Democrats are good. Republicans are evil.

[Ivan Seeking]

Democrats are corrupt and weak. Republicans are noble and honorable.

The right is full of religious zealots.

The left is full of tree hugging pot smokers.

All conservatives are uptight and sexually repressed. [From a political science professor of mine]

All liberals are loose and immoral

The left wants endless taxation and free rides.

The right wants tax breaks for the rich at the expense of the poor.

The left wants to kill babies.

The right wants to kill doctors and nurses.

The left would sell this country out.

The right would take away your freedoms.

The left would have left us vulnerable to the Soviets and they would have gotten us all nuked.

The right wing war machine nearly got us all nuked.

If you're not a liberal when you're young, you don't have a heart. If you're not conservative when you're old, you don't have a brain.

*******How many of these statements are true?********

 

[Zero]

Hey, let's differentiate between the fringe and the center, ok?

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Originally posted by Zero
Hey, let's differentiate between the fringe and the center, ok?

That's what the "none" option is for. I was polling for temperament. I wondered how many people may have one or a few irrational feelings about politics, as opposed to someone who is completely irrational in their views. I suspect that at times most people feel that one or two of these statements are true.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Originally posted by Zero
Hey, let's differentiate between the fringe and the center, ok?

Zero, I could swear that I just read a post of yours that accused the Republicans of giving tax breaks to the rich, at the expense of the poor. It may have been someone else, but don't you feel this way?

 

[russ_watters]

Originally posted by Ivan Seeking
Zero, I could swear that I just read a post of yours that accused the Republicans of giving tax breaks to the rich, at the expense of the poor. It may have been someone else, but don't you feel this way?

My guess was he was referring only to the anti-democrat quotes. It sounds like he believes all Republicans (maybe even by definition, though that would be self-contradictory) are extremists.

 

[Zero]

Originally posted by russ_watters
My guess was he was referring only to the anti-democrat quotes. It sounds like he believes all Republicans (maybe even by definition, though that would be self-contradictory) are extremists.

Nope, mostly the extremist right-wing that controls the party now. You know, the bunch that came into their own on the back of the Clinton witchhunt and the Dole loss in 1996?

 

[schwarzchildradius]

If the current Republicans now in power are not evil, they are certainly insane by clinical definition.
Here's more obvious proof:
www.whitehouse.gov/webmail[/URL]
Yeah, I can understand wanting to cut down on spam by requiring an address and an email verification, but what about all the political questions on that form? Will the "dissenting opinions" all be deleted instantly? Or will they track us down like dogs and ship us to Guantanamo bay, Cuba, for slow extermination?
Either way it is up to the dictator, Bush.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Originally posted by schwarzchildradius
If the current Republicans now in power are not evil, they are certainly insane by clinical definition.
Here's more obvious proof:
www.whitehouse.gov/webmail[/URL]
Yeah, I can understand wanting to cut down on spam by requiring an address and an email verification, but what about all the political questions on that form? Will the "dissenting opinions" all be deleted instantly? Or will they track us down like dogs and ship us to Guantanamo bay, Cuba, for slow extermination?
Either way it is up to the dictator, Bush. [/B][/QUOTE]


Why do I feel like I just applied for a credit card? That is a little disturbing really.

 

[eNtRopY]

Originally posted by Zero
Hey, let's differentiate between the fringe and the center, ok?

Hahaha... that's what I was thinking. His poll doesn't make quantitative sense. The final number a person votes will indicate very little. A poll should be set up so that the numbers reveal something about the opinions of the voters. All you will know from such a poll is how many people have no strong opinions from either the right or left side.

eNtRopY

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Originally posted by eNtRopY
Hahaha... that's what I was thinking. His poll doesn't make quantitative sense. The final number a person votes will indicate very little. A poll should be set up so that the numbers reveal something about the opinions of the voters. All you will know from such a poll is how many people have no strong opinions from either the right or left side.

eNtRopY

It is a measure of attitude. The point is not the particular opinions held, the point is to consider how many of us have irrational feeling about politics. Again, I bet most people agree with a one of a few of these. No one could defend all of the statements from one side of the fence.

