# Why Are Conservatives So Evil? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [September 19, 2001, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-conservatives-so-evil/82655 "2001-09-19T19:57:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Scylla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a5b964/32.png) [@Scylla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scylla)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2001, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-conservatives-so-evil/82655/41 "2001-09-20T00:00:21Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by DPWhite \* > \*\*Conservatives have no corner on the market on stupidity. There are people of every political stripe that say stupid things. There is, however, scientific evidence taht conservatives don’t sleep as well as liberals, FWIW. And not all conservatives are stupid. William F. Buckley, Jr. is not stupid by a long shot. (Although I would argue that Ann Coulter is stupid.) But compassionate? Now there is a stretch. \*\* I’d ask you for a cite on some of that bullshit, but now that I rememember you I know better than to waste my time. ---
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2001, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-conservatives-so-evil/82655/42 "2001-09-20T00:00:48Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Persephone \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > Will we ever get to the point that we realize we will be more secure when the rest of the world isn’t living in poverty so we can have nice running shoes? > > Michael Moore said that? Really? > > The same Michael Moore that tried really hard to get Nike to build a factory here in Flint? \*\* Yes, he did. Why do you bring up the fact that he tried to get the Nike factory built in Flint, do you see an inconsistency in the two statements/underlying philosphies somehow? stoid ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2001, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-conservatives-so-evil/82655/43 "2001-09-20T00:08:25Z")
What about Ariana Huffington? If you want compassionate conservatives, I’d say she’s it. ---
**Author:** ![DPWhite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d26b3c/32.png) [@DPWhite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPWhite)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2001, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-conservatives-so-evil/82655/44 "2001-09-20T00:14:50Z")
Thank you for not wasting your time. It gratifies me and amazes the rest. ---
**Author:** ![Persephone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecc23a/32.png) [@Persephone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Persephone)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2001, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-conservatives-so-evil/82655/45 "2001-09-20T00:20:17Z")
Well Stoid, it was nice of him to try to get some jobs here (here bieng Flint–Mr. Moore’s hometown, too). But the “nice running shoe” statement, coming after he’d tried to cut a deal with a company that makes nice running shoes, just struck me as rather ironic. ---
**Author:** ![Beagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/85f322/32.png) [@Beagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beagle)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2001, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-conservatives-so-evil/82655/46 "2001-09-20T00:20:37Z")
“…There was a grim symmetry in the way this act of war interrupted the President at a grade-school photo-op. The federal government has no constitutional responsibility for education: it is a state affair, delegated mostly to tiny municipal school boards. But one of Bill Clinton’s forlorn legacies is that the head of state and the commander-in-chief of the most powerful nation on earth must now fill his day with trivial initiatives designed to soothe the piffling discontents of soccer moms and other preferred demographics of the most pampered generation in history: programs to connect elementary schools to the Internet, prescription drug benefits for seniors, government ‘lock-boxes’ for any big-ticket entitlement the focus groups decide they can’t live without, and a thousand and one other woeful trivialities…” This paragraph is brilliant, I have expressed similar constitutional libertarian views about the President’s job before. Thank you for bringing this to my attention. It really affected me because the President was in my hometown of Sarasota wasting his time being a pale imitation of Clinton while our country was attacked. As for the wheelchair reference you literally “did not understand” it. emarkp nailed it exactly. Ann Coulter, well, she is angry and upset her friend was murdered. I doubt many people are up for “Crusades: Part Deux.” Falwell and Robertson excepted of course. Dangerous liberals, the best examples were foreigners: Stalin and Mao come to mind. They were as liberal as Timothy McVeigh was conservative. Domestically several groups claiming liberal beliefs committed various crimes, kidnappings, and bombings especially in the 70s. Weather Underground, SLA and others. This is stupid namecalling, why did I let myself get dragged into this…? ---
