I am voting for Obama

[old school]

But what's worse? The fear that that might happen...or the reality of the character assassination that occurs right now whenever someone dares to speak their mind in a way that the leftists (like Obama) consider un-PC? People not only get called "bigots" or "racist" or "closed-minded" or "violent" or "neanderthals" for daring to disagree with any aspect of leftist agendas, they even lose their livelihoods.

The Hollywood line of "You'll never work in this town again" has now become nationwide and all-pervasive due to the leftist intolerance for anyone who does not completely agree with them.

MW beat me to it.  One utterance in protest against PC/lefty policy in a corporation can get you canned and labeled in your industry.

Where in the world do you all live? I have lived, traveled and worked in many places around the United States for 30 years and I have never experienced or witnessed any persecution of the right or even the far right at the level of losing jobs or being ostracized.

Now I will tell you that initiating aggressive political discussion in a business setting or workplace has always been a foolish endeavor. Rather it is now, or 30 years ago. And you better believe that starting a political or religious discussion with anyone that you are attempting to do business with can absolutely influence thier perception of you and has never been a wise practice for a business man.

Now, just because I have never seen it doesn't mean it hasn't happened, but I am well traveled and I can certainly catagorically state that it is not commonplace.

[longeyes]

You don't work in the film or video industry, do you?

[old school]

You don't work in the film or video industry, do you?

No, I have never worked in that industry. Is that the industry where you were fired and ostracized?

[Manedwolf]

You don't work in the film or video industry, do you?

No, I have never worked in that industry. Is that the industry where you were fired and ostracized?

Pretend you, as a public face, say, "Global warming is a scam."

Guess what happens.

[pinoyinus]

But what's worse? The fear that that might happen...or the reality of the character assassination that occurs right now whenever someone dares to speak their mind in a way that the leftists (like Obama) consider un-PC? People not only get called "bigots" or "racist" or "closed-minded" or "violent" or "neanderthals" for daring to disagree with any aspect of leftist agendas, they even lose their livelihoods.

The Hollywood line of "You'll never work in this town again" has now become nationwide and all-pervasive due to the leftist intolerance for anyone who does not completely agree with them.

MW beat me to it.  One utterance in protest against PC/lefty policy in a corporation can get you canned and labeled in your industry.

Where in the world do you all live? I have lived, traveled and worked in many places around the United States for 30 years and I have never experienced or witnessed any persecution of the right or even the far right at the level of losing jobs or being ostracized.

Now I will tell you that initiating aggressive political discussion in a business setting or workplace has always been a foolish endeavor. Rather it is now, or 30 years ago. And you better believe that starting a political or religious discussion with anyone that you are attempting to do business with can absolutely influence thier perception of you and has never been a wise practice for a business man.

Now, just because I have never seen it doesn't mean it hasn't happened, but I am well traveled and I can certainly catagorically state that it is not commonplace.

I remember when Bob Novak went to a University to speak in front of conservative students.  One of the questions was "what  would be your advice to young aspiring journalists who are conservative?".  Bob Novak said that the industry is heavily biased towards the left.  He advised students not to expose their conservative beliefs until they've made some headway into their careers.  He made it clear that being branded a conservative closes may doors for you as far as trying to get into the major news networks.

I also wonder why liberals out-number conservatives 10 to 1 in the university/college faculties. 

[Scout26]

I also wonder why liberals out-number conservatives 10 to 1 in the university/college faculties. 

Those who can, do.  Those who can't, become college professors.

[old school]

I also wonder why liberals out-number conservatives 10 to 1 in the university/college faculties.

This statement is definately true. Higher education, philosophical types are most often "lefties".
They will be quick to tell you it is because they are smart. I would agree that many of them are smart but I say smart combined with being quite naive.

I personally think they are naive because most of them have lived their whole lives in a civilized, safe society. They really think that they have the illusion that the rest of the world is as gentile and logical as they are. It is my belief that this is where the fundamental difference from many of the people on the far right is rooted.

Conversely, my impression of many people on the far right is that they think everyone who does not look like they do and go to their same church and share their very same view of right and wrong is evil and dangerous. Often this ends in the dehumanization of anyone they percieve as enemies.

[longeyes]

They're smart but not as smart as they think--by a long shot.  Listen to great academic minds get shredded by some of the sharper talk radio jocks.  They can't argue  persuasively except in a venue congenial to their assumptions about the world.

On the whole I'll take a good re-piping guy.

[old school]

Listen to great academic minds get shredded by some of the sharper talk radio jocks.

Most if not all of those jocks are loud mouth ego maniacs who weave a tapestry inflamatory rhetoric and misrepresented facts into a self justifying circular logic. The lost people who listen to them as if it were gospel are the legions of ignorant being led by the town fool.

[longeyes]

I don't know who you are listening to but your description does not fit any of the conservative radio hosts I follow.  I suspect you are operating on liberal hearsay.

Perhaps you find CNN, the NY Times, NPR, and the BBC to be evangelists worthy of devotion?

Unthinking and slavish acceptance of anyone's opinions is a mistake.   That much we can agree on.

I was referring specifically to on-air debates I have heard where various academic "experts" could not justify statements they'd made in articles and books.  It was clear they had never really been questioned before by someone with a skeptical intellect.

[old school]

I don't know who you are listening to but your description does not fit any of the conservative radio hosts I follow.  I suspect you are operating on liberal hearsay.

Perhaps you find CNN, the NY Times, NPR, and the BBC to be evangelists worthy of devotion?

Unthinking and slavish acceptance of anyone's opinions is a mistake.   That much we can agree on.

