Assumptions are Good

Liberals are all about assumptions and that is okay. Very soon the left-wing is going to assume its way out of office. Why do I say that? Because liberals like to lump conservatives all into one group of people and assume that if they can use the MSM to convince everyone else that is who we are then conservatives will lose public support.
Some examples and my reactions to them:
1. All Conservatives are poor, wife beaters, in t-shirts and racist people who have been lied to by Rush and Glenn and live in trailers....That is the way we are grouped by the MSM when there is broad public support against a liberal policy or they find a nameless conservative blogger to trash behind their own liberal blogger credentials. There have been numerous times when I have asked a liberal on a blog somewhere who from and where they got some information or to explain something they said and the response was "shut up, go back to your trailer and beat your wife!"
2. We all love NASCAR....Okay, what is wrong with that? I like NASCAR but I can't tell you how many conservative friends I have that just don't get the appeal of watching cars go around in circles. I also lost count of how many pro-Obama bumper stickers I have seen on cars that also had NASCAR stickers. That's okay; sport is an individual non-political taste. When I say I hate golf many of my conservative friends look at me like that's not possible.
3. The majority of the conservative base is undereducated and are incapable of understanding the issues at stake....The reason this belief is so widespread is the result of rampant liberalism at state universities. Many conservatives in college now keep their political views quiet in the classrooms and campuses for fear of retaliation from professors and students. Another reason is the liberal belief that if you don't agree with their agenda you must not be smart enough. In the almost 20 years I was in the Air Force I have met very few liberals and all the conservatives I have met had, at a minimum, a high school diploma and most had at least one, and sometimes multiple, college degrees. A perfect example of this is to get a room full of liberals and conservatives together and discuss a controversial issue. Let’s see who resorts to name calling and throwing out information with no factual basis first. I'm not saying that there are not Republicans capable of this but far fewer than in the hate-spewing left. My measure of intelligence is who will sit longer listening to an opposing viewpoint to see if there is any chance they might be wrong before throwing out a defense of their belief. Most conservatives are much more likely to hear and really listen to all viewpoints, issues and evidence while behaving more like adults than liberals.
4. All conservatives are yuppie slime bags, wearing Easter colored pastel sweaters, driving to town hall meetings in their middle class cars from their middle class homes to oppose health care because the insurance companies/conservative politicians paid or told them to do it...This is a perfect example of the MSM changing their narrow definition of conservative to whatever group they feel will receive the biggest backlash. During the Tea Parties the MSM would have you believe that the conservatives at those events met the definition that I listed as number one. Now that the people are showing up to speak to their elected representatives, the MSM have changed that definition to meet the new enemy definition supplied to them by the White House and the Speaker, insurance company controlled yuppies. Look, I understand that some people are influenced by lobbyists, they are called elected officials. Just because citizens of a district oppose a plan supported by their elected official and go to a meeting to voice their opposition doesn't make them Evil Insurance Lobbyists, they are concerned citizens speaking out about a subject they are concerned about and opposed to. Isn't the whole purpose of a town hall meeting to let the elected officials know our feelings on a matter and to find out what they are going to do about it? If these people were being trucked in from out of state in insurance company vehicles and having their suite at the hotel paid for by a pharmaceutical company than that is reportable news. That isn’t what is happening, this is the MSM trying to drown out the voice that doesn't agree with their liberal agenda!
5. All conservatives are Bible thumping zealots determined to take over the country and force everyone to pray before any event, pump out dozens of babies with a partner you don't love, and force their ethics on everyone...Once again, not true! I haven't been inside a church in years. I believe abortion is murder because I believe that an unborn child is alive and when you cease its life it is dead, pure and simple. That is a belief that is often challenged with a request for scientific proof, I return the request and say that I would rather err in favor of life (the left uses the same argument to oppose the death penalty but it is okay for them, forget about how an unborn child can't decide to kill another human being). How about some non-challenged scientific proof of manmade climate change? The same goes with gay marriage and homosexuality in general. This conservative doesn't care who you do what within your private life as long as they are an adult and consenting. Where I have the problem is when there is an expectation that others beliefs will be discarded to support the institution financially through assisted parenthood for gay partners, tax advantages through legalized marriages etc..That is a tough sell to tell people that a government recognized religious service can be used to legitimize an activity they feel is against the laws set forth by God. In my opinion the government should never have gotten involved in the marriage business to begin with. Recognize no unions and let them be a matter between the Churches/agencies involved and individuals.
The bottom line is that liberals and the MSM are going to quickly alienate moderates of both parties by trying to narrowly define what makes one a conservative and ascribing a set of dismissive attributes to all of them. They are also going to motivate a conservative base that by nature is usually slow to stand up and say enough! Conservatives by definition try to stay out of other people’s business but criticizing their lifestyle by lumping them into groups that don't apply to them may wake them up. I say let the liberals and the MSM continue to dismiss the people who meet any of these criteria and they will fall apart under the pressure of their own political correctness when they offend one too many groups.

Charley Helvy