2007
Great Moments In Conservative Hypocrisy
Let me preface this with a few statements:
- I’m a handgun owner, and I really enjoy shooting. I would have no problem shooting someone to defend my family or myself.
- I’m pro-life and I believe abortion should be restricted. Most women have abortions for reasons having nothing to do with health or money. Look at this chart. Most abortions occur simply because women don’t feel like having a baby right then.
- I’m in favor of the war in Iraq and in Afghanistan. I think we should stay until we win and I think that our soldiers hands should be untied. The recent tragic story of a team of rangers who had to choose between killing a farmer and his son, or let them go knowing that they would almost certainly turn them over to insurgents was heartbreaking. They did let them go, the man did report them to some insurgents, and the entire team except one man was killed. And one reason he stated for the choice they made was because they knew the PR hit they would take, and felt that they risked being charged with a crime if they killed them. We need to stop allowing the media to control the direction of the war.
- I think the failure to enforce our borders, to allow employers to flout the law and enjoy taxpayer subsidized labor, is a disgrace. We have no responsibility toward citizens of other nations. There are a variety of ways we could help them, if we choose, without allowing our country to be invaded.
I would be surprised if these positions were offensive to other conservatives; they’re very widely held. So why the hypocrisy? The hypocrisy is not in the positions, but in the arguments and methods some use to support them.
For example, I’ve read many posts by pro-life bloggers that suggest we restrict abortion simply by finding ways to close abortion clinics by any legal means necessary; protests, regulatory hurdles, etc. I’m not talking about apply normal health and safety standards. I’ve read suggestions that go far beyond that; nitpicking ways to shut them down in spite of the fact that it is legal to operate an abortion clinic. But when those methods are used against gun shops, conservatives suddenly find them distasteful.
Conservatives who are in favor of winning the war wish to disregard public opinion about the war. We believe that we are better informed than the majority. We read milblogs, they get the MSM body count. We’re certainly entitled to our opinions, and for what it’s worth, I believe that most people who are for the war are better informed than most people who are against it. But where Shamnesty is concerned, all of a sudden we care deeply about what the majority of the public thinks.
There are excellent arguments in support of restricting abortion, keeping guns freely available, winning the war and defeating Shamnesty. Let’s make sure we’re picking the right ones.
Update: Fellow Philophronos blogger Henry Neufeld of Threads from Henry’s Web points out liberal hypocrisy and very kindly adds “So Laura’s point is well aimed, but I want to help aim it at both sides of the aisle. We need to be consistent on all of this.” Thanks for the link and the pat on the back, Henry!
Trackposted to Outside the Beltway, The Virtuous Republic, Blog @ MoreWhat.com, Perri Nelson’s Website, DeMediacratic Nation, Maggie’s Notebook, Right Truth, Big Dog’s Weblog, The Pet Haven Blog, , Webloggin, Stuck On Stupid, Leaning Straight Up, Cao’s Blog, The Amboy Times, The Bullwinkle Blog, Conservative Cat, Rightlinx, , third world county, The Crazy Rants of Samantha Burns, The World According to Carl, Blue Star Chronicles, Pirate’s Cove, Nuke’s news and views, The Pink Flamingo, Planck’s Constant, Right Voices, CatSynth.com, and The Yankee Sailor, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.
June 27th, 2007 at 9:40 am
Both sides of the aisle exhibit the same problem. I wonder sometimes whether the people writing their opinions have actually thought them out or are just parroting the opinions of others.
It’s hard sometimes to work out why you hold an opinion when its based upon emotion. I think that Conservatives are just as likely to hold an emotional opinion as Liberals without recognizing it.
Maybe that’s where some of the hypocritical arguments come from?
June 27th, 2007 at 9:42 am
Probably so - that and being more goal-oriented than logic-oriented. People want what they want when they want it, and don’t want to go through the hard work of forming a position and persuading others to join them. It’s easier to be emotion-driven.
June 27th, 2007 at 12:17 pm
You’ve got it in one. People use whatever argument works, and whatever method makes things happen the way they want no, irrespective of side-effects or long term consequences. Similarly, they give great credit to authorities who agree with them, while downplaying equal qualifications in authorities who do not.
It’s human nature in action, but it’s something we can and should fight.
June 27th, 2007 at 10:48 pm
Why did we become a nation of cowards? Why did we let fear dominate our lives? Why did we let confidence cease being the driving force of this nation? Why did we decide that government action was the source of our salvation regarding illegal immigration? Why did we decide that market capitalism isn’t the best economic system and that it will not ultimately reassert itself as the dominant economic system? Why did we decide that the problems that face us are greater than the opportunities afforded us?
The problems that we face are monumental but our ability to deal with them and solve them, make them challenges not crises. When we go to bed tonight we will be facing all of these challenges. Let us wake up and embrace the challenges we face because when we wake tomorrow we will still have the intellect, resources and determination to make it once again, “Morning in America.”
