A Gay Conservative Liberal!
A new blog is out there - and it's interesting. A little weird, but interesting (with some nice shots of J-Lo btw). Calls himself 'Conservative Liberal' - which might not be an oxymoron if we see a McCain/Lieberman independent ticket in nought eight (the Third Choice, Elliot!) and opens with "Fed up with the hateful rhetoric of the right and with the indecisiveness of the left, I've decided to post my own views on the issues of the day." Which is actually the thought that led me to blogging.
Sometimes he is a little - how shall I say? - overheated. Sometimes he's simply wrong. Sometimes, though, he comes up with observations and judgements you really weren't expecting. In this day and age when all you need to know is someone's political affiliation to know just about everything they will say on any topic, this is golden.
Here is Mr Conservative Liberal on John Kerry, whom he once admired:
I wasted a vote on Kerry and now I want to throw a shoe at him. He's like the loser chick who didn't get asked to the prom so she heads up the decorating committee just so she can tell herself she matters. John Kerry is a political mess wrapped up in all sorts of ill-fitting sequins and tafetta.
He can also, occasionally, be illogical as in this;
... we should look back to Mr. Clinton's ill-advised decision to support NAFTA. Not only did American jobs go south, but they did nothing to stop illegal immigration and instead further fueled the sweatshop ethos of yesteryear.
If jobs went south, why are job-seekers streaming north?
On the Dim Dems he has this:
So there, I've said it. Democrats make mistakes. Democrats can be self-important and grating and are running around like chickens with their heads cut off. Brace yourselves: I don't think the Democrats have captivating, imaginative, aggressive leaders. In that respect, the Republican party gets a nod from this blogger for sticking to their guns.
And for Pal Joey Sobrino, our resident multicultural xenophobe, he has this!
Well, gotta go. Col. Mosby is having an old-fashioned conniption fit and I seem to be in the way.
posted by Clemens @ 11:54 AM
8 comments
8 Comments:
And for Pal Joey Sobrino, our resident multicultural xenophobe,
You say that like it's a bad thing ;). The link is broken, but I was able to find the article anyway. What he is saying is being said by others.
On the way back from Madrid to the US we had a stop over in A'dam. The fellow in the window seat was a Dutchman who was anti-religion. He mentioned something that the gayliberalconservative probably would be interested in if he hasn't already heard it.
The Dutch are arguably the most tolerant people on earth. Yet, due to a large Muslim population, gays, who in the past were left alone, are now being targeted.
When was the last time a Christian woman was executed for adultery, that Jews were executed for watching the World Cup or that Buddhists rioted over the seeing Buddha in a political cartoon? Remember all those Hindus beheading prisoners? Yeah, neither do I.
Muslims do not respect personal liberty, political freedom and tolerance...those ideals are counter to their culture. Which is not to say there aren't Muslims that get it, there are, but a significant majority doesn't, and a sizeable minority sympathize with a non trivial subset which are terrorists.
BTW, it is not at all "illogical" to say that jobs went south and that jobseekers went north. A factory job that went to Mexico pays less than a McDonalds job in the USA which still makes the US more desirable.
--Joey
It's a funny thing, especially to me. But that would require a whole post of several paragraphs and humor is gen'ly untranslatable. Besides, a friend of mine wants to use the phrase for a rock band.
Yes,about the Dutch, but the Dutch created their problems in their own, Dutchlike way. Verdonk's response to Hirsi Ali, for example, beats anything our most crazed multiculturists could come up with. Apparently (I seem to have lost a Dutch friend due to it)the Dutch are a little sensitive on this topic.
And for the last point, a job is a job. If the jobs in Mexico are filled, and they are, then there is one less job seeker. While it might not seem like it, there is a finite number of Mexicans (roughly 1/3 of us by most counts). Coming to America ONLY for the sake of McDonald's job is a fantasy of xenophobes. There are other factors involved.
Anyway, I'll let those pointy headed liberals at the Wall Street Journal do the explaining in my next post.
(I kinda like the sound of Joey Sobrino - sounds like a mafia hitman or something).
PS: now that I think on it, if you look at their history, even their recent history, the stereotype of the tolerant, gentle Dutch is just that: a stereotype. Believe me, there is a whole 'nuther side to their culture.
Much of our view of Europe in gen'l is a little skewed - by the very liberal MSM folks I suspect you are usually wary of.
Thanks for the write up, it's appreciated. I wouldn't claim to know everything, and to quote Britney "I'm gonna keep makin' boo-boos."
I hope to learn a great deal about the political debate in our country as people experience it while sharing my off-the-cuff remarks about it.
