Pay attention
So we have another conservative crying for his mommy because mean old liberals are picking on him ("Rude liberals," Dec. 10). Poor babies; maybe it's time for those folks to grow up and start paying attention.
Contrary to popular opinion, liberals don't think conservatives are stupid because they disagree with them; liberals think conservatives are stupid because they do and say stupid things. When you claim your love of country caused you to cheat on your wife, as Newt Gingrich did, intelligent people will question you. When you write historical novels that you say are factually correct when learned people know otherwise, people will say you're not as smart as you think you are. When you author a memo that tells your colleagues to refer to liberals as traitors, criminals and liars at every opportunity, as Gingrich did in the 1996 GOPAC memo, then people who claim they've never heard conservatives say nasty things about liberals will be looked at as either deaf or dumb. When Glenn Beck uses more Nazi references than the History Channel, it's disingenuous at best to claim that conservatives aren't the aggressors in the war of words.
Stop whining, conservatives; you made this bed, time to lie in it.
KEITH STONE
Winston-Salem
A democratic nation
The U.S. is not polarized by capitalism vs. socialism; rather, we are divided by supporters of democracy versus adherents of fascism.
We are all for capitalism, if that means earning money or return through honest endeavors. What Americans and Democrats oppose is the unbridled profiteering that misrepresents predatory accumulation as either American, humane or the fair market or economics.
This and any democracy cares about the survival and prosperity of its people socially and personally. We know that each of us must achieve to earn a living. But history has taught us too well that high-achievers, unregulated, often become enamored of wealth and power for themselves, not their societies.
If it were otherwise, we would have neither 90 percent of the wealth controlled by the top 1 percent nor the unemployment of 14 million, nor the homelessness of millions, nor the poverty of 15 percent of us.
As a democratic nation, we must confront the realities of income and wealth distribution, not through the vocabulary of bully fascist albeit robber-baron capitalist tyrants, but by what it is. The few rich have stolen the people's wealth, generally, through overcompensation, and specifically through excessive tax breaks, credits, subsidies, etc.
We don't have a debt or deficit problem. We are the richest and most robust of nations in the world. We have a misallocation of funds problem.
Check the investments and outcomes of the Keatings, Madoffs, Bushes and Cheneys.
MARCIALITO CAM
Winston-Salem
Rude words?
The writer of the letter "Rude liberals" (Dec. 10) claims that columnist Paul Krugman proves that liberals are rude because Krugman wrote that Newt Gingrich isn't as smart as he thinks he is.
In his Dec. 8 column, "Delay the coronation," columnist George Will writes, "Gingrich, however, embodies the vanity and rapacity that makes modern Washington repulsive." The rest of his column is full of similar comments.
Quick, let's explain this away. Has George Will suddenly become a liberal? Or are words like "vanity," "rapacity" and "repulsive" not really rude?
PAUL KIRBY
Winston-Salem
Crime-ridden areas
A recent Journal article, "Residents meet to discuss policing" (Dec. 11), brings to light the silly nature of police work being performed by the Winston-Salem Police Department. How silly it is for Chief Scott Cunningham to use data, statistics and 911 calls to concentrate checkpoints in crime-ridden areas! To think that he would waste time, effort and money to try to rid those areas of crime elements is just plain ridiculous.
I guess the Rev. John Mendez would prefer that Cunningham place his officers in less crime-ridden areas, and concentrate the checkpoints there, where our tax dollars would be better spent. How long would it take for crime to return to those areas if he did just that? Maybe Mendez can patrol the streets at night and on weekends to protect his flock.
I, for one, am not a criminal, so I don't mind going through a checkpoint. Maybe those citizens should thank Cunningham for trying to "protect and serve" the residents, and quit crying about showing a valid drivers license and insurance card. Everything is not always about race.
ROBERT O. SAUNDERS
Winston-Salem
LTE #1 yep, they complain about a "nanny state" but when someone calls them a ninny, they want their nanny.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteLanguage: A Key Mechanism of Control
ReplyDeleteNewt Gingrich's 1996 GOPAC memo
As you know, one of the key points in the GOPAC tapes is that "language matters." In the video "We are a Majority," Language is listed as a key mechanism of control used by a majority party, along with Agenda, Rules, Attitude and Learning. As the tapes have been used in training sessions across the country and mailed to candidates we have heard a plaintive plea: "I wish I could speak like Newt."
That takes years of practice. But, we believe that you could have a significant impact on your campaign and the way you communicate if we help a little. That is why we have created this list of words and phrases.
"The words in that paper are tested language from a recent series of focus groups where we actually tested ideas and language."
So with Republicans, rudeness is a business and even gets tested first.
The words and phrases are powerful. Read them. Memorize as many as possible. And remember that, like any tool, these words will not help if they are not used....
Apparently some Lte writers think rudeness among politicians is new. It is as old as politics itself. Politics is a contest for power. All common human traits show up.
ReplyDeleteI don't mind license check points as long as the officer does not snicker at my photo. Rev. Mendez is a frequent opportunist.
ReplyDeleteComrade Cam....we are "polarized" by many things. A major divide is among those with too much debt, those with no debt and those with a little bit of debt. Those with no debt, I'm sure will soon be marching demanding their fair share of debt from those who have too much. Those who have just a little will remain silent as usual. "We don't have a debt or deficit problem. We are the richest and most robust of nations in the world. We have a misallocation of funds problem." No connection between the two. If "funds" are reallocated as you want, the same funds still exist. Our debt and deficit are real and getting worse because their causes are systemic. Reallocate all you want. This problem will not change. Redistributing funds and redistributing wealth are two different things.
ReplyDelete"Contrary to popular opinion, liberals don't think conservatives are stupid because they disagree with them; liberals think conservatives are stupid because they do and say stupid things."
ReplyDelete"Stop whining, conservatives; you made this bed, time to lie in it."
Keith Stone
Mr. Stone:
Do you even know who you voted for in the last election? Who has been the president for the last three some odd years? Who had total control of two branches of government in 2009 and 2010?
_______________
I'll bet Mr. Stone's ridiculously worded letter would have never made it to print had a conservative written and submitted the same words about liberals.
Just a hunch.
Have you noticed how all of the big-time liberal Democrats are starting to push Romney in a direct/indirect manner? They know if Newt gets in, the liberal party is over.
ReplyDeleteThey know their candidate is probably on the way out. They are just trying to pick their poison at this point.
An East Forsyth teacher was arrested for engaging in homosexual pedophilia. I wonder when all of this stuff is going to at least 'slow' down.
ReplyDeleteRomney’s argument, then, could be that while he might not be exactly what the GOP’s Tea Party wing is looking for, he remains the Republican with the best chance at knocking off President Obama in the general election.
ReplyDeleteMatthew Jaffe-reporter for ABC News
Mr. Jaffe is a clairvoyant writer. It's obvious he's begging for Republican voters to vote for Romney. He also writes for Univision. Gotta keep amnesty alive.
Mr. Saunders:
ReplyDeleteWhen's the last time you went through a check point on Buena Vista Rd.? Exactly.....
Why don't you stick to being a stock broker.