How conservatives lost their moral compass

[Azrael]

American history can be read as a series of episodes in which we reached what could be called a “tipping point” of shame — when our behavior became so egregious that we, as a people, decided to desist from our worst excesses, whether it was slavery or antipathy to immigrants.

Take civil rights. The majority of Americans, even outside the South, might originally have had little real enthusiasm for the civil rights movement. Most urged patience. It was only after the public saw the beatings during the Freedom Rides, the firehoses and police dogs at Selma and the church bombing in Birmingham that Americans were shamed into accepting the claims of African-Americans to equal justice under the law. Shame was the moralizing force.

Shame also defeated the hatred of Father Charles Coughlin, the famous “radio priest” who laid the Great Depression at the feet of Jewish international bankers, and Sen. Joseph McCarthy, who recklessly accused his critics of communist treachery. Both had reached that tipping point at which ordinary Americans felt these provocateurs had gone too far. Americans felt shamed.

There is a reason we have never previously had a hatemonger like Rush Limbaugh enjoy popularity for as long as he has. The reason was shame. You couldn’t find enough people, let alone a broadcaster, who wanted to be identified with that sort of viciousness. The initial enthusiasm for it eventually waned.

But that was then. Surely when a group can publicly cheer a man’s death for not having health insurance, the sense of shame is gone. It faded not only because liberals had subverted it by casting it as a conservative scheme to corset society, but because conservatives managed to delegitimize it. They attacked it as yet another elitist scheme, contrived to neuter strong conservatism.

Conservatives portray shame as a way of making people feel bad about the lesser angels of their nature. Which is exactly what shame should be.
Their bigger trick, though, has not been to delegitimize shame so much as to convert shamelessness into a valid political position. It can be attacked only at the peril of seeming to take sides in our political wars — which the mainstream media steadfastly refuse to do.

So what you are saying is that the Conservatives - Republicans is what I call them, have lost that little angel that whispers in their ear. Now all they have is that red guy with the horns.

Well I would say that their wealth and power has gotten to their heads and would say most politicians are like this though they just support different things.

I think one thing that has lead to this is a fear!
A fear of losing the power and wealth that they have obtained and so to ensure their position at the top they must be ruthless or get kicked aside by some one else who is ruthless.
"The only thing to fear is fear it's self." FDR
"All those who obtain power eventually become afraid to lose it." - Numerous Jedi from Star Wars.

 

[Stephanie]

I don't know if they've lost their compass or not, but because of all the dark hatred for Obama, which morphed into hatred for each other during the GOP candidate selection, I'd be willing to say that the glass of their compass is a mite bit cloudy from all the dirt they've been slinging.

Oh, don't be fooled - they had just as much hate for Clinton. And they have just as much hate for Carter.

The times they lived in didn't permit the blatant display of hate that we see with Obama.

Because even 10 years ago, conservatives had a sense of shame. Now, they will say anything. Anything. Because they have lost their moral compass.

Hey, we watched for eight years all the Dark LOVE you on left had for Bush. and even today we see all the Dark LOVE you all still have for Reagan..But I guess the times NOW PERMIT it...

You lefties are such whiners and losers.

 

[CaughtInTheMid]

i think i must be the only guy in the country who doesn't listen to ANY of the political opinion guys/girls. it makes no sense to me to listen to people who are biased. i wish more people would turn the tv/radio off and think for themselves. once a person does this, the hate for one side seems to fade and the realization that both parties are very similar comes into focus. it's quite powerful.

 

[saveliberty]

American history can be read as a series of episodes in which we reached what could be called a “tipping point” of shame — when our behavior became so egregious that we, as a people, decided to desist from our worst excesses, whether it was slavery or antipathy to immigrants.

Take civil rights. The majority of Americans, even outside the South, might originally have had little real enthusiasm for the civil rights movement. Most urged patience. It was only after the public saw the beatings during the Freedom Rides, the firehoses and police dogs at Selma and the church bombing in Birmingham that Americans were shamed into accepting the claims of African-Americans to equal justice under the law. Shame was the moralizing force.

Shame also defeated the hatred of Father Charles Coughlin, the famous “radio priest” who laid the Great Depression at the feet of Jewish international bankers, and Sen. Joseph McCarthy, who recklessly accused his critics of communist treachery. Both had reached that tipping point at which ordinary Americans felt these provocateurs had gone too far. Americans felt shamed.

