I mean, who cares about two dingbats of negligible political stature and the crap they spout? Aside from their handful of followers and, of course, those on the fringe right, not many. Kucinich looks to be on his way out in Ohio, possibly carpetbagging his way into my state. Gods forfend. As to McKinney, I've heard of her exactly two times in my life, once in a post by Larry and now in yours.
The real problem, as I see it, is that you've weighted vocal support from the left so that it's as wrong as the real political support (money, arms, training and whatnot) offered/pushed by the right. I can't accept that. The low level of background violence you cite for the authoritarian regimes we support in the Gulf is false in the sense that the need for violence in those states is obviated because the dissidents and violent malcontents not rounded up by internal security forces are exported to neighboring states and, once in a while, the West. Oh, the irony.
The reply you made stating that the right has far less need to support dictators nowadays, that it was really about anti-communism, is one that I pretty much agree with entirely. But if that was your real intent in making the original post, then you expressed your idea poorly.
Now, what's truly notable about the (far-) left is not the hypocrisy-they're politicians,after all. Rather, it's the impotence.
Ahmadinejad isn't a dictator; he's Khamenei's dog on a leash. *quibble*
The real problem, as I see it, is that you've weighted vocal support from the left so that it's as wrong as the real political support (money, arms, training and whatnot) offered/pushed by the right. I can't accept that. The low level of background violence you cite for the authoritarian regimes we support in the Gulf is false in the sense that the need for violence in those states is obviated because the dissidents and violent malcontents not rounded up by internal security forces are exported to neighboring states and, once in a while, the West. Oh, the irony.
The reply you made stating that the right has far less need to support dictators nowadays, that it was really about anti-communism, is one that I pretty much agree with entirely. But if that was your real intent in making the original post, then you expressed your idea poorly.
Now, what's truly notable about the (far-) left is not the hypocrisy-they're politicians,after all. Rather, it's the impotence.
I've noticed that people on the Left like to throw around epithets to describe those on the right like "fascist" and "Nazi". If those Leftists have ties to the Third World, they also like to throw in "colonialist aggressors" or "capitalist imperialists" or simply "oppressors".
However, the Left seems to cozy up to dictators these days far more than the Right. Al Jazeera just today reported on how Dennis Kucinich wrote to the Gaddafi regime as late as this August to try to discredit the NTC as part of his effort to, and I quote, "bring a lawsuit against NATO/UN/USA". Cynthia McKinney just got back from a whirlwind trip of cozying up to Ahmadinejad, Gaddafi and other dictators who are up to their elbows (or higher) in the blood of innocents (and I hope the FBI investigates the source of her funds for those trips). Still others support Chavez and Castro and somehow think that totalitarian and authoritarian regimes can be forgiven if they talk about helping out poor people in between jailing people for dissent and killing off enemies in one fashion or another.
Ahmadinejad isn't a dictator; he's Khamenei's dog on a leash. *quibble*
The hypocrisy is overwhelming. Anti-war activists actually supported Gaddafi, because somehow in their minds a brutal peace, enforced with state-sanctioned murder, is better than a short civil war of liberation. Others somehow see the free market as the ultimate evil - despite the fact that Castro has killed thousands of people directly and holds Cuba in total poverty, Michael Moore loves Castro because he has free medicine and opposes that evil system that asks that supply and demand dictate prices.
南無阿弥陀仏!
Why does the Left support dictators?
01/09/2011 02:37:25 AM
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Do you have anyone besides those two?
01/09/2011 02:52:19 AM
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Well, he also mentioned Michael Moore
01/09/2011 04:34:03 AM
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I ususally do not respond to threads like this, for many threads like this are done by unreasonable
01/09/2011 12:21:10 PM
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I'm not trying to say they are mainstream left.
01/09/2011 02:39:18 PM
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I would agree currently that is true (if you are talking fringe left vs fringe right)
01/09/2011 03:59:45 PM
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As I mentioned in my reply to Legolas, 40 or 50 years ago it was mutual hypocrisy.
01/09/2011 08:01:23 PM
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don't confuse the far left with the vast majority of americans who support people like kucinich
01/09/2011 04:53:14 AM
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"the vast majority of americans who support people like kucinich" LOL thats funny *NM*
01/09/2011 01:19:12 PM
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Tom, leave the absurdist and patently false dichotomies to trzaska. *NM*
01/09/2011 11:43:35 AM
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Because there aren't any good right wing oppressive regimes for the Right to get behind these days?
01/09/2011 12:53:32 PM
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You should read Postwar. If you haven't already.
01/09/2011 06:18:55 PM
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No, there is at least one more explanation
01/09/2011 07:05:11 PM
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Yes, anti-Americanism is a very significant part of the equation. *NM*
01/09/2011 08:02:05 PM
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Outside America, yes, definitely. He seemed to be talking about inside the US though.
01/09/2011 08:26:27 PM
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well anti-Americanism runs about as strong in the American left as it does in European left *NM*
01/09/2011 08:51:34 PM
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I was using US examples but not trying to limit myself to the US.
01/09/2011 09:57:57 PM
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I wanted to keep things confined to the present day.
01/09/2011 07:58:15 PM
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Hmm
01/09/2011 08:49:54 PM
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when you combine that with America's pro-British stance it explains why the Brits seem conflicted *NM*
01/09/2011 07:51:41 PM
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America has a pro-British stance? I'm thinking that'd be news to most Brits. *NM*
01/09/2011 08:27:33 PM
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Well like most things the Brits think they know about the US they would be wrong
01/09/2011 08:48:47 PM
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Or they just see things differently.
01/09/2011 10:15:20 PM
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But the Brits do need us, and we don't need them.
02/09/2011 06:01:10 PM
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Of course it's obvious. That doesn't mean they have to like it, or can't resent it. *NM*
02/09/2011 06:14:37 PM
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The enemy of my enemy is my friend.
02/09/2011 01:25:40 AM
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I think your historical argument is flawed
02/09/2011 05:57:00 PM
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I don't find your argument very convincing.
06/09/2011 05:20:12 AM
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Apologies, I was sure I responded to this when you first posted the thread.
07/10/2011 05:55:27 AM
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