause the downfall of our economy. They caused unemployment to rise and the stock market to tank. They are the ones responsible for the biggest loss of jobs under one president since Herbert Hoover, and for creating the largest deficit ever -- and all just to embarrass George W. Bush!
Crikey, I can't believe how evil those treasonous, traitorous, time-traveling Democrats are, treating our country that way!
It would seem that when you've been led to believe that Democrats = tax and spenders, or Democrats = creators of unfair (and budget-draining) entitlements, and that Republicans = fiscal sanity for so many years, even logic and the art of critical thinking can't overcome the mental fictions you've allowed yourself to maintain, no matter how strong the evidence against your point of view. That apparently is the case with my two correspondents.
Take, for instance, two of the responses I got to this particular graphic regarding the Birth Tax that I sent around not too long ago... I thought it was pretty easy to understand, pretty self-explanatory, and made a succinct point, one that would be difficult to dispute. Not so in the world of the people who get their knowledge and information (and marching orders) from Faux News, Limbaugh, Hannity, Novak or any of the rest of that cabal of conservative assclowns.
One response, from a person who regularly chimes in with the latest from what used to be the fringes of wingerdom (but now seems to be increasingly the voice of the conservative mainstream), started out this way:
"A truly bizarre statement. I'm not sure I understand it. Does it mean all children from now until we are blown up by the Muslim world will owe $36,000? I know a few people that pay that much in taxes every year. Being the police force of the world is a tough and expensive job, but somebody's got to do it. Unless you want to be passive like the Europeans were before WWII and basically are now. They didn't get it then, and they don't get it now. These extremists are playing hard ball. Unchecked they would control that entire region within two decades. Who would stop them? How much would it cost our children and the children of the world then?"
Setting aside his historical inaccuracies, yes, I suppose the idea that every child born in the US is now responsible for an enormous amount of
My correspondent goes on to rant and rave in typical Freeper style... "Ted Kennedy... hasn't said anything accurate or intelligent in weeks, if not years... Terrorists love guys like Kennedy... Free speech doesn't cut it when you make statements like Ward (Churchill) makes... As long as there are scumbags like (Kofi Annan) in charge of the UN, I am plenty worried... There's also a good chance we might have found WMD if we hadn't dicked around with the UN for two months before going in. One thing I'm sure of, the WMD would show up sooner or later with somebody like Kerry in charge. It could happen with Bush too, and it's very possible that the destruction of this planet is imminent and inevitable."
Blah de blah de blah blah blah, and also yadda yadda. Typical wingnut boilerplate.
But as wild-eyed and ridiculous as that letter was, the second one was even worse. This was from a guy with whom I have had a few testy exchanges in the past, but I have to admit -- grudgingly -- that he occasionally makes a good point. Not this time. The response I got from him to the Birth Tax graphic has to be one of the dumbest things he -- or anyone I know -- has ever said. It was simply this:
"Yes, and decades of uncontrolled entitlement spending by a Democrat-controlled congress had nothing to do with it."
I get it. It's all the fault of the Democrats! Criminey, how could I not see that?
Because, let's see, the Democrats last "controlled" Congress back in, what was it, 1993? After that, the deficit was not only paid off under Clinton's watch, but he left office in 2000 with a hefty surplus in place. Then Bush the Lighter came in and essentially pissed that all away like a drunken sailor on a crack-bingeing two-week furlough, cutting taxes for his wealthy pals and corporate contributors while spending money like Armageddon is tomorrow and incurring great debt by killing thousands of military personnel and civilians in wars of choice that further drained the government coffers until we find ourselves saddled with a choking, killing debt the likes of which this country has never before seen. But, see, that's the fault of those damn Democrats!! Somehow, back there in the late '80s and early '90s, they must have done something to cause our surplus to vanish and our platinum card to max out. Beacuse there's no way a fiscally responsible Republican would do something like that.
I'm guessing that what happened was that the Dems actually used time travel. They secretly visited the 21st Century and enacted legislation -- unbeknownst to the rest of the members of Congress or the White House or the public -- that would cause the downfall of our economy. They caused unemployment to rise and the stock market to tank. They are the ones responsible for the biggest loss of jobs under one president since Herbert Hoover, and for creating the largest deficit ever -- and all just to embarrass George W. Bush!
Crikey, I can't believe how evil those treasonous, traitorous, time-traveling Democrats are, treating our country that way!
It would seem that when you've been led to believe that Democrats = tax and spenders, or Democrats = creators of unfair (and budget-draining) entitlements, and that Republicans = fiscal sanity for so many years, even logic and the art of critical thinking can't overcome the mental fictions you've allowed yourself to maintain, no matter how strong the evidence against your point of view. That apparently is the case with my two correspondents.
posted by Generik at 12:55 AM
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