Knee-jerk Conservatives

I remember in the 1980’s when Reagan was president hearing a phrase over and over again, the phrase was “Knee-jerk Liberals”. Defined by Webster’s it means

1.	a person of strong liberal convictions who reacts predictably and emotionally to certain events.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, published 1913 by C. & G. Merriam Co.

Now remember this was when there was a huge republican resurgence in government and this phrase was used as an insult to make any liberal cause seem silly and a waste of time, from the environment to equal rights. Anybody that took up a cause that wasn’t in direct line with the conservative mind set was labeled a “knee-jerk Liberal” and viewed as unimportant.

In our current political climate in which there has been a bigger shift to the center or left of center, the conservative base now finds itself as a minority in politics. They didn’t see this coming either; they thought that there would be a permanent Republican majority, so enter the “Knee-jerk Conservative”.

The term “Knee-jerk Conservative” has no definition in the dictionary, I use the term to describe the radicals at the conservative base who believe that anything that is thought of by a Democrat is just wrong on principle, no reason or proof is needed, the belief that it’s wrong is more than enough proof to them.

The most noticeable “Knee-jerk Conservatives” are the ones with a media outlet such as; Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck & Bill O’Reilly, these are the ones that stir the pot and get the others riled up over nothing. Now I’m all for bringing attention to something that’s messed up and needs to be fixed, however, that’s not how these people work. They take a small fact and then cover it with a generous coating of B.S. Their listeners swallow it whole with-out question, then, when someone tries to explain the truth to them they won’t listen to it because they already heard the “truth” from one of their demigods who wouldn’t lie because they’re “conservatives”.

To these people who have been successfully brain washed and indoctrinated into this mind-set any conspiracy theory against Democrats especially President Obama is the truth in their eyes, no matter how far fetched, how outlandish or how many times it has been proven false, they will still believe it.

As recently as last week Sarah Palin, poster girl for the Republican base, was still talking about “Death Panels” as if they were real. Glenn Beck was trying to show his viewers “Communist” propaganda in the artwork at Rockefeller Center in New York and Rush Limbaugh was telling his listeners that President Obama himself was trying mandate circumcision for all males in this country, as if anybody this side of Limbaugh gave a crap about his penis.

These inane rants would be little more than an annoyance to those of us that know better, but to those that believe every lying word it’s a call to arms. People like Jim David Adkkisson who killed 2 people and injured 7 in a Unitarian church in Knoxville TN. He did this because he wanted to kill all the Liberals and Democrats because he believed the book “100 people who are screwing up America” which blamed every problem in the country on Liberals.

These “Knee-Jerk Conservatives” feel that Liberals are the living embodiment of Satan himself, almost the same way that Islamic radicals see the U.S.A. And like those radicals any peaceful protest has the likelihood of turning ugly.

What is the best way the deal with this problem? In my opinion the Republicans that have at least a little grasp on reality need to step-up and clean-up their own back yard. The “knee-jerk Conservatives” will not listen to anyone on the Liberal side, but they might listen to some of the Republicans. The Republican leaders need to call all of these fear-mongers on their B.S. and get the point across that this partisan crap is bad for everyone, including them.

I can only hope that some of the Republicans will start to do what is the best for the whole country and not just their own self interest.