"You're not a conservative. You're a vandal."

[babylonsister]

[Cirque du So-What]

1. Glad 'vandal' wasn't capitalized

The Germanic tribe got a bad rap from the Romans. Too bad that destructive behavior got named for them.

[geckosfeet]

3. Thanks for the history tidbit.

Something I knew but had forgotten - likely due to dissolving brain cells.

[Chaco Dundee]

5. thanks

Lots of people do not know that.

[calimary]

20. Welcome to DU, Chaco Dundee!

Glad you're here!

CONservatives are destructive bullying selfish greedy goons. And all they offer is a CON-job.

[Chaco Dundee]

27. thank you.

I generally don't get into discussions,sometimes one Just has to ad a remark to vent.

[Wounded Bear]

8. The Vandals would have had to be pretty bad...

to outdo the Romans on violence and destruction.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

2. This is SPOT ON.

Well done, my dear babylonsister!

[reformist2]

4. Republicans don't like the word 'community.'

Other words they don't like: commonwealth, common man, common sense...

[azurnoir]

6. that's 'cause they all come from the root word

Communism don' cha know

[southernyankeebelle]

12. Funny you would think they would like these words. After all these are words Jesus

would embrace. My husband asked me once "what do China, Russia, communism and the republican party have in common"? They love the color Red.

[ReRe]

13. When they hear "community"...

... they think also "community organizer," or just "the commons."

[Jamaal510]

7. This is exactly what I've been saying all along!

Most of these people from the modern GOP and the modern right-wing are not true conservatives. They don't care about "conserving" anything. In fact, most of them not only want to eliminate public schools, but also Affirmative Action, the Big 3, Obamacare, Roe v. Wade, and the EPA. And they run up the deficit and unemployment when they are in power. Robert Reich nailed it when he called them the "Regressive Party".
I would argue that in an ironic sense, the average self-described liberal/Democrat follows the dictionary definition of being "conservative" more closely than the average self-described conservative/Republican. When you take a look at the presidencies of, say, Clinton or Obama, the deficit and unemployment have actually lowered, unlike what happened with Reagan or either of the Bushes.

[glinda]

9. Easily applies to environment also. Thanks Garrison!

[kentuck]

10. To the top...

deserving to be seen by more.

[libdude]

11. The Vandals

The Vandals like most Germanic tribes possessed certain standards that placed personal honor and loyalty above personal gain. These personal standards or to use an old term virtues were applied to the community. By the time of the Vandals the Roman Empire had degenerated into a nation whose behavior was similar to the behavior of the so called conservatives of today. The Roman political system had been corrupted much like our system today, personal political advancement even to the detriment of the common good.
The modern day conservatives really don't have any interest in promoting the common good which is reflected in their attitude and actions that has reduced the public education system to a failure at the national and state level. The only answer is to privatize and continue their redistribution og wealth to the upper income levels.

[calimary]

21. Welcome to DU, libdude!

Good to have you with us! Great assessment. Even better comparison.

[ReRe]

14. Arne Duncan...

... Chief Education Vandal.

[cheapdate]

15. Ayn Rand, hack novelist, second rate philosopher,

and inspirational figure for the modern conservative's stunted understanding of social and civic life, explicitly rejected the very concept of "society" -- it didn't exist in her withered, inhuman, worldview.

[The Wizard]

24. Meth and chain smoking

are a bad mix.

[freshwest]

16. K & R

[King_Klonopin]

17. The vandals stole the handles...

[PD Turk]

18. Garrison Keillor is a national treasure

[daybranch]

23. absolutely

His wit and intelligence abounds.

[northoftheborder]

25. One of my heroes and favorite people of all time. Greatest story teller ever.

Humorist, selfless demeanor, philosopher, believer in the community.

[PD Turk]

26. I've been an avid listner for years

Nobody paints a picture with words like he does

[blkmusclmachine]

19. Race to the bottom.

[daybranch]

22. so apt a name

where is it that we cannot appropriately apply this name. It fits so well -willful destruction of anything of value without permission of the owner. Social security -check, banking system check, fracking check, Keystone pipeline check, retirement savings sysyem check, credit rating check, drilling in National parks and wilderness areas check, the fishing areas of the Gulf by BP check, the fertiloizer explosion in Texas check, the Mountain top removal of Coal in Kentucky check, the list goes on and on. Yep I think Garrison Keiller picked the right term.