 

[Zero]

Here's an interesting link:http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=16506

Liberals would use government to regulate commercial behavior and collect money from individuals and corporations to finance primarily health, education and welfare programs. Conservatives would use government to regulate personal behavior and collect money from individuals (not corporations) to finance primarily troops, weapons, prisons, surveillance and enforcement

Republicans define liberty as the ability not to pay taxes. But most Americans would embrace a more commonsensical definition of liberty: the right to be left alone. The right of privacy.

 

[LURCH]

I voted "all", since I see all these statements as being equally true. For example, it can be said that all conservatives are uptight and sexually repressed; in the same sense that it can be said that all liberals are loose and immoral.



EDIT to add:

BTW; I would have added one more statement. Right under "Democrats are currupt and weak, Republicans are noble and honorable", there should be one that says something like, "Democrats are noble and generous, Republicans are currupt and greedy".

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Originally posted by LURCH
I voted "all", since I see all these statements as being equally true. For example, it can be said that all conservatives are uptight and sexually repressed; in the same sense that it can be said that all liberals are loose and immoral.



EDIT to add:

BTW; I would have added one more statement. Right under "Democrats are currupt and weak, Republicans are noble and honorable", there should be one that says something like, "Democrats are noble and generous, Republicans are currupt and greedy".

Pulling a relativity argument on me huh?

Also, I had balance with the title. I started by noting that democrats are good and republicans are evil. Of course we all know these manifests as generosity and greediness.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

This little sample doesn't look very encouraging.

 

[schwarzchildradius]

let's see... kind of boolean here. the zeros place - republicans, the ones place - democrats. The number 1 = good, the number 0 = evil. republicans are evil, democrats are good = 01. If some of the statements are true, then at least one is not. The number could be 00 or 11. If a few of the statements are true, at least one is not again 00, 11. If only one is true, same situation, so that the three questions in the middle of the pole are identical (so sum their statistics). So its really a 3-way poll - all, one, or none.

But I digress. Personally, I think they've done some tragic things. Prescott Bush raised 50 million for the Nazis during WW 2 you know, with his international bank.

 

[Zero]

Originally posted by schwarzchildradius
let's see... kind of boolean here. the zeros place - republicans, the ones place - democrats. The number 1 = good, the number 0 = evil. republicans are evil, democrats are good = 01. If some of the statements are true, then at least one is not. The number could be 00 or 11. If a few of the statements are true, at least one is not again 00, 11. If only one is true, same situation, so that the three questions in the middle of the pole are identical (so sum their statistics). So its really a 3-way poll - all, one, or none.

But I digress. Personally, I think they've done some tragic things. Prescott Bush raised 50 million for the Nazis during WW 2 you know, with his international bank.

SHHHHHHHHHHHH! Were are supposed to talk about Clinton's sexual habits, or Al Gore's sweaters, not how the grandfather of the president was a traitor to the United States!

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Originally posted by schwarzchildradius
Prescott Bush raised 50 million for the Nazis during WW 2 you know, with his international bank.

REALLY! Where did you hear this. What a great reference for my least favorite family in all the world.

 

[FZ+]

Actually, isn't this poll subject to one's own definitions of right, or left wing? I mean, if someone considers left to represent "loose and immoral people", then by definition it would be true. I mean, in reality, we don't have such clear dividing lines - rather these labels must be placed by whoever is doing the poll.

For example, the Labour government is accusing everyone who now opposes their war as "nationalists" or "right-wingers"and accusing the BBC of showing "conservative bias".

 

[schwarzchildradius]

It is a silly poll, yep. Actually I think you've got to average the middle 3 statistics. John McCain is not evil, and he's a R, Abe Lincoln wasn't evil, ditto. Being Republican doesn't make you evil or good, obviously. I think that the real evil guys are simply able to wield more influence over the Republicans than the Democrats in this era.
Ivan: would it surprise you to know that "junior" (43) used the power of emminent domain to condemn and seize the private property of individuals so that he could construct his ball park in Austin on their land? Pick up "Fortunate Son" from a bookseller somewhere.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

My point is that I expected almost no one to agree with more than one or a few of these statements. This is not a test of political opinion. It is one of perspective and balance; which by this seems sadly lacking. Of course these statements are indefensible...that's the whole point.