Fighting fire with fire is not always necessary

Why the Hate

Why is there hatred from the left towards President Bush? It is not just towards Bush, but toward anyone allied with Bush. For example Cheney, Rove, Ashcroft , Rumsfeld , Trent Lot even Condi, and Clarence Thomas. (That muckraking made me ashamed to be an American ). Take that hate to the grass root political level and the hate seems to follow along. At that level it is just as virulent however depending on where you’re at it can be much cruder. What makes people turn to that typical hate spewing rhetoric one sees so often in political discussions.
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I feel that when people don’t know what next to say in an argument that often times they will resort to name calling ect. I think that this culture has gotten so polarized that people are afraid to admit when they are wrong, and therefore start the rhetoric up instead.
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What is the answer to that? I don’t really know of a magic solution that works all the time however here are some tips that work with me. I’ve started to learn how to talk with people by studying Stephen Covey and Newt Gingrich.
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In Scot M. Faulkner’s excellent book Naked Emperors; he points out that Newt Gingrich used the mantra he learned from Covey of “LISTEN, LEARN, HELP, AND LEAD”, in his rise to power in the House. After studying some on the internet about Covey I learned about his favorite person Gandhi. Below is a link to the Gandhi/Covey piece.
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http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cache:Xz69Wn5IwfwJ:www.stephencovey.com/blog/%3Ftag%3Dgoals+stephen+covey+gandhi&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=2&gl=us
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At the top of that piece Covey was asked who was one of his personnel heroes below is his answer.
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Mahatma Gandhi. Let me read you his personal mission statement:
“Let the first act of every morning be to make the following resolve for the day:
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* I shall not fear anyone on Earth.
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* I shall fear only God.
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* I shall not bear ill will toward anyone.
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* I shall not submit to injustice from anyone.
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* I shall conquer untruth by truth. And in resisting untruth, I shall put up with all suffering.”- Mahatma Gandhi
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Wow! Just think if I could truly believe all of the above and follow it as much as I can what a different person I would be. Looking over that list I realized that an unshakable belief in what truth is, (as in we hold these truths to be self evident) was necessary to be able to follow that creed.
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On conservative talk shows (you know which ones) there is a lot of talk about how conservatives have core beliefs (of right and wrong, good and bad, and truth and untruth). It also seems obvious that when we stray from those core beliefs we as conservatives tend to lose our way. People have said that Barry Goldwater lost because he wouldn’t compromise his beliefs. If one looks at conservatism as a truth vs. Goldwater as an individual, conservatism was actually gaining ground it was the republican party that lost an election. Goldwater’s run led to inspiring a new group of conservatives namely Ronald Reagan and all those to follow up to and thru Newt Gingrich, taking back the House and Senate, et al.
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This leads me to the thought that whether John McCain wins or loses, conservatives have to stick to their core beliefs, and try to influence McCain all we can as we would any President. Try to use the mantra “LISTEN, LEARN, HELP AND LEAD” to help lead whoever is President towards our core beliefs.
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Perhaps in this way we will be able to help slow the spread of this cancerous hateful rhetoric.
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Regards, Live Dangerously be a Conservative
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PS. Barry Goldwater
“Never forget; There was only one freedom on which this country was founded, that was freedom from government.”