July 1st, 2007 at 12:51 pm
Hi,
I’m a Canadian (insert joke here: ) and I came across this blog by accident. Let me first say that -contrary to many of my peers- I think America is a great country. I was lucky to spend 5 months living there and it gave me a greater appreciation and understanding of its citizens. But I think that before discussing the minutiae of these long-standing, line-in-sand issues, we must face up to the powerful (and destructive) paradoxes present in your country today.
1. A nation that was founded in large part due to religious persecution abroad wants to restrict the choices of others (abortion)? Has America become a country where you pry into the bedrooms of your neighbors? Whether you agree with the *** lifestyle or not, you must realize that **** and lesbians are exactly like you and me; they play tennis, they watch films, they cheer for the home team, etc… The only difference is what they do behind their bedroom doors. Next time I meet someone who is staunchly anti-*** I’ll ask them point blank ‘What kind sexual positions do you enjoy?’ Imagine their reaction. I would say ‘you’re right to be offended, it’s none of my business. If you and your husband want to tie each other up and wear costumes and insert foreign objects that’s fine. As long as you’re not doing it on my front lawn, I don’t care. Should I? If **** and lesbians want to marry who cares? I’m sure God would tell us heteros that we’re not doing such a great job at it. What’s the divorce rate these days? What does infringing on other people’s happiness really give us?
2. A country that has one of the worst democratic models in existence is proselytizing its virtues to the far-flung regions of the world, in a manner akin to the Crusades. Democracy is not 2 parties. It’s like asking you if you want to get slapped with the right hand or the left hand. A Candian joke: if you come upon a bear in the woods don’t panic. You don’t have to outrun it, only your poor friend. people don’t vote ‘for’ a candidate, they vote ‘against’ one. John Kerry as a man of the people, for the poor and downtrodden? The guy is a Billionaire for Christ sakes! What could he possibly know about the struggles and preoccupations of the average family? The Electoral College? ‘Umm, yeah democracy for everyone! Votes for everyone! Women! Minorities!….but we don’t really trust you so here are some smart people to balance out the plebes’ ignorance.’
3. A country that is founded entirely by immigrants and owes its incredible rise to the melting pot ethos seeks to limit and stifle the attempts of others to join this promised land? Sad fact, immigrants (especially of the illegal variety) are the engine of your economy. How much is your basket of strawberries going to cost after you’ve kicked them all out? What is considered a ‘native’ American anyway? In reality, they are the indigenous peoples that were slaughtered and marginalized. Don’t worry, Canada knows a thing or two about that as well. To lay claim on this country above others is a little short sighted and smells of bad irony.
4. Despite the Libertarian leanings of the Founding Fathers (they know a bit about hemp cultivation too), someone convicted of growing a few Marijuana plants on their farm stands to rot in jail while the multiple murderers who rape him on a nightly basis enjoy their furloughs and work-release programs. You think Cannabis is so evil? Take a trip to Vancouver, British Columbia. It is consistently ranked in the top 2 cities in the world (Geneva being the other). Now, in downtown Vancouver you can walk into a cafe and smoke a joint in the middle of the day. You can also buy Marijuana seeds for cultivation. Just like the Sears catalogue. The police know this is happening, they know were these places are, yet they do nothing. If you subscribe to the ‘reefer madness’ theory or gateway drug axiom this would be a worthwhile and educational field trip. Sure you’ll find a lot of heroin addicts in Vancouver, but I attribute that mainly to the great climate. If you were living in an alley would you rather be in Toronto or Montréal? The War on drugs? How about a war on prescription drugs or Drug companies? That might be of greater benefit to the populace. The consequences of drug use should be of concern, not the act. Driving is one of the most dangerous activities around, thousands die every year, but we do not outlaw it. We control and regulate to mitigate the dangers. If I want to sit on my porch and smoke a joint or have a beer should I need someone’s permission?
5. A country where the sight of a bare breast on tv or a four letter word creates a cataclysmic furor while every single night children can watch TBS and see John ‘Yippie-K-Yay’ McClane blow people into flesh confetti. This despite the fact that our defining characteristic as a species (mammals) are mammaries (tits!…can’t say that word on t.v. either!)
Watching two consenting adults have *** (with nudity) is not comprehensible even though this act is the source of life -mine and yours- and one of the single most beautiful, universal, important and sacred moments we can share with another person. What kind of world would this be if we did a lot less fighting and a lot more fu#@$$ing?
