We are a divided nation, but how can you tell who is on your side?

[RagingInMiami]

It's not like back in the 1960s where you wouldn't trust anybody over 30, and it was pretty obvious who was hip and who was square.

I've run into young people with piercings, tattoos, goatees, which led me to believe they would be liberals. But no, they are fucking right-wingers.

And then I've talked to businessmen, dressed in pinstripe suits, and they turn out to be liberals.

And when I went canvassing for Kerry last year, knocking on doors, I came across flamboyantly gay men who were voting for bush. The guy's boyfriend, dressed in jeans cut-offs and a tank top, came out from behind his man and told me Kerry was a loser. Whatever.

A few weeks ago I was in this sportsbar, right after the Katrina fiasco. I was in the bathroom peeing and these college kids walked in and were talking about how messed up New Orleans was.

So naturally, I told them that bush was a murderer (I was really raging back then, a lot more than normal). And these were young guys with flip flops and bushy hair looking like they spent more time hitting the bong than the books.

But no, they were fucking right-wingers and started defending bush, telling me that there was no way anybody could have gotten to those people in New Orleans.

I sent them all to hell after telling them what a bullshit story that was. The media was walking in and out of the big easy.

So what are the visible signs of who is on our side?

[eallen]

1. A gay or lesbian supporting Bush is like a chicken supporting KFC.

[RagingInMiami]

4. And these guys were not even in the closet

If they were, the closet had no door.

[marmar]

9. LOL

So true. Why carry around your own noose?

[Xipe Totec]

2. Judging by appearance is not very Liberal.

it is the internal and not the external qualifications that defines a real human being.

External appearance is just decoration.

[RagingInMiami]

6. Well shoot me then

We all stereotype, whether we admit it or not.

EDIT: And a first appearance is a first appearance. Everybody makes a judgement.

[Xipe Totec]

13. Speaking in absolutes is another sign I look for

Unqualified statements with all, everybody, always, never.


Absolute certainty and absolute truth, are desires I tend to associate with conservative rather than liberal thinking.

[valerief]

15. That's a good one

However, I know I can rant in a generalized way when I'm angry.

[RagingInMiami]

18. Well I guess you outed me

But wouldn't that be a stereotype in itself? Tending to associate those who speak in absolutes with conservatives rather than liberals?

Fucking hypocrite.

[SpiralHawk]

20. E = MC 2

[Xipe Totec]

27. Interesting Rebuttal

So many superimposed meanings:

An absolute law based on special relativity regarding conservation of energy.

A statement of the obvious implying both agreement and disagreement,

relative and absolute,
conservative and liberating...

...or it could be just a non sequitur.



either way, I like your thinking.

[titoresque]

3. I'm stumped

Ive wondered the same thing. My Freepdar is broke.

[Ksec]

5. IMO you cant tell by looks

which side they are on.

[valerief]

7. Eyes without that glazed, dull, unthinking look?

It's a great question. I know exactly what you mean, too. I've been flabbergasted by some people's political leanings.

Then you've got the "I'm a social liberal but a fiscal conservative (read: wants tax cuts)" people.

I wonder if you can break them down by what music they like.

[depakid]

12. You someimes can tell from the eyes

Fundies especially have a certain look.

It's a little difficult to describe in words, but we've all seen it in people like Ralph Reed and so many others. I suspect it has something to do with brain activity that's characteristic of the far right mindset.

[valerief]

14. Or the tranquilizers they take to face themselves in the mirror

[More Than A Feeling]

24. it could also be they are very into balanced budgets and reducing deficits

They would probably be the rarest type of political leaning there is.

[flowomo]

8. "I can see by your coat, my friend....

"You're from the other side.
"Can you tell me please.... who won?"

wow, your post just caused that to pop into my head. Love that song. "Wooden Ships."

As for your question.... we're all on way too many sides at once for it to have much use anyway.

[swag]

10. Hip or square? The quiz.

[TahitiNut]

11. There's a foolproof incantation:

Just say, "I'm a liberal."

