Quote:
Originally Posted by Mizzou B-ball fan
I'd argue that the vast majority of Americans still follow the classic ideal of conservative or liberal thinking. It's just that the extreme right and extreme left seem to be taking the stage of late and distorting that perception. It's annoying to me as a constituent either way.
|
I agree, but that's not my point.
However it may once have been defined, the phrase "fiscal conservatism", thanks to the public enunciations of GOP and conservative leaders, has come to be defined as little more than "have the government spend as little money as possible".
Now, I'm sure that parts of the rank-and-file GOP, especially the
real fiscal conservatives who have been that way for ages and disliked the past 8 years as much as they disliked the 8 years before that, have a different, and more nuanced definition. But my point is that "fiscal conservatism" has become like the word "liberal". If you & I are talking, and use the word "liberal", we're expecting the more involved and nuanced definition of that word. However, out in the political arena and popular media (and this influences the thinking of
many Americans), if you use the word "liberal", you've essentially just used a shortened version of the phrase "hippy tree-hugging socialist sheep-fucker."
