# Why are liberals referred to as "bedwetters"? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [July 21, 2007, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-liberals-referred-to-as-bedwetters/412640 "2007-07-21T06:24:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2007, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-liberals-referred-to-as-bedwetters/412640/41 "2007-07-21T20:50:37Z")
Well, you are what you eat. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2007, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-liberals-referred-to-as-bedwetters/412640/42 "2007-07-21T20:51:55Z")
[QUOTE=bob\_co] Socialists (including the national socialist party of WWII Germany) [/QUOTE] You too? Is this calling the Nazis socialist a recent thing, or have I just been missing it up till now? ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2007, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-liberals-referred-to-as-bedwetters/412640/43 "2007-07-21T20:53:47Z")
[QUOTE=Frank] You too? Is this calling the Nazis socialist a recent thing, or have I just been missing it up till now? [/QUOTE] Or is it a libertarian thing? ---
**Author:** ![Lamar\_Mundane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lamar\_Mundane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamar_Mundane)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2007, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-liberals-referred-to-as-bedwetters/412640/44 "2007-07-21T20:55:48Z")
[QUOTE=Frank] You too? Is this calling the Nazis socialist a recent thing, or have I just been missing it up till now? [/QUOTE] Everyone they don’t like is a socialist now, including billionaires George Soros and Warren Buffet, and all the Hollywood types who scrape by on mere millions a year. And Al Gore. ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2007, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-liberals-referred-to-as-bedwetters/412640/45 "2007-07-21T21:05:34Z")
[QUOTE=Der Trihs] Precisely. It was mockery. And the OP is so very mockable. [/QUOTE] Thus far I am the sole person here to attempt to actually answer the question. The OP may be stupid or biased; you have so far proven that you are stupid, biased, and lack any kind of sense of humor. Do you consider this an improvement? ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2007, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-liberals-referred-to-as-bedwetters/412640/46 "2007-07-21T21:08:08Z")
[QUOTE=Frank] You too? Is this calling the Nazis socialist a recent thing, or have I just been missing it up till now? [/QUOTE] I’ve been hearing it for years. The far right has a simple view of the world, you see; you are either on their side wholly and completely, or you are the tool of the Devil. Which Devil depends on the focus of the right winger in question. Socialism = Atheism = Liberalism = Communism = Satanism = Leftism = Environmentalism = Nazi = Science = Catholicism ( if not Catholic ) = Protestantism ( if not Protestant ) = Etc. They seem to be regarded as interchangable, and as part of the same Forces of Evil. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_co](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b3f665/32.png) [@bob\_co](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_co)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2007, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-liberals-referred-to-as-bedwetters/412640/47 "2007-07-21T21:46:30Z")
Socialism This was the political system of Nazi Germany. Every time that someone calls right wingers Nazis they are actually refering to war mongering or racism when the political system of the Nazis was actually closer to the left. Ironicly, the left and this sort of government relies on exactly this kind of mob dumbness. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2007, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-liberals-referred-to-as-bedwetters/412640/48 "2007-07-21T21:57:10Z")
Ya know, that argument that the Nazis were really socialists sounds a bit familiar… ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2007, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-liberals-referred-to-as-bedwetters/412640/49 "2007-07-21T22:12:53Z")
[QUOTE=bob\_co] Socialism This was the political system of Nazi Germany. [/QUOTE] [Not really.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=8793975&postcount=231) ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2007, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-liberals-referred-to-as-bedwetters/412640/50 "2007-07-21T22:29:50Z")
I heard the “nazis were socialists” argument back in college. It baffled me with its irrelevance then and it does now. It’s arguments like that that show the core of good sense underlying Godwin’s law and its corollaries. First, I have no doubt there were socialist aspects to the Nazi economy. There are socialist aspects to every economy, including the U.S. All successful countries today practice a mixed economy, combining aspects of socialism and capitalism. Second, even if they were socialist, so what? The Nazis were carbon-based life-forms. Does this mean Carbon-based life is evil? More seriously, A staff report recently pointed out that the Nazis were among the first to link smoking and cancer, and also tried to stop German women from giving babies beer. Should good anti-nazis smoke and feed babies beer? Saying “Nazis did it” does not mean that “it” is necessarily evil. ---
**Author:** ![Raygun99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Raygun99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raygun99)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2007, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-liberals-referred-to-as-bedwetters/412640/51 "2007-07-21T23:36:42Z")
It’s amusing that no one ever extends this naming convention out to the [German Democratic Republic](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GDR). ---
**Author:** ![bob\_co](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b3f665/32.png) [@bob\_co](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_co)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2007, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-liberals-referred-to-as-bedwetters/412640/52 "2007-07-21T23:43:08Z")
Um NAZI means national socialist political party of the WWII era germany. They were the Democratic party of their time. > **[Nazism](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nazi)** > > Nazism (/ˈnɑːtsɪzəm, ˈnæt-/ NA(H)T-siz-əm; also, Naziism /-si.ɪzəm/), the common name in English for National Socialism (German: Nationalsozialismus, .mw-parser-output .IPA-label-small{font-size:85%}.mw-parser-output .references .IPA-label-small,.mw-parser-output .infobox .IPA-label-small,.mw-parser-output .navbox .IPA-label-small{font-size:100%}German: \[natsi̯oˈnaːlzotsi̯aˌlɪsmʊs\] ⓘ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Par... Get over it already. It does not mean that they were racists or war mongers. It’s just a name for a party. It is just so ironic that people keep calling this administration WWII German Democrats. Get it? ---
**Author:** ![Revenant\_Threshold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f1d935/32.png) [@Revenant\_Threshold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revenant_Threshold)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2007, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-liberals-referred-to-as-bedwetters/412640/53 "2007-07-21T23:50:44Z")
[QUOTE=bob\_co] Get over it already. It does not mean that they were racists or war mongers. It’s just a name for a party. [/QUOTE] Precisely. It’s just a name. They can, of course, call themselves whatever they want. Including, for example, giving themselves a name that doesn’t actually match their endeavours. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2007, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-liberals-referred-to-as-bedwetters/412640/54 "2007-07-21T23:52:35Z")
No, they can’t, because sooner or later, they’d have to say in on TV, and if you say it on TV, it has to be true. If they avoid it, someone will notice. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_co](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b3f665/32.png) [@bob\_co](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_co)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2007, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-liberals-referred-to-as-bedwetters/412640/55 "2007-07-22T00:56:21Z")
GDR was not a democracy. Niether is what the Democrats propose. They must both rely on the rhetoric about keeping the man down. I think that we have pretty much figured out that a bedwetter is some sort of an isolationist person. Probably someone against nuclear proliferation but doesn’t know how to accomplish that. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2007, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-liberals-referred-to-as-bedwetters/412640/56 "2007-07-22T00:58:57Z")
[QUOTE=bob\_co] Um NAZI means national socialist political party of the WWII era germany. They were the Democratic party of their time. > **[Nazism](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nazi)** > > Final Solution Pre-Machtergreifung Post-Machtergreifung [/QUOTE] Good heavens! I’m glad you told me that. I shall, in the near future, join the New Democratic Party. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_co](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b3f665/32.png) [@bob\_co](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_co)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2007, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-liberals-referred-to-as-bedwetters/412640/57 "2007-07-22T01:04:03Z")
And I’m glad that you will never call the Republicans the new democrats either. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2007, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-liberals-referred-to-as-bedwetters/412640/58 "2007-07-22T01:04:43Z")
[QUOTE=bob\_co] …They must both rely on the rhetoric about keeping the man down… [/QUOTE] No, no, no. The man is who you stick it to, he keeps _you_ down. Unless he’s you, of course. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2007, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-liberals-referred-to-as-bedwetters/412640/59 "2007-07-22T01:07:47Z")
[QUOTE=bob\_co] And I’m glad that you will never call the Republicans the new democrats either. [/QUOTE] Of course not; the Republicans are the new leftists. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2007, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-liberals-referred-to-as-bedwetters/412640/60 "2007-07-22T01:09:22Z")
[QUOTE=Fear Itself] Of course not; the Republicans are the new leftists. [/QUOTE] **bob\_co** ’s work here is done. 😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-liberals-referred-to-as-bedwetters/412640.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-liberals-referred-to-as-bedwetters/412640.md?page=4)