It stuns the FReeper mind for approximately 10-15 seconds. A confused look crosses their face. They look down at the ground and then around the immediate vicinity, apparently looking for the solace of a mob - or exorcist. They then resume whatever they were talking about before they were so "rudely" interrupted.

I've found that this is 100% reliable. You can drive a wooden stake through their heart during their 10-15 seconds of confusion and they'll no longer walk among the Living Dead.

[AX10]

17. ROFL

FReepers just can't believe that liberals exist.

[RagingInMiami]

21. I have a shirt that I wear that says "Raging Liberal"

I was wearing it Saturday night in DC and I almost got in a fight because of it. I didn't back down and it surprised the hell out of him.

What part of "raging" don't you understand, I should have told him.

[TahitiNut]

22. I never leave home without a supply of wooden stakes.

[marions ghost]

29. LOL

True, they have to believe that most of the world is like them or wants to be like them, in order to justify their discriminatory "We're No. 1" thinking. They depend on wimpy Liberals being intimidated by their big Rethuglican power.

I'm gonna try to incorporate a Jack Nicholson scary smile when I say "I'm a Liberal" next time.

[OKDem08]

16. I can tell at work because the focus of the conversation

is degradation of the 'entitlement mentality' in reference to the victims of the Hurricane Katrina.
My husband & I went shopping recently & we wore anti-war t-shirts
we got at DC--lots of 'I hate you' glares.

[MojoXN]

19. Visible signs?

Don't fucking kid yourself. I'm 23, and I've noticed the EXACT same thing. Too goddamn many of my peers have OD'ed on the koolaid. Many of them think that their support of Bush sets them apart, or makes them "non-conformist." It's fucking disgusting.

My main tactic has been carrying a half dozen or so Army enlistment forms and saying something along the lines of, "Hey man (or woman), my brother is an Iraq II vet, and he's gotta go back this time next year (which is absolutely 100% true). Whatta ya say that you sign up, so that our soldiers who have already been to Iraq don't have to go back? I mean, you WERE just saying that you thought America going in there was a good idea, right?"

When I'm inevitably asked, "Why don't you sign up then?" I always reply, "Oh, I'm enlisting in January when i get done with college." Which isn't at all true, but you should see the dumbfounded, flabbergasted looks that I get.


Oh, and as of yet, I've had no takers on the enlistment form. Surprise, surprise...

MojoXN

[UTUSN]

23. Well, I Kiss as Many People as Possible, and If They Don't Kiss Back

that's a pretty good (bad) sign. Also, I wear a ThinkBlue wristband. AND I shoot my mouth off.

[JanMichael]

25. Ask simple questions and listen to the replies.

Or just tell a new person that you were in Dc last weekend and see what they say.

If it's "Didn't you just love the Book fair" then perhaps they aren't on our side. maybe so though, that's ambiguous.

But if they say 'You made the protest?! Cool dude!" then you've got yourself a winner!

[leftofthedial]

26. if stupidity were painful

the bad guys would be the ones walking around moaning, saying "Oww," and addicted to oxycontin.

[Finder]

28. Our side?

That is the problem. The "us vs them" mentality is not progressive, IMO. I believe that is what causes so much disagreement within the so-called sides. The adversaries of progressives play to people's fears, may they be terrorism, sexuality, economics as to build a base that will vote against their own interests.

Blind allegiance whether to liberal or conservative "camps" is dangerous in a diverse country such as ours.

[RagingInMiami]

31. If people are still supporting Bush right now

They are not on my side. I don't want anything to do with them. Those fuckers have blood on their hands.

So say what you want, but I do see an "Us vs. Them" mentality in this country right now.

[LibDemAlways]

30. Hate radio reaches lots of ears.

Kids are also greatly influenced by the politics of their parents - and many of those parents with the bucks to send junior off to the university are repukes.

Many people of all stripes simply aren't informed beyond what they read or see in the corporate media - which is a hell of a lot of shilling for the Bush Crime Family.

Given that the Dems get virtually no favorable coverage and the repukes control everything, I think its pretty damn amazing that they still can't win a presidential election without fraud and Diebold. They obviously aren't fooling everybody.