Liberal/Conservative Diff - War on Terrorism

[gemini 0]

Question: You're walking down a deserted street with your wife and two small children. Suddenly, a dangerous looking man with a huge knife comes around the corner and is running at you while screaming obscenities In your hand is a 357 Magnum and you are an expert shot. You have mere seconds before he reaches you and your family.

What do you do?

Liberal Answer: Well, that's not enough information to answer the question! You're looking for simple solutions to complex issues. Does the man look poor or oppressed? Have I ever done anything to him that is inspiring him to attack? Could we run away? What does my wife think? What about the kids? Could I possibly swing the gun like a club and knock the knife out of his hand? What does the law say about this situation? Is it possible he'd be happy with just killing me? Does he definitely want to kill me or would he just be content to wound me? If I were to grab his knees and hold on, could my family get away while he was stabbing me? This is all so confusing! I need to debate this with some friends for a few days to try to come to a conclusion.


Conservative Answer: Shoot the son of a bitch! Then take your family to a baseball game, eat some hot dogs with apple pie, sing the national anthem, go to church and praise the Lord for one more day of freedom.

Blue skies,

Jim

[billvon 3,076]

Independent's answer: Don't walk down deserted streets in bad parts of town with your wife and two small children.

[pop 0]

hahaha. i'll take the conservative side.

7 ounce wonders, music and dogs that are not into beer

[Trent 0]

Real Life Situation: It could be any street, any time. Not just a deserted one.

Oh, hello again!

[wmw999 2,544]

Liberal answer, given all those "givens": Shoot him. Of course.
Liberal later on response: what could I have done to avoid this situation in the first place? I can't control what he did, but I can damn sure control what I do.
Liberal even later on response: Don't spend too much time preparing for things that are _exceedingly_ unlikely. Spend more time at the dropzone.
Wendy W.
(who's not even that liberal)

There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown)

[Zinger 0]

Shoot the man, If he is dumb enough to bring a knife to a gun fight I don't want him in the gene pool.

------Have a good one!--------

[Keith 0]

I wonder why conservatives are always so angry.

Keith

Don't Fuck with me Keith - J. Mandeville

[jfields 0]

Liberal Answer:

Watch the crazed man shoot himself, because he obviously hasn't taken any helpful NRA gun safety courses to go along with the concealed pistol he is carrying. Go to patriotic picnic with family, while "thug" is taken to hospital then jail.

Conservative Answer:

Shoot at him. Miss. End up killing small poor child playing on street behind him. Get shot in the leg, because "crazed man" really wasn't crazed at all, but shoots to disable after you fire first. Go to jail for manslaughter, while your family lives in the poor house after getting sued by family of child you accidently shot.



Ask a stupid leading question, get a stupid sarcastic answer.

[Zennie 0]

Libertarian Answer: Exercise your right to defend yourself and your family. Go home. Do whatever you're inclined to do & don't worry about the Government coming in & telling you how to live your life (so long as it doesn't infringe upon the rights others).

Oh. And don't worry about getting sued by the attacker's family, we went to a "loser pays" system a while back.

Don't worry about paying income taxes come April either, we abolished the IRS long ago.

- Z
"Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

[diver123 0]

don't you have those two mixed up? Wouldn't you say that someone with a conservative take on things would want more information before making a decision to take someone's life, and conversely, a liberal would be more apt to take matter into their own hands???

"pull high! It's lower than you think..."

[diver123 0]

conservative

\Con*serv"a*tive\, n. 1. One who, or that which, preserves from ruin, injury, innovation, or radical change; a preserver; a conserver.

The Holy Spirit is the great conservative of the new life. --Jer. Taylor.

2. One who desires to maintain existing institutions and customs; also, one who holds moderate opinions in politics; -- opposed to revolutionary or radical.

lib·er·al Pronunciation Key (lbr-l, lbrl)
adj.
6. Free to excess; regardless of law or moral restraint; licentious.

"pull high! It's lower than you think..."

[Kennedy 0]

Zennie, so very well put. Thank you.

<---proud, card carrying Libertarian

witty subliminal message
Guard your honor, let your reputation fall where it will, and outlast the bastards.
1*

[Scoby 0]

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lib·er·al Pronunciation Key (lbr-l, lbrl)
adj.
6. Free to excess; regardless of law or moral restraint; licentious.

You're being disingenuous. Your definition of liberal is from the adjective sense of the word, not the noun. In addition, the Mirriam Webster dictionary follows that entry with "obsolete."

Conservative and liberal, as they are used in American politics, have almost nothing to do with the actual definitions of the words. One can be a liberal Republican, as one can also be a conservative Democrat. In addition, one can be a radical right-winger, as one can also be a reactionary left-winger. Of course, this is meaningless, as the folks that promote the false conservative/liberal dichotomy use it for political reasons, not in any attempt to convey meaning.

[diver123 0]

Geesh, I was just trying to understand... Now you've really got me confused!

"pull high! It's lower than you think..."

[Zennie 0]

And to further confuse matters, the contemporary notion of Liberalism bears very little resmblance to Classical Liberalism, which is more akin to Libertarianism.

- Z
"Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

[DivaSkyChick 0]

YES. But vote anyway.

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Conservative and liberal, as they are used in American politics, have almost nothing to do with the actual definitions of the words. One can be a liberal Republican, as one can also be a conservative Democrat. In addition, one can be a radical right-winger, as one can also be a reactionary left-winger. Of course, this is meaningless, as the folks that promote the false conservative/liberal dichotomy use it for political reasons, not in any attempt to convey meaning.

