Phil Agre is writing again, yay:
"Some conservative rhetors have taken to literally demonizing the very notion of a democratic opposition. Rush Limbaugh has argued at length that Tom Daschle resembles Satan simply because he opposes George Bush's policies. Ever since then, Limbaugh has regularly identified Daschle as "el diablo". This is the emotional heart of conservatism: the notion that the conservative order is ordained by God and that anyone and anything that opposes the conservative order is infinitely evil."
What Is Conservatism and What Is Wrong with It?
(via Red Rock Eater)
Rush Limbaugh is a moron who's entire modus operandi is to get an emotional reaction on issues that are not emotional. It aggravates me to no end that a) millions of brainless sheep hang on his every word and b) millions of liberals equate his moronic ranting with what actual intellectual conservatives believe. Equating "thinks differently than I" with "evil" is the number one sign - to me at least - that someone has not clearly thought through an issue. Clearly thinking through an issue means considering and understanding the opposing viewpoint, not merely dismissing it as evil.
Classic straw-man argument. It hurts liberals to indulge in such polemics. Frankly, I would have a hard time defining conservative or liberal in any definite way. But, a good place to start might be the Dem and Rep party platforms:
http://www.democrats.org/about/platform.html
http://www.gop.com/About/PartyPlatform/Default.aspx
I wonder how many people have actually read these documents? I'm certain that the author of the linked article did not.
Hmm. That was the 2000 platform. Here's the one for 2004. (Although the earlier one is rather interesting, considering the events of the intervening years. In particular the 2004 platform is decidedly more hawkish)
http://www.democrats.org/platform/index.html