Tag Archives: conservatism

For My Republican Friends: Let’s Play a Game, And See If Dividing the Democratic Party Permanently Is Possible

1. We need to assume a few things to play this game: Clinton’s voters are, more-or-less, traditional Democratic voters. Obviously, this is highly debatable, especially given Obama’s success in the caucuses (who goes out for these things anyway?) We assert also that the voters Senator Obama is getting will never vote Democrat beyond this campaign …

April 13, 2008 – 1:15 am | By ashok | Posted in politics | Tagged , | Comments (0)

Ah, Academia – That Lovely Place Where No One Can Do a Damn Thing for Anyone Else

The letter below is taken from Willmoore Kendall: Maverick of American Conservatives, by John A. Murley, published by Lexington Books in 2002. Kendall founded the Politics program at the University of Dallas. May 14, 1961 Professor Willmoore Kendall Residenzia Pinar 21 Madrid 6 Spain Dear Willmoore: I have frequently wondered why I did not hear …

February 13, 2008 – 3:07 am | By ashok | Posted in academia, politics | Tagged , | Comments (3)

"I Voted For John McCain And All I Got Was This Lousy President"

Dear Senator McCain: I voted for you only because I couldn’t stomach the way-too-slick (and probably very corrupt) Arkansasan, the “conservative” who would probably say Massachusetts likes him because of his “conservatism,” and the rich nutcase with the support of white supremacists and Truthers everywhere. I’m not very happy right now. The main thing that’s …

February 5, 2008 – 5:16 pm | By ashok | Posted in politics | Tagged , , | Comments (4)

Why Conservatives Should Be Kinder To Truthers

Note: What is below is pure speculation. I wanted a grounding that assigns Truthers to the Left more than the Right. I don’t think I got there, and what’s weirder is that talking about conspiracy theory tends to make one sound like a conspiracy theorist. Oh well. Michael Neumann, a philosopher, and CounterPunch contributor, at …

December 4, 2007 – 3:28 am | By ashok | Posted in politics | Tagged , , | Comments (10)

"Affirmative action for an oppressing minority:" Liberals, Conservatives, Academia and Capitalism

It’s not that there are no conservative professors, he [Larry Summers] said, but their share is so small as to raise questions that deserve more attention. – from The Liberal (and Moderating) Professoriate, by Scott Jaschik Affirmative action for an oppressing minority — that’s one hell of an idea! – Alexander Nekvasil, in comments on …

October 20, 2007 – 5:00 pm | By ashok | Posted in academia, education, politics | Tagged | Comments (2)

Is Lying To Yourself Dangerous? A Thought Experiment To Try And Define Conservatism.

I was watching Hillary Clinton get all upset about President Bush using his power to commute the sentence of Scooter Libby and immediately thought back to her husband’s last day in office.I wanted to throw up at such rank hypocrisy at first, but then I quickly recovered so I could ask a slightly deeper question …

July 3, 2007 – 1:24 pm | By ashok | Posted in politics | Tagged | Comments (2)

Rules for Argument

1. Make sure that regarding whatever you know about a particular topic, you have questions about that knowledge itself. If you don’t have questions, you probably have blind faith and are not suited for argumentation.2. There are issues which admit no compromise, and it is true that there are radicals in our midst. Would you …

May 30, 2007 – 1:55 pm | By ashok | Posted in politics | Tagged | Comments (2)

On Disraeli: Some Random Thoughts on Conservatism and Leadership

(Originally posted at WritingUp on 2006-06-28.) The quote below is from The New Yorker’s review of several new books about Disraeli. I know nothing about the man, and my comments are really speculative: “Trollope’s Daubeny [his Disraeli character] is certainly not a man of principle, but the novelist sees him as something more than an …

April 19, 2007 – 1:50 am | By ashok | Posted in politics | Tagged , , | Comments (3)

A Note On How Conservatives Use Resources

This article in Dissent Magazine asserts that conservative foundations are far more generous and interested in their interns than liberal ones. This article from Slate from a while ago talks about how conservative foundations might not be part of a “vast right-wing conspiracy” simply because the money to go around is so meager. I want …

February 25, 2007 – 10:32 am | By ashok | Posted in politics | Tagged | Comments (2)

How Not To Do Conservative Media

How to make Conservatives look like stupid, boorish jackassesThanks, Joel Surnow: just because 24 thrives on your utter lack of subtlety and inability to write dialogue, you feel you can be the comedian for the Right by making jokes not unlike Hans Moleman’s film in “The Simpsons” entitled “Man Getting Hit by Football.” I mean, …

February 17, 2007 – 7:24 pm | By ashok | Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged | Comments (1)