Tony Robbins has said that everything we do in life, we do to either avoid pain or gain pleasure. He also says that avoiding pain is a stronger motivator. It makes sense. Think about it, pain taken to its conclusion can be fatal. We won't die without pleasure. Bored to death is only a metaphor. When you are an a*#hole, nothing hurts worse than the truth. So, what do you do to avoid the kind of pain that knowing you're the a*#hole brings? You project it onto other people.
There is a reason why Rick Perry will never be President (Oops, is not it, nor is the name of his ranch, but it's closer). During the primary debates, Governor Perry said that people who opposed instate tuition for undocumented children had no heart. He was right, of course, and that's the problem. People don't want to hear that they have no heart. You might as well call them racist (oh, that's right, we do, and they are).
Allow me to explain:
I was reading Ross Douthat's column in today's New York Times (I know I shouldn't do that). He was writing about how Hillary is the Democrats' only hope for 2016 or our "coalition" will fall apart. I just love when Conservatives tell Democrats what we believe in. Our "coalition" as he puts it really is everybody.
The Republicans say that the left are haters, we hate America, we want to destroy capitalism, we want to take away freedom and guns, we're anti-Christian and intolerant. We want to impose our will on an unwilling majority any way we can. We think people are stupid and government knows better. Time to look in the mirror, guys.
Douthat writes that we view the Obama Coalition as a left wing mirror to Nixon/Reagan conservative majorities. He warns us that we may think demographics (read growing minorities) may carry us to Presidential victories, we still can't win the Congress. He writes that while ignoring the fact that more people voted for a Democratic Congress than a Republican one.
Many people who voted for Republicans did so under false pretenses. Senator Mitch McConnell is a prime example of the lies. People in Kentucky love Obamacare. They call it Kynect, and don't know that it is Obamacare. Senator McConnell is trying to pretend that repealing Obamacare and kicking 400,000 newly insured Kentuckyians are unrelated. President Bush (the Younger) won by calling himself a "compassionate conservative". The Wrong disassociate from him by saying he was not a true conservative. How could he be? He had compassion!
I remember seeing a T-shirt in the 70's that said, "The Moral Majority is neither!" Polls on political leanings notwithstanding, we are not a center-right country, and friends should not let friends self-identify. Have you seen the polling data on raising taxes versus cutting Social Security or Medicare? Raising the minimum wage is hugely popular, by the way. Background checks for all gun purchases polls at 90%! Even the President's new proposal to cut greenhouse gases enjoys a majority, and one party won't even acknowledge it as a problem. BTW back in 2008 both Presidential candidates agreed that climate change was a problem that needed to be addressed. Cap and Trade was a Republican market based solution.
Republicans tell their constituents that they're right, that they're policies promote freedom, and democracy, and jobs, and wealth for everybody. In their eyes, the worst you could say about their agenda would be to say "You're on your own." And, who wouldn't agree that self-reliance is a virtue. They castigate Democrats for wanting equal outcomes for everybody.
Here's the equal outcome- we are all going to die. In the rat race that is society, the finish line is the same for us all. We are not going to get there the same way, or in the same time, and that's okay. Some people get a head start, some people need one and some don't, and that's okay, too. I'd like to give everyone a head start who needs one, and if a few people who don't need it take it anyway, I'm fine with that. I love reading the stories about people crossing the finish line at the New York City marathon the next day. I find their determination inspiring. Today's Republican party is dominated by Rick Santellis calling those people losers.
Americans want to believe in our greatness. Great people, by definition cannot be a*#holes. When someone falls, we help them up. We won't be told otherwise. So we're not racists, but welfare and food stamps go to lazy blah people in the inner cities who don't want to even think about work. Sure, some illegal immigrants came into this country as infants and became valedictorians, but so many more came as teens smuggling drugs. Oh yeah, did I mention that those lazy blah people are doing drugs? So we have to drug test them all before giving them any help.
War on women? What's that? I support equal pay for equal work, but women don't want equal pay, they want more flexibility. Men work longer hours, and do more physically demanding jobs. See? Its the work that's unequal not the pay. Why are my tax dollars going to fix a bridge in Washington? Let the people in Washington decide if they want to spend money on a bridge! I'll start tolerating gay people when the left tolerates my hatred of gay people- Hypocrites!
We're pro-life just like the Pope- and God is on Our side. Sure, we ignore his stance on the death penalty. What? We can't get those drugs anymore, and the death was not humane? Well, how humane was it when he killed those other people? Voter ID is necessary, because WE NEVER lose elections. They are sometimes stolen from us by ACORN. And I still can't believe the NRA caved to those liberal pussies.