Decoding American Politics

I decided to define terms of American politics for the layman and/or foreigner.  These are not how terms are defined in political science and not how I utilize them, but how they are defined in American political parlance.  (This is a rough draft!)

• Conservative: American Conservatives are Christians.*  They believe that most social problems are caused by minorities and the underprivileged.  The main theme in Conservative ideology is that those with less wealth are lazy (and that all minorities are lazy).  If the Conservative is not wealthy, they believe the reason they are not wealthy is because other lazy people and minorities are the reason they are not wealthy.
• Moderate: A moderate is a person who is Conservative but also understands that Conservatives are racists, religious zealots and plutocrats.  They do not wish to self-identify with these concepts, because they find racists and robber barons to be repugnant, even though they ideologically support them.
• Liberal: An American Liberal is a person who enjoys wealth, but dislikes racism and religious bigotry more than a moderate.  They believe everything they do should make them look good, socially, as long as they do not have to make any major compromises in their personal lives. (more…)

Tags: business, cartels, christians, Communist, conservative, creationism, crime, Democrat, drugs, evolutionary theory, family values, immigrants, Independent, Intelligent Design, Jews, labor, Liberal, libertarian, lobbyists, middle class, Moderate, muslims, pharmaceuticals, Republican, secular, Socialist, special interests, Tea Party, Unions
Category Definitions |

Political Systems Defined

I have been seeing a lot of talk about political systems.  Today, mentioned in the news was a statement the Tea Party group made in Arizona about a new policy on trash collection.  They claim that the city voting for one trash company and curbside recycling is a step towards socialism.

A decision by the Fountain Hills Town Council to hire a single trash hauler and begin a curbside recycling program has been met with angry protests from residents who accuse town leaders of overstepping their bounds and taking a leap toward socialism.

Read more: http://www.azcentral.com/community/scottsdale/articles/2010/11/07/20101107tea-party-trash-fountain-hills.html#ixzz14j4ZHOzF

Really?  This is how we are now defining “socialism“?  A private monopoly of services?  Bids for city contracts?  One could really go on all day about how misguided this is but I really feel like many people do not even understand how these terms are meant to be used.  Someone told me on YouTube, about a week ago, that Anarchy is “Left” in Europe, but not in America.  Somehow, they believe that “Left” and “Right” politics are different depending on your longitude and latitude.  This is not the case.  These terms are pretty well defined.

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Tags: capitalism, communism, conservative, definitions, fascism, keynesian economics, Left, left-right, Liberal, Marxism, political systems, right, terminology
Category Definitions |

Argumentum ad hominem

Bill O’Reilly was on The View yesterday.  In the discourse, he was discussing the concept of “Pinheads and Patriots” and how there are both in America (and the title of his book).  The event, for anyone who does know know, went like this:

BILL O’REILLY: LET ME BREAK THIS TO YOU. 70% OF AMERICANS DON’T WANT THAT MOSQUE DOWN THERE, SO DON’T GIVE ME THE “WE” BUSINESS.

[APPLAUSE]

JOY BEHAR: WHERE IS THAT POLL? I WANT TO SEE THAT POLL.

O’REILLY: YOU WANT TO BET ON THAT? YOU WANNA BET? I’LL SHOW YOU THAT POLL IN A MINUTE.

[CROSSTALK]

O’REILLY: 70% DON’T WANT IT DOWN THERE.

WHOOPI GOLDBERG: WHY IS THAT?

O’REILLY: BECAUSE IT’S INAPPROPRIATE.

GOLDBERG: WHY IS IT INAPPROPRIATE WHEN 70 FAMILIES DIED…

O’REILLY: BECAUSE MUSLIMS KILLED US ON 9/11, THAT’S WHY!

GOLDBERG: NO! OH MY GOD! THAT IS SUCH [EXPLETIVE DELETED]!

O’REILLY: MUSLIMS DIDN’T KILL US ON 9/11? THAT’S WHAT YOU’RE SAYING?

GOLDBERG: EXTREMISTS DID THAT!

[CROSSTALK]

O’REILLY: I’M TELLING YOU, 70% OF THE COUNTRY…

BEHAR: I DON’T WANT TO SIT HERE. I DON’T. I’M OUTRAGED BY THAT STATEMENT.

O’REILLY: YOU’RE OUTRAGED ABOUT MUSLIMS  KILLING US ON 9/11?

[BEHAR AND GOLDBERG WALK OFF THE SET]

Transcript from Fox Nation

In the spirit of fairness, when confronted with his comment being “offensive,” O’Reilly then responded, “ALL RIGHT. IF ANYBODY FELT THAT I WAS DEMEANING ALL MUSLIMS, I APOLOGIZE.”

