Checklist
I received the following in an email from one of my in-laws:
21 WAYS TO BE A GOOD DEMOCRATHow did you fare on the above checklist? I didn't pass the test.
1. You have to be against capital punishment, but support abortion on demand
2. You have to believe that businesses create oppression and governments create prosperity.
3. You have to believe that guns in the hands of law-abiding Americans are more of a threat than U.S. nuclear weapons technology in the hands of Chinese and North Korean communists.
4. You have to believe that there was no art before Federal funding.
5. You have to believe that global temperatures are less affected by cyclical documented changes in the earth's climate and more affected by soccer moms driving SUV's.
6. You have to believe that gender roles are artificial but being homosexual is natural.
7. You have to believe that the AIDS virus is spread by a lack of federal funding.
8. You have to believe that the same teacher who can't teach 4th-graders how to read is somehow qualified to teach those same kids about sex.
9. You have to believe that hunters don't care about nature, but loony activists who have never been outside of San Francisco do.
10. You have to believe that self-esteem is more important than actually doing something to earn it.
11. You have to believe that Mel Gibson spent $25 million of his own money to make The Passion Of The Christ for financial gain only.
12. You have to believe the NRA is bad because it supports certain parts of the Constitution, while the ACLU is good because it supports certain parts of the Constitution.
13. You have to believe that taxes are too low, but ATM fees are too high.
14. You have to believe that Margaret Sanger and Gloria Steinem are more important to American history than Thomas Jefferson, Gen. Robert E. Lee, and Thomas Edison & A.G. Bell.
15. You have to believe that standardized tests are racist, but racial quotas and set-asides are not.
16. You have to believe that Hillary Clinton is normal and is a very nice person.
17. You have to believe that the only reason socialism hasn't worked anywhere it's been tried is because the right people haven't been in charge.
18. You have to believe conservatives telling the truth belong in jail, but a liar and a sex offender belonged in the White House.
19. You have to believe that homosexual parades displaying drag, transvestites, and beastiality should be constitutionally protected, and manger scenes at Christmas should be illegal.
20. You have to believe that illegal Democratic Party funding by the Chinese Government is somehow in the best interest to the United States.
21. You have to believe that this message is a part of a vast, right wing conspiracy.
posted by Always On Watch @ 4/20/2006 06:45:00 AM
67 comments
67 Comments:
Fun test!
Well, I don't know what grade I got - I agreed with 14 1/2, disagreed with 3, and didn't quite understand 2 well enough to answer!
I got a 0%, whoo-whoo! I guess I'm part of the VRWC, where's my check?
That is funny, AoW!
Good morning and G*D bless!
tmw
I see you're serving red meat to the trolls this morning. Good luck!
-FJ
Funny list AoW. Sadly, most of these are true for the vast majority of true Democrats.
Wait a minute; that doesn't add up to 21, does it? I get an "F" in arithmetic today...
Ducky's just pissed because he cannot refute any of it!
Good list, AOW!
I failed miserably and I do not even know who margaret sanger is
or gloria stenheim
ps - I was going to include a $20 bill with this letter, but I already sealed the envelope.
-FJ
...and your right mr. ducky. #4 should read "You have to believe there was only BAD art before federal funding".-)
Personally, I think all the federally funded junk in this country was sponsored by the CIA as part of a plot to encourage Soviet artists to commit cultural suicide (It succeeded).
-FJ
...but you know what happens once something gets a line in the federal budget. Do we still have that strategic helium reserve?
-FJ
#22
You have to believe George Bush is a greater threat to America than all the terrorists in the world.
The Nation, "When the CIA was NEA"
-FJ
Even if we are outnumbered, right is still right! Or to avoid political leanings, correct is still correct. Numbers don't always count, you can have 100 people and if 95 of them believe robbing banks is okay, it doesn't mean they are right over 5 who believe robbing banks is wrong!
But, I don't believe we are that outnumbered.
tmw
Ducky
How about you go down and straighten out the mess the Marxists have created in our educational system ? Lets try for another 100,000,000 .
I see you're serving red meat to the trolls this morning. Good luck!
-FJ
Yes and what a great meal it was.
19. You have to believe that homosexual parades displaying drag, transvestites, and beastiality should be constitutionally protected, and manger scenes at Christmas should be illegal.
haha...this was the filet mignon.
