Where do I find conservatives?

[German-Lefty]

I like a good debate, not a flame war. Every now and then I've visited Free Republic, but those people are Nazis! I know we kick right wingers out of here if they pick too many fights. Where can moderate sain people politically debate?

I'd like to meet a sain right winger. I don't think I can change his mind. I just want to understand where half the population is coming from. They can't all be ignorant.

We accuse right wingers of living in an echo chamber and rightfully so. I wonder sometimes how the nuts from freeper land get on in the real world. However as I sit here and read Salon and post at DU, I can't help but notice that we are also kind of isolating ourselves (especially me living in Germany).

Is there some moderate forum that kicks flamers, but otherwise allows everyone to have their say?

[quaoar]

1. Sure

This board has both liberals and conservatives:
http://p079.ezboard.com/fthecaboosefrm17

[Flammable Materials]

5. I'll have to check out that board myself. Thanks. n/t

[The Flaming Red Head]

2. The DNC, C-SPAN, both sides on Crossfire. etc

Where do you NOT find conservatives these days.

[German-Lefty]

3. I meant in the Internet. I'm in Germany

I don't get Fox. I get news from a couple of European countries, BBC, German ZDF, the Swiss, Euronews, ect. I don't have access to the corporate controlled media, nor do I want to. I want access to the corporate controlled people.

[Flammable Materials]

9. What you want might be almost impossible to find.

There really is only one voice in our media right now, and it is telling a growing majority of Americans what to think, who to like, who to hate, who to support, who to boycott, who to repress.

At one time, Americans may have been intelligent, well-rounded, thinking individuals. That was the time of our ancestors. Now, Americans by and large don't think - they react. If you're looking for conservative "intelligentsia" - they're the ones running the machine.

[The Flaming Red Head]

18. Doesn't MSNBC have a message board?

They used to. I haven't looked in a while.

[The Backlash Cometh]

20. Join AOL. I hear they have alot of freepers.

[Killarney]

4. The CourtTV website has a message board

with one forum for politics. It has both liberals and conservatives.

[no_hypocrisy]

6. Do you mean a "traditional" conservative like William F. Buckley or a

"faux" conservative who is really a neoconservative?

If the former, lots of books and articles by Buckley. You may even try Barry Goldwater, but he's less academic and his prose doesn't compare to that of Buckley.

[German-Lefty]

8. Are Buckley or Goldwater going to help me understand Bush voters?

Really I was just looking for a good forum. Somebody gave me a link to one forum I'm checking out.

Maybe I should read Buckley, though if he's an academic then I don't see today's political right being affected by him anyway.

[no_hypocrisy]

11. No. You're searching for NEOCONSERVATIVE, not conservative.

Google search suggestions:
neoconservative
reconstructionism
dominionism
Karl Rove
William Kristol
Marvin Olasky (compassionate conservatism)

[Bridget Burke]

12. Buckley & Goldwater were "old time" conservatives.

With some intelligence & some principles. They are not the driving force behind the neoconservatives who have driven Bush's campaigns. Their ideals are quite radical--some are corporatists in for world domination & others are religious folk who want the USA to become a Calvinist version of Old Testament society (stoning, slavery, etc.)

Many Bush voters don't know much about the ideologists & would be appalled if they did. But our mass media don't offer that sort of analysis.

[German-Lefty]

13. They can't all be sheep.

I guess there are two things: what the followers believe and what the leadership tells them. The nuts accuse us of the same stuff: Liberals want the government to run everything, turn sovereignty over to the UN, and then take away rights. Almost none of us do.

I'm convinced that there are people with a consistent perspective on the other side. You can be a consistent fascist or religious zealot. I'm hoping they have some consistent moderates too.

[BurtWorm]

7. I PMed you a site.

;)

[German-Lefty]

10. I'll mention the site sort of - conservative underground

Thanks, I'll check em out. As long as they are halfway uncensored, they'll probably be ok. Anything is better than freeperland. It's always hard picking a good fight without hurting anyone's feelings.

[BurtWorm]

22. Let me know how your sojourn there goes.

:hi:

[goddess40]

14. look under any rock nt

[DistressedAmerican]

15. They've Crawled our if their Southern Hollows

It's my worst nightmare come true. Southern conservatives running amok with all three branches of the federal government!
DA

http://www.seedsofdoubt.com/distressedamerican/main.htm

[Guarionex]

16. Yes...they can all be ignorant

Think of it...every generation has had "conservatives" and "reactionaries" that have tried to hold back progress...there's always been people that have not wanted to see change occur because it destabilizes their sense of identity and place...have they been right? No...generations have always proven them wrong..

Conservatives generally are wrong...some are idiots...some are religious idiots...some use their intelligence to support unequal status quos...etc...but ultimately society overtakes them...progress occurs...

[Czolgosz]

17. If you really want to understand Bush voters, go to http://www.pabaah.com

and take a stroll through their message boards. It's not pretty, but you will get some valuable insight into the Bush supporter mentality. The folks at Pabaah are not afraid to debate their agenda, and they do not delete your non-party-line posts or questions as quickly as the Freepers (but they may relegate you to their debate-a-troll forum).

PS I met some German people at a bar about six months ago, and we talked about politics. This was not too long after Arnold Schwarzenegger had been installed in office in California. The Germans, who had followed the California recall closely, were surprised that no one ever made an issue of Schwarzenegger's support for some far-right-wing German or Austrian regional politician back in the '90s (and I'm not talking about Kurt Waldheim, this was a politician I had never heard of and he was a regional candidate for some political office). Apparently, Schwarzenegger made personal appearances on behalf of this candidate. I seem to recall that this candidate lost whatever election he was running for. Now, I cannot remember who this far-right-wing politician was. Do you have any idea who those Germans were talking about?