I was referring specifically to on-air debates I have heard where various academic "experts" could not justify statements they'd made in articles and books.  It was clear they had never really been questioned before by some with a skeptical intellect.

Honestly, I don't like any of the news channels. They have degraded to the point that I would consider them comedy if they weren't such a disgrace to the legacy they have defiled. It truly nauseates me to see some ditzy department store make up clerk trying to deliver clever opinionated punchlines on a channel that is supposed to be dedicated to the most important national and global events.

As far as the academic experts go, I would like see them participate in some debates much like politicians do. Unfortunately, even if they did, our weak excuse of a media wouldn't cover it anyway. They would be too busy telling us about some celebrities latest drama.

As far as the whole liberal heresy thing goes.... I don't need somebody else to give me my opinion. As you can see I have plenty of that. What most people don't like is that I won't join anybodies club. I often disagree with both sides of the isle. To me that is a characteristic of an independant thinker. I have seen quite a few posters here at APS that display the same independence. And, I am glad to find them.

[grampster]

 

Conversely, my impression of many people on the far right is that they think everyone who does not look like they do and go to their same church and share their very same view of right and wrong is evil and dangerous. Often this ends in the dehumanization of anyone they percieve as enemies.
[/quote]

Nothing like painting with a wide brush, eh?  A + B = C.  End of exercise! 

My experience (55 or so years of sentience) has shown that much opinion coming from the right usually proves correct over time.  There are not many left wing notions that have proven successful over time that didn't forcibly take from one to give to another.  Maybe that's why the term right is used to describe some opinion or thought.  Truth is...well...truth.  Some folks just want to bend it into their own version of "whatever works or is fair."  I'd like someone to define fair. In a free society one can achieve what one is motivated to achieve.  Fairness is a term that describes taking from the achiever and giving to the non achiever imho.

I listened to an old man once that had spent most of his life traveling around and experiencing many cultures.  He made a comment about the willingness of  many people to naively believe what they see or hear that stuck with me.  "It's not whether something works or not, it's really about whether it is true."

[old school]

Nothing like painting with a wide brush, eh?  A + B = C.  End of exercise! 

Absolutely grampster. They have their closed mind made up. It reminds me of a quote my mother used to say tongue and cheek when she did not feel like being reasonable: "Don't try to confuse me with the facts, I have already made up my mind"

[roo_ster]

As far as the academic experts go, I would like see them participate in some debates much like politicians do. Unfortunately, even if they did, our weak excuse of a media wouldn't cover it anyway. They would be too busy telling us about some celebrities latest drama.

CSPAN.  I am enough of a political/history/current events/etc junkie that I stream it while, say, cleaning up the house.

Also, The Heritage Foundation slaps is discussions up on the web.

[Manedwolf]

Conversely, my impression of many people on the far right is that they think everyone who does not look like they do and go to their same church and share their very same view of right and wrong is evil and dangerous. Often this ends in the dehumanization of anyone they percieve as enemies.

Wow, that's a broad brush. And an incorrect one.

I'm a conservative because I feel that's the only just and honorable way to be. I do not want to take what is not mine, I want to earn what I have, and I do not want other people to take it from me. I believe that everyone has the right to decide their own welfare, and should not be protected from themselves via helmet laws and other silliness. I believe that everyone is responsible for their own actions, their own decisions, and their own self-defense.

I have friends of many races and nationalities.

And I am not religious. At all.

[longeyes]

I go where the light comes in.  There have been times when that seemed to me to be "on the Left," but that was a while ago, and these days the open minds seem to me to be mostly toward the other end of the spectrum.  Anyway, it is neither "right" nor "left" to believe in freedom of inquiry.  One should, in all cases, remain skeptical even while adhering to a few high principles.

To "old school:" No, I was never fired and ostracized by "Hollywood," but that could be because I no longer enjoy talking up matters political with people I know in this town.   It's pointless, too many closed minds, and I get tired of the emotional and ad hominem responses.  Most of my work, fortunately, hasn't been political, although, interestingly, flood control--a subject on which I labored for some years--has now become so.

[old school]

One should, in all cases, remain skeptical even while adhering to a few high principles.

I sure like that statement. High principles seem to be in short supply these days. Just turning on the television leaves me astounded at what I see. It seems like a strange and surreal world where anything goes. Ethics, morality and etiquette gone.
 

[Dntsycnt]

turning on the television

There's your problem.

[macadore]

I also wonder why liberals out-number conservatives 10 to 1 in the university/college faculties.

Due to the large number of young people in universities, the median age at universities is substantially lower that it is in society in general. Professors never have to grow up because they spend most of their time with adolescents and young adults who have never had to take care of themselves.

Back to the OP, I will not vote for the Democratic Party as long as it advocates treating white middle class and working class men like second class citizens.

[MicroBalrog]

Conversely, my impression of many people on the far right is that they think everyone who does not look like they do and go to their same church and share their very same view of right and wrong is evil and dangerous. Often this ends in the dehumanization of anyone they percieve as enemies.

Yes, I hate heterosexual non-Jewish males. How have you noticed?

[cassandra and sara's daddy]

 i also wonder why liberals out-number conservatives 10 to 1 in the university/college faculties.

its a refuge for folks avoiding working for a living

[MicroBalrog]

Because what professors do is not actually work, somehow?

[cassandra and sara's daddy]

i was referring to some of the students   though i do know a couple proffesional students who when all else failed took up teaching to avoid the real world   and were quite open about it.

[MicroBalrog]

I'm sorry for misunderstanding you. My ambition, as you know, is to become a professor one day.

[The Annoyed Man]

Teaching is hard work, actually. It is nearly impossible to do effectively when the state mandates that professors should teach lies.