I thought this was very interesting

(start at 7:40)


Now, this is not to insult those on plime who are conservative Americans. I just thought he brought up an interesting point. How close do you think Americans are to putting party loyalty before that of their own country.

This isn't just about the Tea Party thing, but about politics as they have been for many a decade.

Yes.

No.

"conservatives" (as in I like bush "conservatives) and Conservatives don't like Obama for different reasons. I'll differentiate with the capitals.

conservatives don't like Obama because he is a democrat. They want him to fail because they want democrats to fail.

Conservatives don't like Obama because he represents the opposite of everything that they stand for. Conservatives hated Bush too. conservatives didn't.

Either way, neither hates Obama more than they love America. The Olympics lose money for host cities. It's a complete waste of taxpayer dollars.

Just for form's sake the convention is that Conservative represents a political affiliation and conservative represents a reluctance to change.

Likewise, Barack Obama would be best described as a Democrat, as opposed to a democrat.

/pedant

(for now)

I get what Josh is saying, though. I'd say 'Republicans' in place of his conservative. There isn't a political party in the US called 'Conservatives', not really. It's typically part of the Republican platform, but not in recent years.

And I agree with Josh. I don't know anyone who puts Obama's failure or success ahead of the fate of the country, though I'd argue that their actions may have that result.

Agreed (w/ maven and Josh). I don't see anything particularly odd when it comes to the attitudes that many Republicans take. They just oppose a lot of things that Democrats say. I would not paint with a broad brush, myself. My parents could be considered conservative independents, and they don't really like Obama, but they don't hate Obama. They may not trust him or agree with him, but they don't hate.

Now you can always point fingers at individuals with loud mouths, like Rush Limbaugh, but those are the extreme. I think that it's mostly either ideological or (and I do get this impression) knee-jerk reactions to simply oppose Obama (and the Democrats) for the sake of opposing them.

Putting party loyalty first is not exclusively conservative or Republican. It is an affliction that infects both parties pretty equally.

Oh heavens yes! To the extent that people forget what the party stands for and refuse to change affiliations if their party ceases to represent their own core values!

Madness.

But these people control the Republican party. If Rush Limbaugh says something, the Republicans will parrot it. Those who don't are the fringes that everyone can safely ignore because they don't have power, and if they do, there will be a primary challenge from someone from the Rush Limbaugh crowd that will destroy their power.

No...those who don't are the silent majority. The majority of people are NOT extremists. For both sides of the equation. They just don't speak up and tell the lunatic fringe to shut up, sit down, and color.

But the silent majority doesn't have control of the party. That's my point. The Republican Party has been hijacked by the Rush Limbaugh crowd.

Yep. I agree with you there, just saying--the lunatic fringe are the minority, they are also the ones the put butts in seats at fund raising, who get the interviews, who sell papers.

And the silent majority stands by and lets it happen.