I live in Ottawa, the capital city of Canada. According to the most recent census, there are about 850 000 people in the city. In Washington DC, there are about 600 000. Now if you were to take a tribesman from deep Amazon jungle and bring him to both of these cities, he would notice a lot of similarities: people drive the same kinds of cars, they eat the same kinds of meals, they listen to the same music and watch the same movies, wear the same clothes, live in the same kinds of houses. For all intents, he may have a very difficult time in finding anything significantly different about these 2 cities. Now imagine his reaction when you would tell him that in Ottawa, the larger of the 2 cites, there were 15 murders in the last calendar year compared with about 400 in D.C..What would he say? What can account for this incredible disparity? I’ve asked myself this question many times and have come no closer to resolving it. Perhaps a revision of the country’s gun control policy and a strengthening of the social safety net is not as bad an idea as many claim. What do you suppose the ‘cost’ of these killings are? Perhaps in we can put in the proper perspective then raising taxes 1 percentage point may seem like the most cost-effective solution.
I’ll leave health care of this diatribe, for further discussion see Michael Moore’s SICKO. The veracity of some statements are suspect and many theatrical devices are employed with vigor, but the message is not less poignant. Put your judgments aside and ask yourself the questions that arise in the course of the film. You may be surprised with the answers.
Patriots come in many stripes. Even if you don’t agree with people like Michael Moore you must realize where their motivation comes from in attacking American institutions: a deep love for your country. To criticize it is to want it to be better. Many people are pained to see the beautiful country they love deeply, full of promise, be raped and sullied. These people aren’t enemies, they are reformers. America has a great tradition of revolutionaries. As a bastion for free speech it has shared so much important literature, music, inventions, philosophies, technology with the world. Imagine if Thomas Paine was dissuaded by the rhetoric of his adversaries, you’d have the Queen on your coins and be sitting for tea and scones with us.
Canada is a great country and shares a lot with our Big Brother to the South. Many of the issues I mentioned are also contentious here and Canada is often complicit with the USA in some of its more nefarious actions around the world. I think a lot could be gained by a rapprochement in our ideals and sharing our strengths and weaknesses. My motivation in writing this comes chiefly from my perception that the current trend is one of estrangement.
My last word (never thought I had this much to say actually!) would be that if you truly love your country -as all the Americans I’ve met do- then don’t be afraid to ask the difficult questions and challenge your assumptions. You’ll be a better person for it and your country will, in turn, regain the lustre it deserves among the great nations of the world and in history.
In my attempt to gain insight into these questions any and all comments are welcome
Thanks and keep on rocking in the Free World (Neil Young)
DAVE
July 1st, 2007 at 9:12 pm
David, I was perplexed by some of your positions. I’ll reply to them in order.
1. I’m less anti-*** (and I’m more than familiar with the lifestyle, having lived with two *** men) than I am tired of having people tell me I’m required to approve of it. I don’t, and I won’t. Tolerance is live and let live. Intolerance is telling someone they are required to accept things they believe are wrong.
2. You clearly don’t understand the political system of the US. We are a federal republic, not a democracy. Sadly, many of our own citizens don’t get that either.
3. It is immoral to condone the next thing over from slave labor in an illegal immigrant class; businesses get taxpayer subsidized labor and a free pass for violating the law. There are so many things wrong with the system that permits this, I don’t even know where to start. I will be delighted to pay ten times the amount for fresh produce in exchange for not having to pay for non-citizens health, education, and numerous other government benefits.
4. Whatever… I’m not sufficiently interested in that debate.
5. It is the responsibility of parents to censor their children, as I’ve written numerous times on this blog. But pornography is harmful to everyone who participates in it, as I’ve also written many times on this blog.
Sicko was propaganda, pure and simple. Cubans do not in fact receive that level of health care. There is ample documentation of this; have you never seen the filthy, roach infested clinics that ordinary Cubans must use? Even Castro, when he was ill, flew in a doctor from Spain instead of using the infamous Cuban health care system. Michael Moore does what he does because he makes money at it. He is a total hypocrite, not a patriot. While making anti-gun movies, he violated gun regulations in his personal life with his armed bodyguard, for example. He’s no reformer, and Thomas Paine actually lived what he believed, where Moore does not.
Those who despise America - and I don’t include you in this category, because your comment made it clear that you do not, which is appreciated - are not people whose opinions I really fret over. We have literally saved Western society - and Canada obviously was right there up front as well, in fact you made it into WWI before we did - for me to feel concerned about ingratitude from those we saved. We’re (and I include Canada in this) better than them, frankly. If they don’t like us, screw them. Maybe next time we’ll save them… or not… but it’s abundantly clear that we’re going to be called upon to bail France out AGAIN, and much of Europe as well. They’ll like us then, just like they did the last two times we shed our blood on their behalf.
All of that said, I like and respect Canada, even though I disagree with much of your nation’s politics. Thanks for your comment.