---
www.facebook.com/mandyhamptonfitch

[billvon 3,076]

>Conservative and liberal, as they are used in American politics, have
> almost nothing to do with the actual definitions of the words. One
> can be a liberal Republican, as one can also be a conservative
> Democrat.

And that's not all! When the republican party was founded by Jefferson around 1800, it was founded on liberalism, a rejection of conventional religious values, and reduction in military spending.

It effectively disappeared in 1824, absorbed by the Democratic party. For the next few decades, the two parties were the Republican-Democrats (soon shortened to Democrats) and the Whigs. When the Whigs disappeared in the 1850's, the Democrat-Republicans again split into two parties, this time with the Republicans taking all the "conservative" ideas.

For about fifteen years, though, there were effectively no parties other than North and South. Even the democratic party was divided, and would put two candidates (democrat from the north and democrat from the south) on the ballot for president.

For years after the Civil War, the republican party was effectively the party of Lincoln, the party of anti-slavery and northern manufacturing. The democrats were the pro-'aparteid' and pro-farming southerners. It wasn't until 1900 or so that democrats and republicans settled down into the roles they now play.

[Michele 1]

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Conservative Answer: Shoot the son of a bitch! Then take your family to a baseball game, eat some hot dogs with apple pie, sing the national anthem, go to church and praise the Lord for one more day of freedom.

Actually, this is what I'd do...
1. Shoot him in defense of my family and myself.
2. Scream for someone to call 911
3. Spend the next few minutes giving CPR if there was a possibility he could be saved (I aim for center of mass...in the largest area of someone's body...their chest...)
4. Spend the next 12-24 hours being interrogated by the cops because I live in a non-carry state.
5. Call my attorney, and have her bail me out.
6. Spend the next 2 years of my life justifying my actions to police, newspapers, lawyers (civil and criminal), jury, judge, and God...
7. Learn how to balance the loss of a person's life because of my action with the fact of the lives of my family and myself were saved because of my action.

Just my thoughts...

Ciels-
Michele

~Do Angels keep the dreams we seek
While our hearts lie bleeding?~

[miked10270 0]

INTELLIGENT ANSWER:(?)

Move out of his way.

If he changes course toward you and there is no avenue of escape then the conservative answer still looks good one or two seconds down the line.

If he runs past then more analysis of the situation is needed - you may need to prepare to shoot his pursuer.

Taking the piss out of the FrenchAmericans since before it was fashionable.

Prenait la pisse hors du FrançaisCanadiens méridionaux puisqu'avant lui à la mode.

[Scoby 0]

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YES. But vote anyway.

I'd vote, if I was actually an American citizen. Which reminds me, I probably should get around to applying soon...

[antimike 0]

Good one Bill

[FliegendeWolf 0]

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You're being disingenuous.

Just a hunch, but you've taken the GRE, haven't you?

A One that Isn't Cold is Scarcely a One at All

[Kennedy 0]

Um, just in case you weren't aware, a person can cover 21 feet in approximately one second, less if you're in good shape. Moving out of the way is good, but moving and drawing is better.

FYI: cops are generally legally justified, for the most part, if you close into 20.99999 feet after they say stop, don't come any closer. Once again, I'll take the advice of the boys in blue on this one.

witty subliminal message
Guard your honor, let your reputation fall where it will, and outlast the bastards.
1*

[nacmacfeegle 0]

"Question: You're walking down a deserted street with your wife and two small children. Suddenly, a dangerous looking man with a huge knife comes around the corner and is running at you while screaming obscenities In your hand is a 357 Magnum and you are an expert shot. You have mere seconds before he reaches you and your family.

What do you do? "

Good analogy Jim....

To continue the analogous scenario....
Shoot him in the leg, if he is still a real threat, shoot him in the other leg, then each arm etc, etc, etc, he'll get the message.
If he calls the lawyers, call yours, you are bound to have better paid ones anyway. Besides, why worry about being sued if you are 'in the right' anyway.......>>>edit ---what if Texan law simply doesn't apply in this particular town? What if, in this town, you are not allowed to carry guns, and use them at your own discretion<<<

The world isn't a darkened street, and we don't have the same rights as Texans when it comes to shooting people, or destroying countries out of percieved threats, real, or imaginary.

If the knife is a real threat, and in plain view being pointed at you, you have a reasonable stance to adopt (shoot the fucker!). Here is the problem, we don't see the knife, and the madman is not running at you, he's lurking in a side alley, keeping his knife hidden, waiting for a chance to use it. If he was openly attacking then you have a right to take action. If that action involves going to the madman's house, and forcefully ejecting him, confiscating all available weaponry, then so be it, but you gotta have reasonable cause.....
You can't go wandering downtown looking for madmen to try out your most excellent firepower on.

Its a case of showing the knife, smoking gun, steaming barrel of chemical agent whatever.....
Once the evidence is plain view, put down the magnum, pick up the minigun, and go and do some 'sawing'....And I will cheer you all the way.

--------------------

He who receives an idea from me, receives instruction himself without lessening mine; as he who lights his taper at mine, receives light without darkening me. Thomas Jefferson

[Zennie 0]

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Shoot him in the leg, if he is still a real threat, shoot him in the other leg, then each arm etc, etc, etc, he'll get the message.

I'm having a really bad Monty Python flashback...

"It's just a flesh wound!"

- Z
"Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon