I think it's time to wipe out hardcore conservatism, or at least do all we can to wound it

[Pushed To The Left]

I'm not talking about regular conservatism or moderate conservatism, but I am talking about the hardcore, divisive brand of conservatism that has become popular in the last few decades. We have seen in the last few years that the far right doesn't give a damn what their opponents think of them. They will do whatever it takes to win and to push their agenda. We have seen that they are willing to break the law, suppress voters, out CIA agents to punish their spouses, practice things like caging, etc. With all of the whining they did when Democrats tried to filibuster right-wing judicial nominees, they will do the same thing to keep our brave American troops from having the time off they need between deployments. THEY FILIBUSTERED AGAINST THE TROOPS! These are the same troops they claim to support.

It's time for those of us on the left and in the middle to do whatever it takes to eliminate this harmful ideology from the political map. They use a twisted interpretation of fundamentalist religion to convince people to vote against their own self-interests. Bigotry is part of their ideology and their goal is to make sure that a group of people are never treated fairly. They are willing to AMEND THE CONSTITUTION to make sure that LGBT Americans aren't given equal rights and to throw Americans in jail for burning their own flag in protest. That's right, they want to add amendments to the Constitution to cut down on freedom of speech and to prevent equality. I thought that freedom and equality were the values that made America great, but the far right disagrees.

It wouldn't be a level playing field even if the far right wasn't willing to cheat to win. The left and Democrats represent the underdog. The right wing represents the very rich, powerful and influential. Who do you think has the advantage right off the bat? Lots of corporate money is used to buy off politicians and to advertise against progressive causes. Media consolidation has turned talk radio into a mostly right wing playground, where charismatic hosts brainwash their followers that everything conservative is good, and that everything progressive is evil and unAmerican. They take open minds and hammer them until they close to all other ways of thinking. Listeners don't get a chance to hear another point of view, because there is only one viewpoint on most talk radio these days. And that's exactly how the right wing machine wants it. Any progressive victory, no matter how small, is a victory against the odds.

What I'm trying to say is that it's time for the left and Democrats to take an aggressive approach and defeat radical conservatism by nearly any means necessary. I wouldn't support breaking the law like the far right does, because then we would become just like them. However, I do support doing whatever it takes to weaken the religious right and the radical right in general. Bill O'Reilly talks about a "secular progressive movement" where he claims that there are very aggressive liberals who will do very ruthless things in order to emerge victorious in the "culture war". I tend to think a lot of that is paranoid fantasy red meat for the right wing listeners, because he gives "secular progressives" evil character traits and says that they want to somehow eliminate religion from American life because it's the only way they can further their agenda. Sometimes I actually wish O'Reilly was telling the truth--not the part about destroying religion or having evil personality traits, but that there was actually a progressive/liberal movement that was that aggressive and that scared him as much as his "secular progressive" characters do. I wish we did have a ruthless progressive movement that would stop at nothing to win and to kill this monster known as the hardcore conservative movement.

This is why I think it's so important not only for Democrats to win up and down the ballot, but for progressive and/or civil liberties groups like the ACLU to be as aggressive and ruthless as they want to be to stop the far right from destroying the Bill of Rights. We will always be at a disadvantage due to who we represent and who the right wing represents, so we will have to use whatever we have at our disposal if we want to get anywhere. This is also why we need to stick together during the general election! We have to do whatever it takes.

[AuntPatsy]

1. A bit odd but lately I have been visited by different church representitives in my area,

I don't take the time to talk to them simply because I don't believe they would like the preaching that I would give to them and I don't wish to be rude to those that I don't feel are deserving of my present anger at what this administration has done to my own personal beliefs, but I have lived here over ten years and I have never had this influx of religious callers before, I wonder if the word is going out to church leaders to begin another round of pushing for the upcoming election of "08" that you must vote on religious teachings and ignore the truth of what is really going on?

[Pushed To The Left]

3. I wouldn't be surprised.

The way the right wing exploits religion is obscene!

[liberaldemocrat7]

4. If you want to destroy conservatives then stop buying their friend's products.

Take those companies as economic hostages.

http://www.dmocrats.org

[Jamastiene]

2. Ya know, although this may sound cheesy, I think they are

scared of us when we act wild and carefree. I think that may be our power, whether we realize it or not. I agree that it's time we take this country back and overthrow the right wing's dictatorship over us. The peasants must revolt if we are to have any sort of revolution.

If the ideas were left up to conservatives, America would never have been created in the first place. Here, I insert a great Patti Smith quote that fits the circumstances nicely:

"We created it. Let's take it over."