July 1st, 2007 at 9:45 pm
Dave….. you must have only lived in American for 5 months, I have never met someone who thinks marijuana is evil. Im sure they exist, but, cmon…
July 2nd, 2007 at 10:31 am
Hey Laura!
Thanks for your response, this is a lot of fun, who knew? I don’t want to rehash this too much but I’ll quickly qualify some of my comments for clarity. Whatever a Federal Republic is I think is irrelevant. Perhaps the issue I wanted to address was the concept of bringing ‘Democracy’ (Their words, not mine) to other ‘backward’ nations in the world. If you’re going to fly that banner you may want to do a better job representing it. I think plutocracy is maybe a more fitting description.
As I mentioned, Moore is an easy target and many of things you say ring true. He is foremost an entertainer. But the questions that arise from his films -whether deliberately or organically- are not partisan. Whether he is a hypocrite or not for having armed bodyguards (in response to death threats from Right Wing nuts who, I suspect, own more than their share of guns) doesn’t change the facts about your healthcare system. Shooting the messenger will not solve the problem; illness is non-partisan at the end of day. The pictures he paints of France, Britain, Cuba and Canada are rose to say the least but that doesn’t address why America’s system is so bad when it considers itself (often rightly so) to be superior to these other nations. It’s a jab at your pride; Americans want to be the best and demand it. So why isn’t your health care system? Not even close. Why is USA the only industrialized nation without a significant form of universal, socialized health care? If someone tried to implement changes in that direction what would happen? Who would resist? Who stands to lose out of millions of dollars? What mechanisms would they use to ensure the status quo? Things that make you go hmmmmmmmmm
Oh, one thing concerned me a little in your response. You seem well versed in history so I was surprised by your selective recollection of facts. I understand the strained relationship with France (Freedom Fries anyone?) but this (common) notion of having ’saved’ them, or Europe in general is a little ridiculous. Where would America be without France’s involvement in the Revolutionary war? Chicken and Egg. Without their help you might still be a member of the Commonwealth and your involvement in both world wars would have been a non-issue. And, as you mention yourself, you were a little late in joining the party, both times. In the interim, the country was producing armaments, munitions and exporting goods to both sides. At the dawn of WWI America was competing with Britain, France and Germany for supremacy among industrialized nations. Then the other 3 start kicking the **** out of each other while America supplies them both and also comes in to rebuild. This trend continued and was solidified after WWWII. Call it a competitive advantage when you have 100% employment (women get to work and vote now) and your factories can produce without getting carpet bombed once a week. There are many reasons that America rose its pre-eminent status at this time, but you must acknowledge that good fortune played a part
That said, USA has a great tradition of generosity and has helped -in many forms- innumerable countries in the world in time of crisis. Despite the current climate, the majority of people in the world still regard Americans very highly. But let’s not take the chest pounding too far. At the rate that America is making enemies and alienating allies, I think it is more likely that they may be the one that need ’saving’ in the future.
The one issue that I was disappointed that you didn’t acknowledge was the insane disparity in murder rates. None of the possible explanations I can figure come close to explaining the exponential statistical gap. I would love to hear your -or anyone’s- opinion on that.
At the risk of sounding patronizing, keep blasting away with your opinions. I look forward to checking in on the blog in the future and stirring the pot a little
Take Care
DT
July 2nd, 2007 at 10:49 am
Glad to see your response, DT!
Umm… because socialized health care sucks. We just don’t want government rationed care. More on this in the post War is peace, freedom is slavery, single-payer healthcare is free. As it stands, the care available to the poor and uninsured is still generally better than what Canadians and the Brits get, and instead of the much vaunted lie of “45 million uninsured” the truth is it’s much closer to 8 million. I’ve used the charity health care system and while it’s not as “pretty” as the care I get now under health insurance, it’s more than adequate. I know people who have waited over a year in England to get a simple knee replacement or hip replacement. Here, that kind of surgery is done within weeks of the doctor deeming it necessary. That’s why I and many others are against single payer healthcare - we see too many medical tourists coming into America.
France did help us in the Revolutionary war, after many months of begging by John Adams, and a very strong case that it would stick a finger in the eye of the English. They didn’t care about us; it was to get back at the Brits. So while I’m grateful, I recognize that it was no more altruistic than our attempt to replace despotic regimes in the middle east.
As to the murder rates… I’ve never paid much attention to it, frankly, but I have seen studies that in states with concealed carry laws, there is less crime. Did you know that in England there’s been talk about outlawing some knives, since knife crime has increased so much because guns are harder to get? The problem isn’t the type of weapon, because there will always be a new method to assist criminals. The problem is that criminals are emboldened to act. You can leave your car with the keys in it in Saudi Arabia and no one will dare take it (relatives of mine lived there for years.) While I don’t propose such draconian measures as they take, we could certainly step it up quite a few notches here.
By all means continue to stir the pot… as iron sharpens iron, etc.