How to spot a baby conservative .....

[hwmnbn]

Whiny children, claims a new study, tend to grow up rigid and traditional. Future liberals, on the other hand ...
Mar. 19, 2006. 10:45 AM
KURT KLEINER


Remember the whiny, insecure kid in nursery school, the one who always thought everyone was out to get him, and was always running to the teacher with complaints? Chances are he grew up to be a conservative.

At least, he did if he was one of 95 kids from the Berkeley area that social scientists have been tracking for the last 20 years. The confident, resilient, self-reliant kids mostly grew up to be liberals.

http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&call_pageid=971358637177&c=Article&cid=1142722231554

I think I can hang out with someone for a couple of hours, not talk any politics, and still be pretty confident I can spot the conservative. Something about their demeanor and bearing usually give them away.

Here are some of the "tells"

1. If they are funny and generally good-natured - Liberal
If their jokes are racist or mean-spirited - conservative

2. If they can speak about the arts, music, aesthetics - Liberal
If they mainly bring up the subjects of their career or their possessions - conservative

3. When at a restaurant, if they ask for service - Liberal
If they order the waitstaff around - conservative

4. If they listen to what others are saying then respond - Liberal
if they try to dominate the conversation - conservative

5. If they enjoy intelligent, thought provoking movies - Liberal
if they can name the current WWF championship tag team - conservative

These are just a few items I've used that underwrite what the article is saying. People who are insecure tend to overcompensate by acting out being in control. When someone tries to always be in control, there are many "awkward" social moments. I know there are exceptions, but these have been pretty reliable indicators for me.

Anyone else have any repug "tells"? .... aside from the hood and sheet wardrobe?

[ceile]

1. My SO would take exception with #5

He loves his wrestling and his ultimate fighting, and is a liberal. While I can watch ultimate fighting, watching WWE or TNA makes my IQ drop a good five points per hour. I don't see how he watches....

[MADem]

2. Funny, I've got two screaming liberal nephews who like that nonsense

as well, I guess it is either an acquired taste or a generational thing!

[hwmnbn]

3. I can't understand it .....

except to say wrestling is like Opera for the trailer park. There are villains and heroes and outrageous plot lines.

I can be impressed with the spectacle and showmanship, but wrestling panders to the baser instincts of the easily manipulated. They are the ones most likely to be bushbots.

[zeemike]

4. You mean like Bill O'Reily

He fits most of those tells.
But there are some exceptions. I am liberal and I like pugilism (the real thing not wrestling) and I know other liberals , mostly men, who like it too. And yet I am a pacifist as far as war is concerned.
But the best tell for me is to look at there hair style. If it is the same as it was in hi school then you can bet they are right wingers.

[hwmnbn]

10. I like boxing too .....

As far as hair styles, I WISH I had the hair I had in high school!! :cry: :rofl:

[cynatnite]

5. I don't agree with the tells that much...

The conservatives I've met look like just about everyone else...unless you take a look at their cars. Conversation wise they can be just as knowledgeable as anyone else in regards to the arts and other things. Some of the ones I know fairly well aren't racist or mean spirited.

Plus, as a card carrying liberal, the WWE does find it's way into the living room from time to time. I like it on occasion as does the rest of my family. It's just entertainment that doesn't require a lot of thought. Sometimes I want thoughtless.

Oh, and whiny kids...my uncle is very liberal and he took it to a new level with his daughter. She got what she wanted, when she wanted and was never punished. As a result, she's a liberal, but very spoiled and no one in my family can stand to be around her.

Whiny kids are all in the parenting. Libs, dems, repukes, conserv...it doesn't matter. All are capable of doing a lousy job of raising their kids...just like all are capable of doing a good job.

Wide brush strokes like this has never settled well with me.

[hwmnbn]

6. What I don't understand is .....

Some of the ones I know fairly well aren't racist or mean spirited.

yet they still support the racist and mean-spirited repug policies and attitudes? Here is where the problem for me enters. Even if they don't overtly say racist things, if they endorse and vote for those policies I have to consider their motives suspect.

I am fortunate because my repug relatives are flat-out racists. There is no ambiguity in their positions, they are proud of their mindset. These broad brush strokes fit them perfectly.

[cynatnite]

7. It's disguised as christianity...

A lot of them didn't recognize it for what it was because they believed in the image. Now, most of the conservs I know want bush out. They're realizing the mistake they made in supporting him.

I don't believe in broad brush strokes except when it applies to painting.

[hwmnbn]

9. I hope you're right, cynatnite ....

....they believed in the image. Now, most of the conservs I know want bush out. They're realizing the mistake they made in supporting him.

The proof will be if these same "christian" folks will be willing to reverse the policies and laws that have been enacted under the chimp. He'll be gone from the political scene, but his evil minions like Frist, McCain, Condi, Hastert, Roberts, and the rest of those Cons are still around.

Do you think your friends have disavowed their allegiance to this particular neo-conservative movement? They would be very helpful undoing the damage if in fact, they have seen the light. I have my doubts.

Tigers don't change their stripes and these christian conservative tigers wore their political stripes very proudly.

[cynatnite]

11. I think I'm a little right :)

They still subscribe to the RW way of thinking to a degree. They worry abortion bans will backfire, the soaring deficit and a war that continues on without finding any WMD. I think they'd follow guys like McCain and Roberts. They are split on Frist from what I can see.

My in-laws are repubs and wish they had never voted for bush. They want him impeached and out. They feel betrayed by what's been going on. Katrina really woke them up.

What I've seen is a wide range of reactions from the conservs I know. A few still support bush, some aren't as sure about him as they once were, but most want him gone.

They never saw it as a neo-conservative thing...it was a christian thing for them. I doubt they fully understand or know what a neo-con is.

People do change and modify their opinions as time goes on. It doesn't happen all the time, but sometimes it does.

[SmokingJacket]

8. Keyword: insecure.

COnservatives need to feel big and strong because inside, they're terrified!