Funny,
I always thought it was the Left that had the sex hang-up. First it was women's rights, now homosexual rights. What next? Auto-sexual rights? Soon, there will be NO limit to the parrhesia we can expect in the agora. Diogenes, your time will soon be here again! No longer will you have to restricted to rubbing your belly in order to satisfy your hungers.
-FJ
Let's be honest. Saying the left isn't preoccupied by sex is disingenuous. How many gay parades do we really need? We get the point.
Mel Gibson...everybody is out to make a buck but it wasn't his only motive.
FJ
The next stage has already started - thr right of children to enjoy sex with adults.
AOW,
The really funny bit is the lefties wouldn't even see that there is anything wrong with this "progressive" shopping list.
Ducky
Are you deranged enough to think that our Educational system is fine ? Lets see low test scores , worthless social science scholarship, soaring tuition for useless degrees, old Bolshevik cronyism in hiring. The Marxist left has wrecked Education and Healthcare.
ML,
Yes...and polygamy isn't very far behind....but of course, its' just our "hang-ups" that are preventing these developments. Just ask mr. ducky, he'll tell you.
-FJ
FJ
In fact in Canada and to some extand France the lawmakers are seriously considering legalizing polygamy due to enormous social security payouts to "officially" single musulman mum's.
http://www.swc-cfc.gc.ca/pubs/pubspr/0662420683/200511_0662420683-3_6_e.html
http://www.brusselsjournal.com/node/479
its' just our "hang-ups"
Oh, I'am sure of that.
finally, a test i can fail AND feel great about!
evening everybody!
I failed miserably - woooooo hooooo!
Too funny - love it.
Ducky you're sounding quite peeved today. Has something upset you?
aow - missives - fired your way!
i think plucky just realized he's the only hen in a house full of fox!
You have to believe that this message is a part of a vast, right wing conspiracy...yea yea ..guess we ALL qualify eh AOW?..lolz
Democrats believe businesses should be taxed out of existence to pay for unemployment programs.
Beamish called me out on a discussion of Serrano's "Piss Christ" and I made a fool of him.
When?
Love it! Thanks AoW!
Ducky, you should take care before you threaten to make a fool of me... Despite the obviously low opinion you hold of anyone who differs from you, I DID manage to crawl out of the primordial soup and make it all the way to the keyboard today, so watch out!
You DO sound a little more testy than usual. Everything alright?
FJ,
I see you're serving red meat to the trolls this morning.
Yes, spring fever has set in. I always feel this malaise when I have to return to work after a break, especially when the pollen levels soar to the moon.
My husband doesn't know the correct blogolingo, but when I read him the list, he said, "Looking for Ducky, are you?"
Beak,
Ducky
Are you deranged enough to think that our Educational system is fine ?
I don't see how Ducky could think everthing is fine. Regardless of political alignment, anyone should see that our public-education system is in crisis.
I see that a few commenters--among them, Mustang, Kevin, and Beamish--have added a Number 22. Wish I'd thought of adding a few of my own. The spring malaise, I suppose.
Missing Link,
A push to legalize polygamy???
What's next? Legalizing bestiality? Legalizing incest? The 60's mantra "Do your own thing" has taken on new meaning.
Has anyone else noticed the upturn in cases of educators' having sex with their students? My cousin called this morning and ranted over those stories.
Duck: Beamish called me out on a discussion of Serrano's "Piss Christ" and I made a fool of him.
Beamish: When?
Does Duck ever post links???
always,
I do believe your husband can read my mind, even if he may not speak blogolingo. I was thinking very specifically of mr. ducky.
-FJ
AOW,
I'll leave it to Ducky's delusional judgement whether or not he wants me to pull up the thread where Farmer John, Mussolini, and myself soundly thrashed his defense of piss as art. Since he's fantasizing that he's ever "made a fool" of anyone.
I have to be honest. I don't respect Ducky intellectually. I can't. Not out of any prejudice, mind you. It's just that there has never, ever in the history of human existence been a leftist that could wed his ideology to rationalism, and I don't want to sully my own reputation of straight talk by pretending otherwise.
mr beamish,
I hate to disagree with you, but whereas mr. ducky may not share my own particular "taste" in art, he is extremely knowledgeable on the subject and certainly "blows me away" on occassions when we do share a serious discussion. Don't box him in w/Serrano, et al.... he has to defend them. Somebody does. I may not "like" all the positions I am usually forced to defend. But I will defend them.