**Author:** ![DPWhite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d26b3c/32.png) [@DPWhite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPWhite)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2001, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-conservatives-so-evil/82655/47 "2001-09-20T00:21:01Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Guinastasia \* > \*\*What about Ariana Huffington? If you want compassionate conservatives, I’d say she’s it. \*\* I’d agree that Ms. Huffington writes compassionately, and well (implying intelligence). I’d also agree that at one time she was clearly a conservative, giving Al Franken his signature line: “Here I am, in bed with the beautiful but evil Ariana Huffington.” But just as Ronald Reagan changed from lefty into conservative, Ms. Huffington has changed enough of her positions not to be considered a conservative any longer. I read her on Salon regularly and my conservo meter never goes off any more. No ad hominems, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2001, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-conservatives-so-evil/82655/48 "2001-09-20T00:22:19Z")
I wouldn’t take anything Ann Coulter says seriously, even when she’s NOT grieving. ---
**Author:** ![betenoir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/258eb7/32.png) [@betenoir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/betenoir)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2001, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-conservatives-so-evil/82655/49 "2001-09-20T00:29:38Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Persephone \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > Will we ever get to the point that we realize we will be more secure when the rest of the world isn’t living in poverty so we can have nice running shoes? > > Michael Moore said that? Really? > > The same Michael Moore that tried really hard to get Nike to build a factory here in Flint? \*\* Are you saying that’s a contratiction? He’s not against running shoes. He’s against Nike and others setting up factories in other countries and not paying a living wage (even by local standards) having them work in hazardous conditions, not doing much to protect the health and safty of the workers, let alone giving them health care, etc, etc. Whereas a factory in Flint would pay a living wage (welll maybe) provide health benefits, live up to safty standard. Who knows, maybe have a union. I don’t think he’d have a problem with that, nor with Nike if they did those things in the other countries they set up shop in. ---
**Author:** ![Mandelstam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/47e85d/32.png) [@Mandelstam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mandelstam)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2001, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-conservatives-so-evil/82655/50 "2001-09-20T00:46:07Z")
I’ve gotta chime in with those who, like **ruadh** , have insisted on the distinction between Falwell/Phelps (in which the attacks are said to be God’s retribution against “sinful” gays, pro-choice people, etc.) and a position like Moore’s. Moore is trying to say that US policies create resentment which creates support for terrorism. (As for bin Laden himself–the man was funded by the CIA for years when his activities were seen as being useful for cold war purposes.) Although Moore is not, to my mind, the most articulate spokesperson for the position, I also feel that US policies are often unjust, and, as a result, create motivation and support for terrorism. I don’t believe that such policies “caused” these atrocious acts, and I _certainly_ don’t believe that New Yorkers–some very near and dear to me–_“deserved”_ to die. I would very much appreciate it if this distinction were understood by everyone. It is _not_ unpatriotic to criticize your government’s policies. To acknowledge your government’s responsibility for unjust acts is_not_ to exonerate or to invite terrorism, much less to hold that the victims of terrorism have gotten their just “deserts.” **Persephone** Moore’s point about Nike is that they exploit their third-world workforce. They can get away with it because labor laws, safety laws and minimum wages of the kind that protect Western workers don’t exist there. The idea behind inviting Nike to open a plant in a place like Flint is to get them to come back to a place where they would be employing labor on a non-exploitative basis. I hope this helps you to understand the consistencies in his position. ---
**Author:** ![andros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2001, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-conservatives-so-evil/82655/51 "2001-09-20T00:50:38Z")
> [@](#): > > But just as Ronald Reagan changed from lefty into conservative Ronald Reagan? The Gipper? Bonzo’s costar? _That_ Ronald Reagan? The one who was among HUAC’s strongest allies and supporters in Hollywood? When on earth was he ever a “lefty?” ---
**Author:** ![SPOOFE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@SPOOFE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SPOOFE)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2001, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-conservatives-so-evil/82655/52 "2001-09-20T00:53:58Z")
> [@](#): > > When on earth was he ever a “lefty?” Maybe he played a Democrat in a movie once. ---
**Author:** ![Persephone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecc23a/32.png) [@Persephone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Persephone)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2001, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-conservatives-so-evil/82655/53 "2001-09-20T00:54:17Z")
Okay. I live in Flint, and I work at City Hall. Michael Moore set himself up as Ambassador to Nike without permission. I’ve got no objections to more jobs here–we sure could use them. But as he has done in the past, he went about it the wrong way. Especially since he himself abandoned this city after making his mark. I never said anything about his statements being contradictory to anything at all. They’re not. It is a very thoughtful and very true statement. It’s just that after having seen first-hand his attepmt to strong-arm Nike into coming here on his own, after being told by our local government to cease and desist…the chance to make a lame joke was one I chose not to pass up. Perhaps I should have. Sorry if I honked anyone off. ---