My problem with all of this is the rhetorical devices being utilized by the O’Reilly’s, the Becks, the Hannitys (how do you pluralize Hannity?) . . . et al.  What happened in that instance on The View?  Well, the conversation quickly devolved from “What is a Patriot?” and the context of the discussion to an argument about how ‘appropriate is Islam or a Mosque’ in the vicinity of the site of the Twin Towers in NYC.

The Right wing methodology is similar to playground arguments.

A: Why do you feel the need to make me play with you every day?

B: Why do you feel the need to complain every time I want to play?

A: Can you play with someone else?

B: Can you make your mom stop being so fat?

A: My mom isn’t fat.  She is 5’4 and 120 pounds.

B: Well, you look like a flying wombat.

A: Wombats don’t fly . . .

B: I never said wombats can fly, you did . . . I just wish you would not try to play with me every day.

What started out as a discussion about a person’s actions devolves into an argument on the merits of Wombats flying and the weight of a person’s mother.  Rhetorically, these are brilliant argumentative moves.  Nothing gets resolved.  Let’s take a look at the most common devices used.

(more…)

Tags: argument from ignorance, Argumentum ad hominem, barbara walters, Bill O'Reilly, black-or-white fallacy, Christine O'Donnell, conservative, Constitution, cordoba house, Elizabeth Hasselbeck, equivocation, fallacies, first amendment, genetic fallacy, Glenn Beck, ground zero, ignoring the issue, Islam, Joy Behar, Liberal, mosque, muslims, New Right, park 51, partisan, patriot, polarize, post hoc ergo propter hoc, rhetoric, sarah palin, Separation Clause, September 11, straw opponent, Tea Party, The View, Twin Towers, us vs them, Whoopi Goldberg, World Trade Center
Category Definitions, news |

What Is The Tea Party Movement? – Day Two

It is day two of my mission to discover the foundational tenants of the Tea Party movement.  Yesterday, I looked at Tea Party Express – which just asked to contribute to 3 “Tea Party” candidates.  (I guess, I should have examined the three candidates and looked for commonality, but that would take a bit of time.)  And I looked at Lloyd Marcus and the elusive Black American Tea Party members.

Today, I skipped any farther research into those two avenues, and went to the website of the Tea Party Patriots.  It is a huge website.  There is a huge graphic at the top, that they have received a $1 million donation.  There’s nothing clickable in this statement, so I guess it is just there to be there.  Who made the donation?  What is it for?  How is it to be used?  Are they going to create jobs with it?  Who knows?  (There was a link to a Facebook update, farther down the page, that states that the money was donated anonymously, and will be distributed in grant form.)

This website is much better, though.  There is a link at the top to “Read The Tea Party Patriots Mission Statement.”  (I have mentioned this page in the past.)  It states:

Mission Statement
The impetus for the Tea Party movement is excessive government spending and taxation. Our mission is to attract, educate, organize, and mobilize our fellow citizens to secure public policy consistent with our three core values of Fiscal Responsibility, Constitutionally Limited Government and Free Markets.

Finally, some real platforms.  Is my search finally over?

(more…)

Tags: Christine O'Donnell, conservative, Constitution, Democrat, Express, Glenn Beck, Google, Joe Miller, Liberal, libertarian, patriots, platform, Republican, sarah palin, Sharon Angle, Social Liberal, stance, Tea Party
Category Definitions, Tea Party movement |

What Is The Tea Party Movement? – Day One

I keep getting more adverts for the Tea Party movement and Tea Party Candidates on my websites. Meg Whitman has spent more on her campaign for California Governor than any politician in American history. Christie O’Donnell has made massive headlines for her primary win in Delaware. Joe Miller (Alaska) recently stated that Unemployment Insurance is “unConstitutional.” And there is Sharon Angle, Sarah Palin, and Glen Beck the gifts that keep on giving.

So, I started to wonder, “What exactly is the Tea Party?”

What are their primary ideals? What do they stand for? What is their Party platform? What is their agenda? None of these things came to mind immediately.

(more…)

Tags: Bakongo Fetish Doll, Christine O'Donnell, conservative, Constitution, Democrat, Express, Glenn Beck, Google, Joe Miller, Liberal, libertarian, Lloyd Marcus, patriots, platform, Republican, sarah palin, Sharon Angle, Social Liberal, stance, Tea Party, YouTube
Category Tea Party movement |