[German-Lefty]

25. Ok, cool I'll check it out.

The only Nazi connection I heard about Schwarzenegger was his dad serving with the SS or something. You can't blame the son for the father, otherwise Prescott Bush's work for the Nazis would disqualify their entire family.

When I google "Schwarzenegger rechtsradikal" I get a bunch of stuff from Lyndon La Rouche. Sorry can't help you, but I'd be interested to know.

[Breeze54]

27. Swarzwnfaker nazi info

http://www.arnoldexposed.com/arnold.htm#nazi

[German-Lefty]

35. KURT WALDHEIM (AUSTRIA)

http://www.un.org/Overview/SG/sg4bio.html
This isn't some right wing fringe politician, Arny was friends with. The was UN Secretary General and then president of Austria (their president is probably ceremonial like the German one). Yes, lots of politicians had a Nazi past here. That's because lots of people were Nazis. So anyway it's not as bad as it sounds. Arny wasn't caught at a neonazi rally or anything.

[Stephanie]

19. Some newspapers have message boards

Try the NY Times and Washington Post.

[Dinger]

21. But Not CNN, MSRNC, CBS, ABC, FAUX, NBC, etc.

They shut down their message boards soon after the giggling murderer was appointed in 2000.

[ThorsHammer]

23. I'm here (moderate compared to the U.S.; conservative relative to DUers)

From my first post here:
<< Disclaimer: Moderate Republican, but not here to flame. I found this site by accident and joined in order to have honest, respectful discussion with those who have different views than me. I'm probably more conservative than most on this board, but am also a huge believer in talking with those who differ and will respect their views, as I hate the polarized red=bad, blue=good (or vice versa) mentality that has emerged recently.
>>

I'm probably not the rightwing, neo-Con type (I voted for Bush in '00, did NOT vote for him in '04) you're looking for, but am probably one of the more conservative people on DU. I'm not trying to change anyone's mind here, nor do I expect myself to become far left, but I do enjoy the civilized debate and discussion here. IMO, it's much better to have different but respectful viewpoints on issues rather than having everyone completely agree.

[German-Lefty]

24. Cool, thanks for stirring the pot.

I guess all we'd have to find something to debate about on a nice thread. You may be too moderate for me to be interested in.

I got kicked out freeperland for suggesting like the Declaration of Independence that in the eyes of God all men were created equal, including Iraqi civilians, to a bunch of crazies who think that the entire Muslim world is not worth one American life. If these nuts are even 5% of the population, we have serious issues as a country. I'd like to understand those issues.

[rman]

30. there's plenty of disagreement here...

(as you might have noticed) without the presence of Republicans, and this forum is not intended to be a platform for discussions between Democrats and Republicans, but of course you're welcome - at least as far as i'm concerned.

[Breeze54]

26. Centrist Rep. forum

http://www.centristcoalition.com

worth a shot!
There are 136,000 moderate republican chat forums listed in Google

[frustrated_lefty]

28. English

Just a note to help you, please take no offence. You asked about a "sain conservative." What you meant was a "sane conservative." No worries, they're equally rare. :)

[ElectroPrincess]

33. yes, like the joke "Military Intelligence" the term "Sane Republicans"

can be said to be a countradiction in terms. LOL

[James T. Kirk]

29. Check out this web site.

www.nationalreview.com

It does not have a discussion feature, but it has lots of articles on what conservatives are thinking.

[ElectroPrincess]

34. I wouldn't wish THAT board on my worst enemy. Those folks are touched :P.

If you are polite, the moderators will not kick you off of http://ConservativeUnderground.com

However, and this is a BIG however, you will have to tolerate (without reciprocation) abuse by some of the "out there" ones. But there are a number of "thoughtful conservatives" that will support your right to state your opinion.

But again, you won't be kicked off IF YOU are polite (double standard - yes, but they won't boot ya) - it is like the wild west, i.e., anything goes.

If you stay and feel comfortable as a Democrat, then you're a better man than me. <snicker>

[lynne]

31. Two spots that may be of interest . . .

Sean Hannity forum http://www.hannity.com/forum/ encourages debate between liberals/conservatives. Foul language is what will get you booted there - not your opinion.

Guardian Unlimited Talk - aka GUT -
http://talk.guardian.co.uk/WebX?[e-mail].3@.464
Very liberal board but there is plenty of debate with conservatives.

[ElectroPrincess]

32. Hey come on down to Northern Virginia!

There's plenty of confederate flags and good ole' boy pick up trucks with gun racks. That's North before you get to Springfield and liberal (semi-metropolitan) territory.

You can't help but trip over one or two of 'em before exiting street. Hell, all of my family (save for my spouse) are right wing (but secular) conservatives.

I don't know why you would want to talk with conservatives though? I've been around, related to, work with conservatives my entire life and the only way to reside peacefully with them is to NOT talk politics. Why? Some of their assumptions and rationale are IMHO insane. It's not worth the heartache and hurt feelings.

Many conservatives are "good people" but have drank the Kool-Aid, i.e., they have an inherent reverence for Authoritarian figures and Rules of Order (according to THEIR values). Sure I served four years honorably in the Active Duty Army ... but I was blessed to keep my anti-authoritarian streak suppressed (somewhat eg) until after discharge. ;)