There is a reason we have never previously had a hatemonger like Rush Limbaugh enjoy popularity for as long as he has. The reason was shame. You couldn’t find enough people, let alone a broadcaster, who wanted to be identified with that sort of viciousness. The initial enthusiasm for it eventually waned.

But that was then. Surely when a group can publicly cheer a man’s death for not having health insurance, the sense of shame is gone. It faded not only because liberals had subverted it by casting it as a conservative scheme to corset society, but because conservatives managed to delegitimize it. They attacked it as yet another elitist scheme, contrived to neuter strong conservatism.

Conservatives portray shame as a way of making people feel bad about the lesser angels of their nature. Which is exactly what shame should be.
Their bigger trick, though, has not been to delegitimize shame so much as to convert shamelessness into a valid political position. It can be attacked only at the peril of seeming to take sides in our political wars — which the mainstream media steadfastly refuse to do.

So what you are saying is that the Conservatives - Republicans is what I call them, have lost that little angel that whispers in their ear. Now all they have is that red guy with the horns.

Well I would say that their wealth and power has gotten to their heads and would say most politicians are like this though they just support different things.

I think one thing that has lead to this is a fear!
A fear of losing the power and wealth that they have obtained and so to ensure their position at the top they must be ruthless or get kicked aside by some one else who is ruthless.
"The only thing to fear is fear it's self." FDR
"All those who obtain power eventually become afraid to lose it." - Numerous Jedi from Star Wars.

Just how do you reconcile the 1% rich with the Republicans representing much more than that percentage? Some of us aren't crazy about spending other people's money or money we don't have.

 

[editec]

IF modern America every had a moral compass (that is debateable, but for the moment let's assume it did) then the moral compass was no longer necessary TO THE MASTERS when the Soviet Empire fell.

Now, now that there's no cabal of evil communist bastards who would have, had they been able, kill every MASTER OF CAPITAL of the WEST, now the masters have no moral compass (read moral compass more like a pressing need) for the AMERICAN people.

Now the MASTERS OF CAPITAL are international citizens, and the Ameriocan people are no longer the expensive GUARDS that they nourish and cherish to keep them safe from the clutches of their former enemies -- the communist MASTERS.

Now the (formerly) Communist MASTERS work hand in glove with the MASTERS OF CAPITAL to enrich both groups of masters.

How long with that all last?

Depends, I suppose, on how long before one set of MASTERS thinks it can take out the other set of MASTERS.

See?

There really is something good about a world divided by economic and social ideologies.

Such a world demands that their MASTERS at least pretend that they truly care about the people they lead.

Those days, fellow citizens, are done.

 

[Truthmatters]

I remember when this shit first started OP.


It started when the phrase "bleeding heart liberal" caught on.

They (like so many sociopaths) made it bad and stupid to care about your fellow man.

 

[Two Thumbs]

How conservatives lost their moral compass



*snip*


American history can be read as a series of episodes in which we reached what could be called a “tipping point” of shame — when our behavior became so egregious that we, as a people, decided to desist from our worst excesses, whether it was slavery or antipathy to immigrants.

Take civil rights. The majority of Americans, even outside the South, might originally have had little real enthusiasm for the civil rights movement. Most urged patience. It was only after the public saw the beatings during the Freedom Rides, the firehoses and police dogs at Selma and the church bombing in Birmingham that Americans were shamed into accepting the claims of African-Americans to equal justice under the law. Shame was the moralizing force.

Shame also defeated the hatred of Father Charles Coughlin, the famous “radio priest” who laid the Great Depression at the feet of Jewish international bankers, and Sen. Joseph McCarthy, who recklessly accused his critics of communist treachery. Both had reached that tipping point at which ordinary Americans felt these provocateurs had gone too far. Americans felt shamed.

There is a reason we have never previously had a hatemonger like Rush Limbaugh enjoy popularity for as long as he has. The reason was shame. You couldn’t find enough people, let alone a broadcaster, who wanted to be identified with that sort of viciousness. The initial enthusiasm for it eventually waned.

But that was then. Surely when a group can publicly cheer a man’s death for not having health insurance, the sense of shame is gone. It faded not only because liberals had subverted it by casting it as a conservative scheme to corset society, but because conservatives managed to delegitimize it. They attacked it as yet another elitist scheme, contrived to neuter strong conservatism.

Conservatives portray shame as a way of making people feel bad about the lesser angels of their nature. Which is exactly what shame should be.
Their bigger trick, though, has not been to delegitimize shame so much as to convert shamelessness into a valid political position. It can be attacked only at the peril of seeming to take sides in our political wars — which the mainstream media steadfastly refuse to do.