-FJ
If you really want to see what mr. ducky knows about, you should allow "him" to pick the work. Don't box him in w/Serrano.
-FJ
FJ,
I'll take your testimony of the observed existence of Ducky's intellect under guarded advisement, if you attest that you're not pulling my leg.
We got into a discussion of Piss Christ. I'm not sure we've ever discussed actual art.
Iran Watch,
I think what we're seeing is an actual upswing. I suspect that male teachers having sex with female students has been happening for many years, but possibly not to the extent we're now seeing. But female teachers having sex with boys? I think the latter is testimony to our subculture of immorality. At what point will that subculture become mainstream? Perhaps sooner than we think!
Beamish,
I don't want to sully my own reputation of straight talk by pretending otherwise.
No two-facedness or gray areas for you. Excellent!
Iran Watch,
I guess you can be too smart to see the obvious.
Or brainwashed in a leftist university.
I do not pull your leg, mr. beamish. Try actually talking to him about art or film for a change. He openned my eyes to a number of aspects of film and to works of art to which I had previously been completely blind.
I still do NOT like "modern" art. But I do think I have learned to better "appreciate" it. Especially the art of the early twentieth century and the impact of WWI and the Great Depression on the human consciousness, especially in places like America.
Those who "love" something, can sometimes give you insights that those who merely understand cannot. Believe it or not.
-FJ
Well, okay FJ. I'm still going to have trouble swallowing the concept of a leftist being intellectual. It's kinda like trying to imagine pepperoni pizza composing a symphony.
I don't worry too much about Duck's taste--of lack of taste--in art. He can like whatever he wants to. Nevertheless, he ridicules those who like different forms of art. How closely aligned to his politics is his art appreciation? Personally, I separate art and politics. Then again, I'm not an art connoisseur.
Beamish and his way with words: imagine pepperoni pizza composing a symphony.
always,
I suspect that if you really analyzed your own "taste" in art, you would soon discover that it is NOT really separated from your "politics". I would recommend that you, too, have an art discussion w/ mr. ducky.
-FJ
Just as the Greeks once anthropomorphized the gods to learn more about and try and intellectualize and explain their own actions and behaviors, so a study of art in its' many varied and differentiated forms can help man to understand himself, and "other men. i.e. "Islamic" art. Does anybody think that their art has any "political" agenda? Can an absense of "subject" contribute to that impression? Art... words for the right half of your brain.
-FJ
FJ,
I suspect that if you really analyzed your own "taste" in art, you would soon discover that it is NOT really separated from your "politics". I would recommend that you, too, have an art discussion w/ mr. ducky.
I don't know about that. My taste in art/music/movies is pretty eclectic and seems to depend on my mood at the time. And sometimes I just want to be entertained.
I'm very left-brained. My right brain must be underdeveloped--except for music, of course. My taste is music is eclectic as well. I do exclude rap and some of the bee-bop of the 50's and 60's, however.
Islamic art is basically geometric, of course, and relates mostly to avoiding any form of idolatry. Islam attempted to replace idolatry with a monotheistic system. The idolatry some 14 centuries ago centered around images of animals and plants, though other elements were also involved in pagan worship. A bit of a contradiction in Islam, BTW--that black rock in the Grand Mosque. How many times do they have to do the ring-around-the-rosie ritual?
PS: Actually, I like much of "Islamic art." For my Spanish Civilization course, I wrote a huge term paper on Muslim architecture in Spain and really got into the subject matter.
I love Islamic art and architecture.
But let me ask you this always, do you think that the Islamic "religion" is in any way, shape or form also "political"? (I think you do). For isn't the current radical "push" in Islam (both of the Shi'a and Sunni factions) for THEIR religions to "dominate" the state and appropriate all "use of force"? Isn't part of this clash of civilizations we are currently experiencing their attempt to "extend" their "caliphate" to others. Isn't everything to do with "jihad", or holy-war, totally "political"?
Is religion soley the relationship between a single man and his G_d, or can it also affect other inter-human relationships. If it can affect inter-human relationships, then it has a "political" aspect and dimension, as others, both believers and non-believers might tend to "push back" (and tell the sharia imposers to beat it - literally)[they represent a non-separated church & state scenario... ie the radical "Khomeini" inspired Iranian doctrine of a shi'a "Supreme Leader" or "jurist"/ judge].