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2001, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-conservatives-so-evil/82655/54 "2001-09-20T00:54:35Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Persephone \* > \*\*Well Stoid, it was nice of him to try to get some jobs here (here bieng Flint–Mr. Moore’s hometown, too). But the “nice running shoe” statement, coming after he’d tried to cut a deal with a company that makes nice running shoes, just struck me as rather ironic. \*\* Not really. His point is the same in both instances, they are the two sides of the same coin. In pursuit of maximum profits, corporations are shutting down American operations, eliminating jobs for Americans, (which Moore finds objectionable, as he would like to see Americans hired to make the shoes, at a decent American wage) and setting up shop overseas, where they can exploit children to make their shoes for a nickel apiece or whatever pathetic wage they are paying. (thereby adding to the exploitation and oppression of the third world, and consequently adding to the enmity felt towards us.) It isn’t as though Moore has a problem with the shoes. stoid ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2001, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-conservatives-so-evil/82655/55 "2001-09-20T01:25:23Z")
Beagle wrote: > [@](#): > > I doubt many people are up for “Crusades: Part Deux.” Falwell and Robertson excepted of course. Au contraire – the only Crusade that Falwell and Robertson want the U.S. to go on is against _itself_. Too many homos and not enough school prayer were the factors that caused the terrorist attacks, don’tcha know. ---
**Author:** ![december](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/838e76/32.png) [@december](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/december)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2001, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-conservatives-so-evil/82655/56 "2001-09-20T01:36:39Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by andros \* > \*\*When on earth was he [Reagan] ever a “lefty?” \*\* Uh…when he was a registered Democrat and a union leader. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Scylla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a5b964/32.png) [@Scylla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scylla)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2001, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-conservatives-so-evil/82655/57 "2001-09-20T01:54:15Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by december \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > \*Originally posted by andros \* > > \*\*When on earth was he [Reagan] ever a “lefty?” \*\* > > Uh…when he was a registered Democrat and a union leader. ☹ \*\* Not that I’d ever doubt, but… Voulez-vous couchez avec cite? Citey Von Citenheimer? Is that a cite in your pocket or are you just happy to see me? ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2001, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-conservatives-so-evil/82655/58 "2001-09-20T02:25:10Z")
You do realize that the people in Indonesia were poor _before_ Nike build a shoe factory there, right? Nike might be taking advantage of poverty in third world countries, but to say that they _cause_ poverty is simply untrue. Anyway, I doubt Osama bin Ladin cares that much about how cheap running shoes are. Guess the main reason he hates America. Could it be because he wants to destroy Israel and America doesn’t want Israel destroyed? Nay, gotta be the Kyoto treaty. ---
**Author:** ![bashere](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/779978/32.png) [@bashere](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bashere)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2001, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-conservatives-so-evil/82655/59 "2001-09-20T02:26:26Z")
> [@](#): > > Uh…when he was a registered Democrat and a union leader > [@](#): > > Not that I’d ever doubt, but… > > Voulez-vous couchez avec cite? I can’t help with the whole democratic thing, but, yeah, he was head of SAG, 1948 to 1960 Cite: [http://www.sag.org/sagcrnlgy.html](http://www.sag.org/sagcrnlgy.html). ::shrug:: I live in LA. We’re required to know the history of SAG, or we’re not allowed to move here. …but that’s not why I’m posting. It seems that a paragraph of Moore’s was cut. I had it in an email, but now I have “message truncated”. Insert emoticon of sad bashere. Does any one have it? Was I on drugs? ---
**Author:** ![bashere](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/779978/32.png) [@bashere](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bashere)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2001, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-conservatives-so-evil/82655/60 "2001-09-20T02:27:42Z")
err, democrat thing, not “democratic” thing. Sorry. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-conservatives-so-evil/82655.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-conservatives-so-evil/82655.md?page=4)