Best Letter to Editor, ever!

Donald and Ric, are two conservatives claiming that the liberals are at fault for the train-wreck called America 2009. You preach the same tired conservative mantra that entitlements are ruining America, and that all we need to do is work a little harder and then all the ills of society will be cured.  Heads up fellas, it was the monied class who had their hands out begging to be rescued by the federal government.  Those trillions of dollars went to the "Too Big To Fail" banks, not the "Too Small To Matter" citizens.  It was 8 years of conservative policies that got us into 2 wars, the worst recession in memory, multiple violations of the US Constitution, corporate socialism, millions of unemployed, millions of home foreclosures and a nation on the brink of collapse.  Your ideology is a failure and you don't have the solutions to the multitude of problems you have caused America.  Unless you admit thIs, and let us liberals repair the damage you have done, your obstructionist ways will destroy America.  

"Worst recession in memory..." It's unbelievable how short the memory of the common Liberal is. JIMMY CARTER was the worst recession in memory, and we were saved from it by Reagan. Enough said. You liberals don't have the intellectual capacity to wipe your asses without government assistance. Pathetic losers...

Jimmy Carter was a recession? I thought he was a president.
And Reagan started the deregulation that got us into this mess.
You, though, are a paragon of precise thinking...not to mention your suggestion that government assistance somehow boosts one's intellectual capacity.

There are many types of Conservative. The two largest groups are a coalition that includes social conservatives and economic conservatives. The social conservatives tend to be far more conservative. There are at least two types of economic conservative. The minority are the neo-cons who took over the party and they have two major beliefs. The first belief is that government exists for the good of business and the second is that we are in a zero sum game where there is only so much wealth and power and the winner is the guy who has it all. There is no win win, only a win lose. Neo cons have learned that one of the characteristics of socil conservatives is that they can be easily stirred by patriotic sounding speeches and short emails that rouse the reader .
The social conservatives are the most active and vocal but the economic conservatives are the most dangerous. We see what the economic conservatives can do to us.  The psychology of the extreme right social conservative is almost identical to that of the Taliban so we ought to know what the social conservative can do to us.

If we allow them to take power again then we deserve to be enslaved. I'm curious, though, as to what would happen if the conservatives took power and hold it for some time. Since the neo-cons are comprised of people just like Cheney who are basically cowards (chicken hawks)  themselves and need others to fight for them but the social conservatives consist of people who think of themselves as John Waynes with an attitude and are very quick to take up arms, when the economic conservatives are no longer needed to facilitate the political rise of the social conservatives, they will be disposed of.
This country is in trouble until we do two things. The first is to stop all campaign contributions from anyone other than human beings. If you can't vote you can't contribute.  The second is that we need to tax churches so they don't have obscene amount of money to spend on political activities.
 
Kelly

Sad.  Obviously you have no concept of the difference between true ideology and just political interest.  AARP, ACORN, Greenpeace and welfare groups aren't self-interested?  Grow up a little folks.

AARP, ACORN, Greenpeace and welfare groups are self-interested?
-Yes, in the interest of humanity instead of profit though.

They are not interested in "humanity". They are insterested in their limited self-interest. You do recall the VIDEO TAPE of an ACORN office advising a couple on how to SET UP AN UNDERAGE PROSITUTION RING, don't you? Yeah...NICE humanity there. Pathetic losers.

You're deluded, Ric. Hop down off that high horse.

Government is the only protection the majority of us have from the rich, who use the Republican Party as a tool for class warfare: the warfare of the rich to get richer at the expense of the middle class and the poor. Republican's principles DON'T mean, for example that welfare is wrong; welfare is good, but only good for the rich, not the poor.

Rosen is correct.  The Republinazis have ruined America and Obama has a teensy smidgen of a chance to repair it.  They have ruined our economy, our world reputation, any chance we had to catch bin Laden, our fragile separation of church and state.  They are so similar to the ideologues of the Nazi era that it brings chills to my body.

We are so much closer to disintegration as a functioning nation because of these rigid, greed-obsessed liars.

