Conservatives and symbols of pride

[NVader]

Why are so many conservative publications and advertisements overflowing with patriotic symbols? More often than not, I can determine the party of a candidate based solely on his ads. Is it a reminder that by voting in the election (for either candidate) is the truest form of patriotism? I find it somewhat nauseating. It seems to me a backhanded way to imply that other publications/candidates are somehow less American.

http://www.politicallyright.com
http://www.calpatriot.org/
http://www.geocities.com/gburgforum/right.htm
http://www.princetontory.com/
http://students.washington.edu/right/
http://www.freerepublic.com/
http://www.warriorsfortruth.com/
http://www.rfmnews.com/
http://www.conservativefreebies.com/index.cfm
http://www.conservativetruth.org/index.php

[H-Town]

I guess the Conservative approach is to say that anything Liberal is anti-American, and their way is the true American way.

Or something to that effect...

[Moniker]

I checked out a few of those sites and I notice they tend to put every single liberal, democrat, or pretty much anyone who isn't necessarily conservative under the umbrella of "liberal" or "leftist". Must be easy to make extremly broad generalizations.

Another thing -- I notice there's a trend of vagueness. Hell you can make anything sound good.

Example:

Join Operation Infinite FReep / Rally for America! Free Republic has been rallying in support of our President and the war effort since shortly after the terrorist attack on America on September 11, 2001. Last year, as the inevitable war against Iraq drew closer, more and more of the "useful idiots" of the left began crawling out of the woodwork, organizing so-called "anti-war" protests. FReepers are working to ensure that these communist organized (A.N.S.W.E.R.) demonstrations do not go unanswered. Patriotic Americans are countering these misguided terrorist supporting leftists wherever and whenever they show up. Form a group, grab your signs, unfurl the flag, and prepare to support your country! Okay here are a few catch phrases from that one excerpt.

"in support of our President and the war effort"

"the inevitable war against Iraq"

"the 'useful idiots' of the left"

"communist organized demonstrations"

"Patriotic Americans"

"misguided terrorist supporting leftists"

"unfurl the flag"

"support your country"

Now it wouldn't be fair to criticize a conservative site and not a liberal one, so I went looking for the most radical yet reputable site.

I tried Greenpeace (conjured up memories of hippies attacking tankers) but apparently their latest news had nothing to do with politics. So then I tried the ACLU, those liberal commie bastards. I wanted to go with a hot topic - national security.

You can help the ACLU safeguard the American values of freedom and personal liberty embodied in the Constitution. Check out our new Tool Kit. Use the resources on this page to take action now, learn more about the attack on civil liberties, and join the Campaign's efforts to fight this unprecedented assault on the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. Spread the word that it is possible to be both safe and free. So let's break this one down:

"safeguard the American values of freedom and personal liberty"

"attack on civil liberties"

"unprecedented assault on the Constitution and Bill of Rights"

"safe and free"

Well that didn't satisfy me, so here's some more from their recruiting page:

The ACLU needs your help to defend our most basic freedoms! President Bush and John Ashcroft are rolling back our rights in the name of homeland security . . . extremists on the Christian Right have the ear of the White House . . . and the federal judiciary is increasingly hostile to civil liberties

"defend our most basic freedoms"

"rolling back our rights"

"extremists on the Christian Right"

"increasingly hostile to civil liberties"

Shrug, take a look at these two (I honestly tried my best to slam liberals, I really did), and tell me how you think the propaganda is different, if it is at all.

[scopes]

goodpost:)

[NemesisMMi]

How can people take themselves so seriously? I mean, this quote sounds so incredibly self righteous that you can't help but be appalled by it or laugh out loud at it.

Join Operation Infinite FReep / Rally for America! Free Republic has been rallying in support of our President and the war effort since shortly after the terrorist attack on America on September 11, 2001. Last year, as the inevitable war against Iraq drew closer, more and more of the "useful idiots" of the left began crawling out of the woodwork, organizing so-called "anti-war" protests. FReepers are working to ensure that these communist organized (A.N.S.W.E.R.) demonstrations do not go unanswered. Patriotic Americans are countering these misguided terrorist supporting leftists wherever and whenever they show up. Form a group, grab your signs, unfurl the flag, and prepare to support your country!

[snaggle]

Conservative Patriotism is one step away from Communism.

cain summed the whole politcal party thing up when he said, "Democrat is just Republican-Lite."

[snaggle]

Why do you think I choose "other" and put in "Republicrat" in those political affiliation boxes? I'm a moral conservative and a fiscial democrat.

[Moniker]

Originally posted by snaggle
Why do you think I choose "other" and put in "Republicrat" in those political affiliation boxes? I'm a moral conservative and a fiscial democrat. "You have to vote for ONE of us! It's a two party system!"

[Cain]

Homer: America, take a good look at your beloved candidates. They're nothing but hideous space reptiles. [unmasks them]
Kodos: It's true, we are aliens. But what are you going to do about it? It's a two-party system; you have to vote for one of us.
Man1: He's right, this is a two-party system.
Man2: Well, I believe I'll vote for a third-party candidate.
Kang: Go ahead, throw your vote away.