Since Islamic art has no "man" or life forms of any kind in its' pictures, does this bode well for mankind or have any political implications? Is a complete and utter disdain or absence of CREATive {but not totally abstract) thinking of future possibilities for mankind healthy (in half one's brain - "Where are the humans...I can't quite picture them...")
The average Muslim is not allowed to let the right half of his brain rest on any image of a possible alternative "good life" in "this life" or anything critical of Islamic policies and the current order. Idolatry has become not only a prohibition against worshipping other deities, but also a prohibition against contemplating any options for this life that might lie "outside" of the Koran and Islam.
Abstract/ symmetrical thoughts for the right-brain only are allowed. Geometric forms... devoid of life (truth/reality).... but of course not devoid of "beauty" (symmetry, measure, proportion). For their art is comprised entirely from a "subset" of Plato's "beautiful forms"... Islam is the only "political" form for "this life" allowed. Mohammed has succeeded in banning the poets from his republic.
ps- Have you ever studied the "modern art" forms mr. ducky admires, much of which originated during the "Cold War" and in eatern Europe under communism? The canvases are rather bleak, pale, and empty... which to me resembles a bit too closely a form of nihilism. da-da -ism. Surrealism. There almost a steady progression from the Realists/ Impressionist onwards "away" from life and living... and towards "nothingness".
And of course, look at some of the canvasses of communist ex-pat artists (Trotskyites) who went to Mexico... and who then painted their "ideals" (You might find a few links and discussions of this and other art subjects at BB's "old" site.) They painted their "dreams" - wish fullfillments. They're drenched in symbolism, and what they desire for the future, and how they saw the world. They are eye openners.
Show me the kind of art somebody likes, and I'll bet you dollars to donuts you can guess their politics and what they believe in.
-FJ
In other words, always, it's not what is IN their art that matters, it's what ISN'T. There is ONLY Islam, and the "status quo" reality.
-FJ
Interesting post. Some points are funny.
>>3. You have to believe that guns in the hands of law-abiding Americans are more of a threat than U.S. nuclear weapons technology in the hands of Chinese and North Korean communists.<<
It makes me laugh. I am no gun supporter, but I firmly believe that Chinese and North Korean nukes are more serious threats.
In the west, people may need guns. But in DC, it seems to be appropriate to prohibit gun ownership. Since diplomats from all over the world stay there, European standard is preferable.
>>15. You have to believe that standardized tests are racist, but racial quotas and set-asides are not. <<
It is OK for domestic applicants. But for overseas applicants, the college admission office gives special considerations. Students have various educational backgrounds.
I took the GRE in the past. Quantitative section was easy, but verbal was tough. Of course, the admission office understands that it is hard for non-native English speakers to mark a good score in the verbal section.
For domestic applicants, individual background considerations may be necessary, instead of racial quotas. For example, rich blacks have more advantages than poor whites. For egalitarian goal, special considerations must be given to poor whites in this case.
Things are not so simple. In any case, a uniform standard like racial quota is meaningless.
I have posted an interesting test on my blog as well. Would you try?
the left have their points, beamish, and not to worry - they're nothing many hats won't cover.
and i say that with love - nearly my entire close family are all leftists - i'm the black rightest sheep of the family. yeah, they hate me. but what really irritates them as bad as a case of jock itch is that i love them to pieces and they cannot figure out why. i know how to make them crazy and question their beliefs.
I hate to tell you this, always, but your politics seem a little eclectic too. Hmmmm.
I know what you mean about family nanc. Two out of my three kids, and my wife, have moved lefter and lefter every year. We've worked out a set of signals though, so that they know when "silence" is to be observed.
And of course, one word has been banned outright, but only when meant as a substitute for a profanity... as in Bush War or Bush policy. We can talk about our President, but I refuse to hold him responsible for the actions of our ENTIRE government, and so I enforce a form of strict censorship when less mature family members are in my presence.
No wonder they keep moving Left. Generation from opposites.
-FJ
beamish,
My own conversation w/ducky about art started here and ran for about the next 6 threads before finally petering out at BB's Mission.
-FJ
Never mind beamish,
Looking back on it, the conversation was rather one-sided.
-FJ
We did talk about the Rothko's, et al, once. Wish I could find those old posts.
-FJ
FJ,
I hate to tell you this, always, but your politics seem a little eclectic too. Hmmmm.