*snip*

So is this a long drawn out slam on Rush or a general slam on all conservatives b/c Rush is on the air?

I haven't listened to him since the late 80's, when he was still funny. So you will have to fill me in on what he's hate mongering.

oh, and a little up date on the anti-semite stuff. The liberals do that know.

 

[Truthmatters]

yes its a general slam on any asshole who thinks its bad to care about your fellow man.

 

[Two Thumbs]

Do you have any specifics?

 

[MarcATL]

I remember when this shit first started OP.


It started when the phrase "bleeding heart liberal" caught on.

They (like so many sociopaths) made it bad and stupid to care about your fellow man.

Do you have any specifics?

It started when The Raygun uttered this unforgettable words..."Are you better off than you were four years ago?"

Suddenly middle class Americans stopped thinking about their fellow man, those less fortunate about themselves, and started thinking about themselves.

Its been a race to the bottom since then.

 

[Two Thumbs]

I remember when this shit first started OP.


It started when the phrase "bleeding heart liberal" caught on.

They (like so many sociopaths) made it bad and stupid to care about your fellow man.

Do you have any specifics?

It started when The Raygun uttered this unforgettable words..."Are you better off than you were four years ago?"

Suddenly middle class Americans stopped thinking about their fellow man, those less fortunate about themselves, and started thinking about themselves.

Its been a race to the bottom since then.

WOW

That's WAAAYYY outta context.

Carter sucked and everyone knew it. RR didn't need a lot of catchy phrases to crush him.

Long gas lines, or no gas.
record UE
Record inflation
stagnant economy
no growth

and that's just state side, never mind his utter failures internationally.

 

[whitehall]

Imagine that, libs giving conservatives a lecture about a "moral compass". The people in the south that opposed civil rights were democrats like Al Gore's father, senator Gore. As usual libs show their ignorance by dragging out the easy target and blaming good old Joe McCarthy for the bad feelings that the poor communist party endured back in the 50's. HUAC was a creation of the democrat party and HUAC was responsible for hearings that embarrassed certain commies in H'wood.

 

[mudwhistle]

How conservatives lost their moral compass



*snip*


American history can be read as a series of episodes in which we reached what could be called a “tipping point” of shame — when our behavior became so egregious that we, as a people, decided to desist from our worst excesses, whether it was slavery or antipathy to immigrants.

Take civil rights. The majority of Americans, even outside the South, might originally have had little real enthusiasm for the civil rights movement. Most urged patience. It was only after the public saw the beatings during the Freedom Rides, the firehoses and police dogs at Selma and the church bombing in Birmingham that Americans were shamed into accepting the claims of African-Americans to equal justice under the law. Shame was the moralizing force.

Shame also defeated the hatred of Father Charles Coughlin, the famous “radio priest” who laid the Great Depression at the feet of Jewish international bankers, and Sen. Joseph McCarthy, who recklessly accused his critics of communist treachery. Both had reached that tipping point at which ordinary Americans felt these provocateurs had gone too far. Americans felt shamed.

There is a reason we have never previously had a hatemonger like Rush Limbaugh enjoy popularity for as long as he has. The reason was shame. You couldn’t find enough people, let alone a broadcaster, who wanted to be identified with that sort of viciousness. The initial enthusiasm for it eventually waned.

But that was then. Surely when a group can publicly cheer a man’s death for not having health insurance, the sense of shame is gone. It faded not only because liberals had subverted it by casting it as a conservative scheme to corset society, but because conservatives managed to delegitimize it. They attacked it as yet another elitist scheme, contrived to neuter strong conservatism.

Conservatives portray shame as a way of making people feel bad about the lesser angels of their nature. Which is exactly what shame should be.
Their bigger trick, though, has not been to delegitimize shame so much as to convert shamelessness into a valid political position. It can be attacked only at the peril of seeming to take sides in our political wars — which the mainstream media steadfastly refuse to do.


*snip*

Funny, the left never had a moral compass to lose.

I guess morality has been replaced with the current consensus.

I noticed the skill many left-leaning commentators show in projecting their evils onto the right.

It takes a serious lack of shame to do that.

 

[saveliberty]

I remember when this shit first started OP.


It started when the phrase "bleeding heart liberal" caught on.

They (like so many sociopaths) made it bad and stupid to care about your fellow man.

