A conversation with an Honest Conservative
Has anyone here had a conversation with an honest conservative? Not those somewhat sane types like Michael Smerconish or Andrew Sullivan that see the president as a centrist and are willing to vote for and support him. But the ones that say: “Of course tax cuts are the least stimulative measure possible, but my family’s rich and we want to keep the money.” The ones that on foreign policy don’t white wash the terrible things that our government has done or claim we are spreading freedom around the globe.
Back in the Corps I frequently discussed politics and ideology with a guy (I’ll call him A-hole) that never bought the bull shit that Frank Luntz repackaged and only supported the republicon party because they had similar goals. One time he told me that he knew that we were fighting on behalf of US corporations during the
Banana Wars (The entire conflict is euphemistically referred to as “protecting US interests” in Official Marine History books) and that despite the fact that we caused a lot of problems in the region that still echo to this day- that it was justified because it was in our country’s interest.
He used this same logic for Iraq- actually first dressing down a naïve flag waver who joined in on the conversation. The flag waver dropped the WMD/Freedom Sperm line on me. And A-hole confirmed what I said, saying that “WMDs were BS,” that “we need more oil” and that we should go wherever we could to get it because our military is the biggest and baddest and he believed in the spending so that we could keep it that way.
Of course the freedom sperm guy was dumbfounded and so was I- for different reasons. I had became so accustomed to arguing with the deluded that I was never prepared to hear the argument stripped of its talking points and propaganda, and laid bare. Political discussions with him were refreshing and frightening all at the same time. Refreshing to receive confirmation that the right is deluded and it’s not just a difference of opinion- making the truth lie somewhere in between. But it was frightening to actually hear someone voice their true plans. It always made me wonder what debate would be like in this country if they would voice their true beliefs. The closest is Ron Paul, but he’s a Libertarian Conservative. (And they’re only allies to the authoritarians because they’re greedy)
Think of all the effort wasted on taking down their smears and propaganda by progressive media- and us. And then imagine if the Authoritarian Conservatives told the country what they truly believed. They would be marginalized and finally
seen as fringe. Then maybe the serious debate can begin between the left and where the Democratic Party is at now (the center). I believe that, that part of the spectrum is the only range of debate that a country should tolerate. It’s the only range of debate that a country
can tolerate before it collapses on its inequitable self. The war for this country’s soul is actually taking place within the Democratic Party and within the Left. Unfortunately both sides are constantly side tracked because they must deal with the republicon media machine that dominates the debate by distracting the unassuming bystanders and entertaining the naïve.
They may never be exposed for their disservice to the American people or ever tell the truth…but imagine if…
Anyway- anybody else have arguments with someone like that? And did it deflate your overall outlook on life?
