Are You an Extremist?

[*censored*]

It would be interesting to see an accurate depiction of the political spectrum and some polling numbers to see whether popular notions of extremism are, in fact, extreme. The first step, I guess, would be defining what the center of the political spectrum is. On a particular issue, wouldn't that be what the plurality of people (that is, the largest group of people supporting a particular position on an issue) believe?

Not exactly. Nazism is extreme by any reasonable person's standards. But in Nazi Germany in the 1930's, by the reasoning of a plurality agreeing marking it as centrist, then Nazism would be centrist.

That being said, is there any real way to put anything as a generally-accepted "middle" belief? If you ask an extreme liberal what's in the middle, it would still be far left to an extreme conservative. Likewise, an extreme conservative's middle view would be extremely conservative to a far-left liberal.

[Wickabee]

Not exactly. Nazism is extreme by any reasonable person's standards. But in Nazi Germany in the 1930's, by the reasoning of a plurality agreeing marking it as centrist, then Nazism would be centrist.

That being said, is there any real way to put anything as a generally-accepted "middle" belief? If you ask an extreme liberal what's in the middle, it would still be far left to an extreme conservative. Likewise, an extreme conservative's middle view would be extremely conservative to a far-left liberal.

There's no such thing as an extreme liberal though. Only conservatives are extreme. That's what Bill O'Reilly told me. Everything he says HAS to be true, like when he said:

Now, please, can we put this ACLU thing to bed once and for all? This is a far-left advocacy group with no interest in anybody's speech they don't like.

and also said this:

Defenders of the political Internet sewer say freedom of speech is the issue. But that's a canard. Hate speech is hate speech, whether it's being spewed by some nut wearing a Nazi armband, or some gnome hunched over a keyboard.

So as you can see it's wrong to stop free speech just because you don't like what's said...unless you're Bill O'Reilly.
I like O'reilly, I really do. He's the one Conservative in the media who seems to actually think about what he says. I consider him to be the voice of thinking Conservatives. This article, along with a few other things, though, shows that he doesn't always think things through. That's not a bash on Conservatives or even O'Reilly, just an observation.
I also like how he mentions "gnome hunched over a keyboard". I guess he writes in the woods using wolf blood while hunting bears?


http://www.boycottliberalism.com/Bil...lly-Quotes.htm

[habsheaven]

as for your first point, i think that is just a matter of wording and opinion. i haven't seen many democrats agreeing with trimming entitlements at all, much less to the degree republicans want.

secondly, it is a fact that we have never had such an enormous debt. I know our economy was tanking and obama felt he needed to do something, but people on the left tend to just ignore the epic failure that was the stimulus plan by saying "he had to do something." also, obama gets a pass from the same people who wouldn't give bush a pass when the economy tanked as a result of 9-11 and corporate scandals like enron. Just because obama had to do something, does not mean the trillions spent in the stimulus plan was wise or that it worked.

i will agree that extremist is not common but it is not rare either. again, probably just a matter of what one considers a lot. but i will agree that he overexagerates.

I get a kick out of this statement. Considering no one has a CRYSTAL BALL, no one knows where the economy would be without the stimulus. What we do know is that it certainly would not be better off. So qualifying it as an "epic failure" is another over-exaggeration.

[ensbergcollector]

I get a kick out of this statement. Considering no one has a CRYSTAL BALL, no one knows where the economy would be without the stimulus. What we do know is that it certainly would not be better off. So qualifying it as an "epic failure" is another over-exaggeration.

sorry, you cannot overexaggerate a multi-trillion dollar plan. if I saw anyone on the left willing to have an actual conversation about the stimulus, i would gladly take part. but while the right throws blanket statements that it is a failure, the left throws blanket statements of he had to do something and we would have been worse off without it.

[habsheaven]

sorry, you cannot overexaggerate a multi-trillion dollar plan. if I saw anyone on the left willing to have an actual conversation about the stimulus, i would gladly take part. but while the right throws blanket statements that it is a failure, the left throws blanket statements of he had to do something and we would have been worse off without it.

First, the over-exaggeration is not the stimulus itself rather it is the assessment of it's usefulness. Calling it an epic failure is an over-exaggeration. It isn't just the "left" throwing blanket statements out there. Poll the economists; how many agree that some kind of stimulus had to be initiated and how many agree that you would have been better off doing nothing?

[ensbergcollector]

First, the over-exaggeration is not the stimulus itself rather it is the assessment of it's usefulness. Calling it an epic failure is an over-exaggeration. It isn't just the "left" throwing blanket statements out there. Poll the economists; how many agree that some kind of stimulus had to be initiated and how many agree that you would have been better off doing nothing?

just because economists said something needed to be done, does not give obama a blank check. however, that is exactly what he did. when bush added to the debt, he was called out. but the left wants to give obama a pass because "some kind of stimulus had to be initiated." He added trillions to the debt in one year and the gain for the economy is barely noticeable.
yes, i know we can play hypothetical all day. I will concede that we have no way of knowing the result if he had not passed the stimulus. but not knowing doesn't mean the stimulus worked. every past president gets called out if they add to the debt at all, i'm not going to give obama a pass for adding more than any other president in less than a year.