A few notes for DU on a snowy day:

[Robb]

• Republican voters are not inherently evil, any more than Democrats or Progressives are inherently good. You think a little less than half the country is evil? Shit, I'd run for the hills if I believed that.

• On a similar note, Democrats and Republicans are the same in a lot of ways, but not in any of the ways people usually bring up here.

• The American Public is not comprised of idiots, not even mostly so, but even those idiots that there are find it offensive when you call them as much. I wouldn't vote for your guy if you talked down to me, either.

• Nobody likes war. Even people that profit from it are probably haunted by night terrors. I'm not saying you should feel sorry for them, just try not to pretend that being against war makes you somehow in the oppressed minority.

• Just because you're not interested in a story doesn't by definition mean it's a plot to distract other people from the one you *are* interested in. Sometimes, maybe. But not often.

• Don't forget to donate to DU if you can. Snuck that one in there on ya.

• Vaccines are neither panacea nor pharma-plot. Anyone who tells you either wants to sell you something you don't need to buy.

• Hugo Chavez may indeed be a bit goofy or heavy-handed, but there's no way for most of us to accurately tell because he's so unfairly portrayed in U.S. media. Zealotry for and against him is as silly as zealotry with regard to anything. Same with Dennis Kucinich, by the way.

• Sarah Palin is popular with people who don't look too carefully at stuff. Same as Fox News. That's a tough crowd to sway with facts, just so you know. If somebody's listening to your facts, they're probably already on board with the "Palin's a bit of an idiot" thing.

And finally, most who watched the Super Bowl are actually pretty nice and intelligent people, and most who purposely skipped it probably didn't really do anything better with their time. But a few aren't, and a few did, so while it would be fun to play "gotcha" at the expense of those people with whom you disagree, you can't make blanket statements about it without offending a bunch of folks who didn't deserve it.

Anything I missed? :D

[BolivarianHero]

1. Here in Ottawa...

The biggest football and NASCAR fan I know is a strident social democrat and an NDP supporter..muahaha.

[Warpy]

6. My NASCAR watching right wing father's last vote

was for Kerry. No, they're not all stupid, far from it. Some of them managed to figure out what Stupid was.

[hlthe2b]

2. Can't agree that "no one likes war..." Cheney comes to mind...

and in fact, that whole neoconservative cabal. I wish I could see something besides blatant greed and sociopathy in them, but I can not.


But, I try to keep my cup at least 1/3 full, even if it looks 2/3 empty at times...;)

[villager]

3. Even if I don't agree with the *entire* list, Robb, a tip of the hat to its large-heartedness

...which may the sole quality, ultimately, that decides whether the species survives (for awhile longer, at least) or not...

:toast:

[T Wolf]

4. I would argue that the BASIC PREMISE and philosophy underlying what is "supposed" to be

the two major party platforms ARE very different and the people who identify with each party are also different in nature.

Maybe back in the day, when there were "reasonable" rethugs, it was possible to hold the belief that the goals were the same and only the means to those commonly-shared ends differed.

That is not true today. Not by a long shot.

So, I would say that repukes are inherently evil because they subscribe to a philosophy that basically says anything and everything I do for my own good is worthwhile and valid and the consequences for others just do not matter.

I would also say that they are stupid - Sarah Palin is their ideal candidate and OxyRush is their leader. If those facts do not say IDIOT then what the fuck does?

[Robb]

12. That's like saying all Democrats

...have the same ideal candidate and media leader. That's just silly.

[yewberry]

5. No dingbat option?

Geez, Robb, you're slipping.

On a more serious note, I have to agree on your penultimate point, and it took me a long time to learn that. I still sometimes struggle with it, when I'm faced with someone who cannot process facts in a way that leads to actual comprehension. Hard to leave that alone, but I'm learning.

[jgraz]

7. Gotta disagree with a couple of things

Republican voters are not inherently evil, any more than Democrats or Progressives are inherently good. You think a little less than half the country is evil?

Not a big believer in "evil", but Republicans -- either inherently or through miseducation -- are selfish, shortsighted, anti-intellectual and often racist. Most religious folks would call that some sort of evil.

And they're not "a little less than half the country." They're a little less than 25% of the electorate, which in the last election was about 57% of the voting-age public. That works out to a little over 10% of the total US population.

[Robb]

8. ...So everyone who doesn't vote is a Democrat? nt

[jgraz]

9. everyone who doesn't vote doesn't matter

[Robb]

10. Then why bring them up to diminish the number of Republicans?

[jgraz]

11. Because the political world isn't divided into just Republicans and Democrats

It's possible to be non-Republican without supporting or caring about the Democrats.

[Robb]

13. The reverse is also true

...but isn't particularly helpful to know, either. :shrug:

[SemiCharmedQuark]

14. I have never seen anyone state that vaccines are the cure all, but I have seen plenty of people

say they are a "big pharma" plot.

This is part of that tendency we as a society have lately to try and call out both sides in an attempt to appear impartial.

[Robb]

15. Nope.

Calling out zealots on both sides is not the same as "calling out both sides."

Edited to add: Looking back, any of the "screw you just get your kids vaccinated or move to Somalia" sorts of posts would certainly qualify as suggesting vaccines solve everything.

[SemiCharmedQuark]

17. How is encouraging vaccination "zealotry"?

There are some people who cannot be vaccinated for medical reasons. Those who choose to not vaccinate for no other reason other than faulty science are putting others in danger. That's not zealotry. That's fact.

[Robb]

18. That's not what I'm talking about.

Please read the post again, you've rather missed the point completely if you're defending the "attack the evil other side" method.

[Ohio Joe]

16. K&R for common sense - nt