Do you have any specifics?

It started when The Raygun uttered this unforgettable words..."Are you better off than you were four years ago?"

Suddenly middle class Americans stopped thinking about their fellow man, those less fortunate about themselves, and started thinking about themselves.

Its been a race to the bottom since then.

You seem to be bleeding. Need a band aid?

 

[whitehall]

What "compass" did the democrat party ever have? It was historically the party of slavery but eventually they saw the light and that's fine. It seems that the people who can't seem to think for themselves gravitate to the democrat party. They rely on what used to be a total liberal media propaganda to do their thinking. Years ago they supported the War against Nazi oppression and when the media was against communism during the Cold War democrats were against communism. When the media became soft on communism democrats became soft on communism. Democrats supported LBJ's adventure in VietNam when the media supported it and then when the media turned on LBJ so did democrats. The democrat party used to have respect for capitalism and free enterprise but when the media started drifting toward socialism so did the democrat party. Now we have an incoherent party that is united by hatred and lock step support of what ever candidate the liberal media supports.

 

[Synthaholic]

I don't know if they've lost their compass or not, but because of all the dark hatred for Obama, which morphed into hatred for each other during the GOP candidate selection, I'd be willing to say that the glass of their compass is a mite bit cloudy from all the dirt they've been slinging.

Oh, don't be fooled - they had just as much hate for Clinton. And they have just as much hate for Carter.

The times they lived in didn't permit the blatant display of hate that we see with Obama.

Because even 10 years ago, conservatives had a sense of shame. Now, they will say anything. Anything. Because they have lost their moral compass.

Hey, we watched for eight years all the Dark LOVE you on left had for Bush. and even today we see all the Dark LOVE you all still have for Reagan..But I guess the times NOW PERMIT it...

You lefties are such whiners and losers.

There's a huge difference: we criticized Reagan and Bush for what they actually DID. Their actual actions while in charge. We didn't make up some character, and then criticize that, as the Rightwing fringe constantly does with Obama, calling him a Marxist, Communist, Socialist, Nazi, and Fascist. Which would be a neat trick for someone to pull off.

Before someone accuses me of plagiarism, Bill Maher talked about this very thing last week:

(If you have the typical attention span of most wingnuts, start at around 2:45 - but you'll miss the part about Saul Alinsky, which is pretty funny.)

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YRL9CI2G_T8]Bill Maher on Saul Alinsky & The Republican Obama Fantasy (Real Time New Rules 1-27-12) - YouTube[/ame]

 

[Synthaholic]

I remember when this shit first started OP.


It started when the phrase "bleeding heart liberal" caught on.

They (like so many sociopaths) made it bad and stupid to care about your fellow man.

Do you have any specifics?

It started when The Raygun uttered this unforgettable words..."Are you better off than you were four years ago?"

Suddenly middle class Americans stopped thinking about their fellow man, those less fortunate about themselves, and started thinking about themselves.

Its been a race to the bottom since then.

WOW

That's WAAAYYY outta context.

Carter sucked and everyone knew it. RR didn't need a lot of catchy phrases to crush him.

Long gas lines, or no gas.
record UE
Record inflation
stagnant economy
no growth

and that's just state side, never mind his utter failures internationally.

You're blaming the Iranian Revolution on Carter? That's why there were gas shortages:

In November 1978, a strike by 37,000 workers at Iran's nationalized oil refineries initially reduced production from 6 million barrels (950,000 m3) per day to about 1.5 million barrels (240,000 m3).[5] Foreign workers (including skilled oil workers) fled the country.


​

What did Carter do?

The Jimmy Carter administration began a phased deregulation of oil prices on April 5, 1979, when the average price of crude oil was US$15.85 per barrel (42 US gallons (160 L)). Starting with the Iranian revolution, the price of crude oil rose to $39.50 per barrel over the next 12 months (its all time highest real price until March 7, 2008.)


​

So, he deregulated oil and the price shot up! How come wingnuts never point that fact out?


Or maybe you are just confused, and really mean the 1973 oil crises, under Republican Nixon?

 

[CrusaderFrank]

How did numbnuts forget that Carter stopped backing the Shah and handed Iran to Islamists?

Wow.

Just fucking wow

 

[Synthaholic]

How did numbnuts forget that Carter stopped backing the Shah and handed Iran to Islamists?

Wow.

Just fucking wow

 

[Stephanie]

I guess I would rather lose my moral compass than never having any to lose like most Liberals-Lefties..