Excellent letter. What I think is that we now have BIG, messy problems, and these can only be addressed by big minds. President Obama has that kind of mind. The problem comes down to liberal answers, that are fluid, analytical, revisable. Those answers can come from the mind. As for the heart, well, I see that as the crux of all matters. If you don't have a big heart, you will not care about others. You will have no, or little feelings for all types of people who need help. You will probably only care about your group. This how I view Conservatism. Narrow minds, no forethought, tiny hearts, cold, angry feeling about others. Thank Shoq, for all your intelligent links and now excellent letter to the editor. Keep up the good work.

Luv it!!!

America is a very caring and compassionate nation. Is something wrong w/that? And, not all Americans are depended on national, state nor local governments for handouts but handups. ;)

Matter of fact, we offer our services around the world.

Btw, we do have self-employed individuals, online and off, small business owners, entrepreneurs, innovators, etc, here, in America.

But, the Republicans, GOP, conservatives, and others have allowed America to become fiscally-irresponsible, uncompetitive and "stuck" in the 19th/20th century. Although we invented things other nations are using, we are still so way behind them. We have to do "catchup."

That's one of the big reasons for President Obama's ambitious reform (healthcare, energy/climate change, education, etc.) agenda.

And, he also has to "mop up" Bush&Co.'s messes, too.

But, YES WE CAN, and we're fired up and ready to go!!! :)

All the "yes we can" mantras are espoused by little bloviating popinjays. All that needs to be be changed is to learn to earn, rather than asking for handouts via entitlements.

There is no money to pay for anything. There is no "change", no dollars, no money, etc. The "mop up" will become a clean sweep by conservatives so that the nation is again earning rather than only consuming via new undeserved progressive entitlements!!

Bulls*t. Why is a new rephrase of the Party Line such a work of genius?

Just because you can't understand or internalize conservative ideas and ideals, don't assume they don't exist.

Conservatives do not believe that creating a society of dependents whose entire lives revolve around the Federal Government is either a good thing or actually possible. Conservatives believe that power attracts power-seekers, not people committed to any particular ideology, and that building a huge apparatus to give people what they want will only provide power slots which will attract the unscrupulous, who will provide for themselves and their friends before thinking about The People.

You are running entirely on jealousy and envy of the more fortunate, prepared to scream "profiteer!" at anybody who wants a return on investment. It won't work. It can't work. The only way it can come out that involves survival is to make producers slaves.

Regards,
Ric

It has nothing to do with others being more fortunate: I am a progressive/liberal and consider myself very fortunate. It has a lot to do with the fact that there are higher values than the bottom line, and that I believe it is our moral obligation as a society to feed, shelter and clothe those who cannot do it themselves for whatever reason. I do not begrudge my tax money regardless of whether I agree with the choices people have made; it is for God to judge because He only knows what they have experienced that put them in that position. In addition, I know that money can only increase my own happiness up to a point, and that if I have a place to live, clothing, food and health care I am better off than most people in the world.
Regarding your last line, that's largely what's been happening: wages for working people have dropped dramatically while those who sit around watching their stock quotes or running companies (or countries for that matter) into the ground are making huge profits.

Very definitely SPOT ON!!! and will recovery ever be possible.

Regardless of conservatives agenda, this is a free country and I do not need their assistance in my religion or other aspects of my life.

Short, concise and DEAD ON! It is the best political letter to the Editor!

It seems many republicans have been questions things lately. This is one of many quotes which caught my eye:

"We conservatives are submitting our movement to some of the most unscrupulous people in American life." David Frum (Bush's former speech writer.)http://tinyurl.com/y9q546t

Wow and wow again. Another "Wish I had written that" from Shoq. Thanks for finding it. Am spreading links to your blog to my facebook page!

Truer words were never spoken but if you want a sentiment that might fit on a bumper sticker how about, "Conservatives vote their fears. Liberals vote their dreams"?

I've been spreading that quote for 15 years. It's on my "About Shoq"page. Says a lot, too :)

Bravo ><

congrats on the blog. I am just pleased today that our president has been honored with the Nobel Prize for Peace.