When I first started voting, I registered as an Independent. And as I look back as to how I've voted over the past decades, I guess that I've run the spectrum, depending on my take on the situation at the time. Also, I would say that my politics is to the left of that of my parents (university influence? different life experiences?), though I find myself becoming more conservative as I grow older. IMO, we are all eclectic when it comes to politics, once our political beliefs are solidified. I didn't think much about politics until 9/11/01; I was too busy with care-giving my father and with "life." And I've found myself becoming quite the cynic when it comes to political leaders of all stripes. As far as I'm concerned, history and politics is mostly about the power and the money; I find that most leaders let their ethics take a back seat.
Show me the kind of art somebody likes, and I'll bet you dollars to donuts you can guess their politics and what they believe in.
Frankly, I'm not so much into visual arts (eye troubles). Many of my conservative friends have no use for some of the art I like, and the same can be said of many of my liberal friends. But I'll share this with you: I don't like atonal music; I prefer the more "classical" forms, though I do like some of the modern compositions, provided the tensions are ultimately resolved. And if a composition ends on a dominant 7th, forget it! Minimalism does absolutely nothing for me.
let me ask you this always, do you think that the Islamic "religion" is in any way, shape or form also "political"? (I think you do). For isn't the current radical "push" in Islam (both of the Shi'a and Sunni factions) for THEIR religions to "dominate" the state and appropriate all "use of force"? Isn't part of this clash of civilizations we are currently experiencing their attempt to "extend" their "caliphate" to others. Isn't everything to do with "jihad", or holy-war, totally "political"?
If I read the above correctly, I think I would answer "yes" to all.
I also agree with you that what a particular genre omits is very significant. Of course, in most cases, those omissions require the use of something else.
Shah,
I've worked with many ESL students. All have excelled in the math sections, but have had difficulty with the verbal sections, most particularly the essay-writing.
Most colleges give special consideration to particular groups. That consideration has often been a source of conflict on several different levels.
I'll check out that quiz you mentioned.
f.j. - is it what i affectionately call the "death look"? if so, i have the patent on it and you're free to use it any time you'd like - i've brought a goodly amount of people to their knees with it. grown men, yeah, i don't like to brag, but that look is worth a million tasers.
I'm not sure it's quite made it into a "death" look, but it does, usually, freeze them in their tracts....
-FJ
Teachers refer to it as "the look." Sometimes that's all it takes if one has perfected it.
Which aristocrats would those be, mr. ducky? Me? I simply want the supra-titles thrown out of the opera, the subtitles removed fom the foreign films, attendees at public events prevented from being seated once a performance starts, and all efforts to make what I happen to like more "accessible" to the intellectually impaired to cease.
And you're a fine one to talk about "poisoning" cultural appreciation. This from the "inventors" of "critical theory".
Long live the Sargasso Sea. Only don't blame me for trying to maintain a minimal "intellectual" admissions fee and not wanting everything dumbed-down for me.
As for the "art" itself, I vote with my feet and "personal" wallet. And I want you to stay the H' out of it.
-FJ
Letter, Thomas Jefferson to John Adams...
28 October, 1813
...For I agree with you that there is a natural aristocracy among men. The grounds of this are virtue and talents. Formerly bodily powers gave place among the aristoi. But since the invention of gunpowder has armed the weak as well as the strong with missile death, bodily strength, like beauty, good humor, politeness and other accomplishments, has become but an auxiliary ground of distinction. There is also an artificial aristocracy founded on wealth and birth, without either virtue or talents; for with these it would belong to the first class. The natural aristocracy I consider as the most precious gift of nature for the instruction, the trusts, and government of society. And indeed it would have been inconsistent in creation to have formed man for the social state, and not to have provided virtue and wisdom enough to manage the concerns of the society. May we not even say that that form of government is the best which provides the most effectually for a pure selection of these natural aristoi into the offices of government? The artificial aristocracy is a mischievous ingredient in government, and provision should be made to prevent it's ascendancy.
-FJ
I thought being a good Democrat involved being a member of my family other than myself. Try to imagine OUR family get-togethers......hahahah!!
At any rate, I started my own political party as a joke with someone else, but we're getting increasingly serious. "The Tea Party". SOMEONE has to start representing the people. As for what to throw into Boston harbor this time, my suggestions range from Jimmy Carter (the blight on my home state), people who say "20 is the new 30", and copies of the song "Feliz Navidad". And "Never on Sunday". But great discussion. I always love to see Ducky referring constantly to peoples' assholes. Seems to be an obsession. I might take a tally when I have the time someday of Ducky's butt related comments.
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