Joey Sobrino does sound mafi(a?)oso :-P
Of course not all Dutch are tolerant hardly all anything is anything, however you must admit on the whole Dutch society takes a handsoff approach to personal affairs; you can buy drugs and sex in public for crying out loud!
Naturally the MSM plays that card, but a walk through the redlight district does the same. I have experienced that anecdotally through the handful of Dutch people I met through my travels.
By the by, Hirsi Ali's blog (the English ones) were usually very good. I think I read she is going to be living in the US.
The McDonalds analogy was just a little reductio ad absurdum on my part. The primary motivator for Mexicans (as has been/is/will be for nearly every immigrant) coming to the US is financial. Until the standard of living improves in Mexico, there will be a huge, understandable, desire to come to America. We need and welcome immigrants but we can't take the open-the-flood-gates mentality of a 100 years ago.
--Joey
Only for financial reasons? Goodness gracious (as Rummy might say) what about the Cubans? At least pre-Mariel many of them claimed not to be immigrants, certainly not for financial reasons. They were exiles, so assimilation was out of the question. They would go home. A few still feel the same way, but they are all about 90 years old.
When I moved to that state to our south in 1964, I heard for the first time all the accusations I now hear about Hispanics, only it was about Cubans. Whom I have always found delightful people (except for that jerk who sold me the used car).
As for the assimilation complaint, my wife once told me she has relatives in Miami who complained that they couldn't get their kids to speak Spanish! And I know one Cuban-American family that had to send their son to _Spain_ to get him to learn Spanish.
Hirsi Ali was coming to the US - probably an undiserable alien in some people's view - but saner members of the Dutch gov't have said 'all is forgiven, you can stay.'
As the late Shah of Iran once said, Americans mistake indoor plumbing for civilization. Some of us mistake sexual license for true liberality. Verdonk, the official who was going to jerk Hirsi Ali's citizenship, clearly thought it would be a popular move.
Instead, it brought her own government down. And, I suspect, ended her political career.
BTW, an intersting novel about the Dutch colonial experience is 'Max Havelaar'. The Dutch made a movie of it years ago. When I saw it, everyone in it sounded like the Swedish chef in the Muppets.
As for Mexico, I agree with you. As long as the economy in Mexico is so poor in comparison to the US we will have an immigration problem. Laws, esp English as official language laws, are worse than useless. So what can we do to help? NAFTA and the maquiladora system get roundly criticized from the Left and Right, so what is a solution?
[BTW, is it true that Florida Republicans are offering to fly Katherine Harris to Mexico to help resolve the hanging chad problem?]
Only for financial reasons? [...] Cubans [didn't come] for financial reasons.
That is why I said "primarily" and not "always".
When I moved to that state to our south in 1964, I heard for the first time all the accusations I now hear about Hispanics, only it was about Cubans.
Cubans are Hispanics.
Whom I have always found delightful people
My understanding is that half-Cubans are EVEN more so!
As for the assimilation complaint, [...]I know one Cuban-American family that had to send their son to _Spain_ to get him to learn Spanish.
Sounds like a nice guy ;)
As the late Shah of Iran once said, Americans mistake indoor plumbing for civilization. Some of us mistake sexual license for true liberality.
Hehe, I had never heard that line :-D True liberality is complete freedom (which I don't think exists anywhere?)
The ability to keep money you earn is also an underrated metric. The Dutch also permit Holocaust Denial, which is something few of European countries allow.
As for Mexico, I agree with you. As long as the economy in Mexico is so poor in comparison to the US we will have an immigration problem. Laws, esp English as official language laws, are worse than use
less.
What is the harm that English as the official language does? What should be our official language? Canada serves a good lesson to us on that front.
NAFTA and the maquiladora system get roundly criticized from the Left and Right, so what is a solution?
My thoughts on a solution
Yeah, the Left are pandering to the unions, the right to isolationists. The answer, imho, is to make the United States a Maquiladora ala the Fair Tax. It enforces tax compliance on individuals and removes it on business. Or individuals now see the hidden costs that were formerly passed on to them by companies. Nothing would encourage foreign investment faster.
[BTW, is it true that Florida Republicans are offering to fly Katherine Harris to Mexico to help resolve the hanging chad problem?]
One can only hope. The leadership of the Republican Party really needs some help.
I will give them a piece of free advice in case they spend time reading Sententiae...
Want to win in '08? Rudy/Condi. All of the 2004 states hold and NY, OH, and PA become red or in play.
--Joey
OK - I'm taking my part of this discussion back up to the main page so we can start a new page of comments. Too many things to comment on.
Man - you're wordy.
And you bring it out in me.
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