The Ever-changing Liberal Psyche

Bummer!  My grandson’s soccer game in Colorado Springs was cancelled at the last minute today because of a scheduling conflict at the park. One of the highlights of my week, especially on a beautiful spring day like today, is the leisurely drive from Denver down to “the Springs” to watch eight-year-old Connor play his favorite sport. On the way home after learning of the cancellation, I took my usual “back-road” drive up US 85, a much more scenic and relaxing route than the interstate. After my favorite Gordon Lightfoot tape ended, I switched on the radio to see what I might find. There were the usual Sunday morning health and fix-it shows on AM. As I surfed through the normal talk-show stations, I finally came to the one Denver station that features both conservative and liberal talk shows. A liberal show was on. Thinking that it might be good for a laugh or two, I decided to listen for a while; you know, fair and balanced and all of that. 

I could not believe what I was hearing. The topic being discussed was the War in Iraq, and the caller was ranting about the fact that an Iraqi army general had been named to lead the Iraqi security force in Fallujah.   How could he be trusted, the caller asked, if he was one of Saddam Hussein’s generals?  The talk show host generally agreed, citing the announcement as just another example that the Bush Administration had no idea of what it was doing in Iraq.  I am sure that just last week this same talk show was discussing how the United States should turn Iraq back over to the Iraqis and bug out, letting them provide their own security and fend for themselves. I also now suspect that the liberals’ plan for Iraq would include appointing only French hairdressers to lead any new security force for the country.

In reality, this type of utter nonsense is regularly heard from Democrats these days, especially from foreign affairs and military experts such as Nancy Pelosi and Maxine Waters, or from calm and moderate straight shooters like Jim McDermott, Robert Byrd, and Ted Kennedy.  The first two seem incapable of expressing any opinions other than what appears in the DNC-inspired talking points, while the latter three are usually heard speaking only in the languages of innuendo, allegation, and irrational conclusion. Surprisingly, as John Kerry moves every day a little bit closer to reality regarding the War in Iraq, he is slowly becoming one of the few moderate voices of in the Democratic Party regarding this issue, much to the Party’s chagrin (see article below).  Joe Lieberman has been relatively quiet since the primaries, and Zell Miller has probably given his last hurrah in his recent book.

 Most conservatives view the War in Iraq to be but a part of the overall War on Terror, a matter of survival for our country. Most liberals tend to view it as a nasty little interlude in their quest  to bring emotional and financial security to all Americans. Most conservatives would prefer to rely on themselves rather than the government for emotional and financial security, while most liberals do not believe that anyone in the world could hate them enough to want to kill them, because they are such nice and caring people. Conservatives are more likely to use history to determine how to deal with issues, while liberals are more likely to look at trends and polls. Conservatives tend to believe in absolute principles, while liberals tend to believe in whatever makes people feel good. Conservatives tend to see things in black and white. Until recently, liberals usually saw varying shades of gray.

 How does that all relate to the talk show?  When I first heard the question regarding the trustworthiness of an Iraqi general I was surprised; I would normally expect such a question to come from the conservative side of the spectrum.  After additional thought, however, I realized why the question was asked by a liberal. The question itself related to an action that had been initiated by a conservative administration, and therefore must be wrong and dangerous. This, despite its relevance to something that recent liberal talking points have been saying that we must do to get out of Iraq as quickly as possible. I wondered if perhaps it was the phrase “army general” that had the caller worried. To many liberals, that phrase is as pejorative as “SUV”, “school vouchers”, or “ANWR”. Liberals are not only seeing more things in black and white these days. They are also developing very short memories.   

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