What's bad for the goose is bad for the gander
When George Bush suspended habeas or wiretapped without warrants it was bad, and I criticized him for it. When Barack Obama continued the practice it was also bad.
The same is unfortunately true for idiot political subgroups. I've mentioned that between Obama's birth certificate, death panels, and other conspiracy theories it's been a stupid summer but this Salon article puts this stupidity in perspective. While it's true that 58 percent of Republicans said they believe President Obama was not born in the U.S., it's also true that 54 percent of Democrats believed that "People in the federal government either assisted in the 9/11 attacks or took no action to stop the attacks because they wanted the United States to go to war in the Middle East", a similarly evidence-free political fantasy.
While party affinity can be correlated with income or education, the number of conspiratorially minded, poorly informed, fantasy-prone people who have difficulty thinking critically appears to be spread more or less evenly between parties. Since criticism from friends and allies usually works better than shouting across the divide, I encourage everyone to follow the golden rule. Act the way you wish the other party would act to keep political discussions reasonable. Democrats, keep your 9/11 conspiracy loon friends in line. Republicans, speak up when birthers say Obama's a Kenyan or someone sends you a Glenn Beck forward. Together we can do our part to keep the conversation from flying even further off the rails.
The same is unfortunately true for idiot political subgroups. I've mentioned that between Obama's birth certificate, death panels, and other conspiracy theories it's been a stupid summer but this Salon article puts this stupidity in perspective. While it's true that 58 percent of Republicans said they believe President Obama was not born in the U.S., it's also true that 54 percent of Democrats believed that "People in the federal government either assisted in the 9/11 attacks or took no action to stop the attacks because they wanted the United States to go to war in the Middle East", a similarly evidence-free political fantasy.
While party affinity can be correlated with income or education, the number of conspiratorially minded, poorly informed, fantasy-prone people who have difficulty thinking critically appears to be spread more or less evenly between parties. Since criticism from friends and allies usually works better than shouting across the divide, I encourage everyone to follow the golden rule. Act the way you wish the other party would act to keep political discussions reasonable. Democrats, keep your 9/11 conspiracy loon friends in line. Republicans, speak up when birthers say Obama's a Kenyan or someone sends you a Glenn Beck forward. Together we can do our part to keep the conversation from flying even further off the rails.