[snaggle]

I vote for the guy I'm less scared of running the country.

[Pojo]

Originally posted by |404|NVader
It seems... to imply that other publications/candidates are somehow less American.

They are...
Now read
this (http://images.amazon.com/images/P/1400050308.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg)

[NVader]

I am not talking about corruption, as that is rampant in almost all government. More often than not, conservative ideals are promoted as patriotic. People who are concerned for the well-being of the country are patriots, regardless of their ideals. Patriotism is love for your country. Liberals don't want to change the way things are because they hate our country: they want to make it better. One can argue both ways that the opposition doesn't know what's best for this country, but neither is by any means less patriotic.

[VeeKaChu]

THE BALLAD OF THE NIGHT THE CLOCKS ALL QUIT (AND THE GOVERNMENT FAILED)
(Tonio K., 1978)

gather 'round people gonna tell you a tale
'bout the time that the clocks all quit and the government failed
way back when the agents tracked all the postmen down
and they found all they needed to know in the second class mail
and then hauled off everyone 'cept for me and a couple of friends
they forgot in the nottingham jail

now that jailer he saw all the smoke in the air
and he wished he was there 'stead of inside watching our cell
so we said, "go do your share, we ain't goin' nowhere"
he agreed, grabbed his gun with a smile and then wished us all well
'fore he got to his care, we had cut through the bats
snuck outside and just sat back just to watch till the curtain fell

now the first thing i noticed when we hit the street was the seventh fleet
they was cruisin' the center of town
no one seemed real clear who had sent them there
but they sure looked grand with the band, the balloons and the clowns
and the played "anchors away" for the rest of the day
'cept the times that they'd lower their guns and shoot some renegade down

yes and john the baptist and uncle sam
they were carryin' the plans for some new kind of object of faith
when this renegade band with their guns in their hands
stopped them both and demanded a look in the top secret case
but just in the nick of time they were stricken blind
by a low flying plane with no name and no number to trace

but just the same john lost his head and he said he was going to run
but someone held him down and sam tied up his hands
he cried out to his boss but he couldn't get across 'cause the lines were all down
and the crowd cheered him on from the stands
but he finally did get away
you can see him today, he sells silver plates and still waits for the boss to call back

and attila the hun and his austrian son
left their hideout in rio to fly out and relive the past
sam he showed 'em around when they got into town
but he warned 'em the rules had been changed since they'd played the game last
ol' attila just grinned and winked at his friend
i forget what went down after that, it all happened so fast

yes it was lookin' real bad, any luck that we'd had
had been lost in the park after dark when the army arrived
they was sweeping the town chasing renegades down
there were no friends to be found,
there was no place at all left to hide
and the austrian son he was having some fun
he'd been put in command of all the camps and his prisoners all died·

meanwhile-
way across town
in the penthouse suite of the tallest building

the boss was asleep when he heard such a clatter
he sprang from his bed just to see what was the matter
he looked down on the street and that scene filled his eyes
but you know he wasn't even surprised

well he got on the phone and he ordered thunder
some rain and some disk blades (to plow it all under)
someone asked why; with a sigh he explained
that the fools was up doin' it again

meanwhile, back on the street:

this clown in a gown and fur hat with tattoos on his shoulders
comes over and whispers, "it's gonna be all right"
he says he's a personal friend of the boss
and then asks if we've got any sheep he can sacrifice later that night
we said "no" he said "oh" and then wandered off
chanting some strange sounding language and waving his wand at the sky

sam and attila were gettin' their fill of the action and danger
they'd burned every manger in town
and ol' john's eyes were hazy; he must have gone crazy
he was runnin' around tryin' to drown everybody he found
yes and the austrian son was still having his fun
launching v-2s at anything moving or making a sound

bright and early next morning without any warning
the sky opened up and the boss stuck his head through the clouds
the army and navy they opened up fire
but he grabbed him that lightning and laid them all under the ground
sam jumped up to salute; the boss said "that's real cute
but it's a little bit late 'cause i've seen what's been going down"

sam said "you've got it all wrong; it's them that you want and not me
can't you see that that's attila and the austrian kid?"
the boss said "yes that's true but i also want you
do you think that i'm blind? do you think you could keep yourself hid?"
and just then the clown in the gown hit the ground and started kissing his feet
but he stepped on his tongue and said "who is this kid?"

[Cain]

A little factoid: the average "FReeper" hit lasts 5 hours and 14 minutes. I have a difficult time believing that, but I read it in the paper so it must be true.

[scopes]

I particularly liked the poll on the "Politcally Right" Magazine, which asked, "Which Professor is The Most Destructive America-Hater?"

1) Noam Chomsky
2) Howard Zinn
3) Bell Hooks
4) Edward Said

So far they've elected Chomsky overwhelmingly at 74%, with Hooks 11% and Zinn/Said 7%/9%. Chomsky, that America-Hater... How dare he dissent!

[BluRRPy]

Damn I thought Said could put up more of a fight than that.

[Cain]

Poll fixed :)