This post is not about some earth-shattering political event. It's about a bumper sticker I saw on the way to work yesterday morning. Now I'm not usually upset about this kind of thing. I've seen hundreds of stupid bumper stickers and they usually just cause me to shake my head and forget about them ten minutes later.
For some unknown reason this one really incensed me. Here is what the offending sticker said:
IRRITATE A LIBERAL
Work Hard - Succeed - Be Happy
Since when would someone working hard, succeeding, and being happy irritate anyone, especially a liberal. Isn't this a pretty good description of the American Dream? Far from irritating any liberal [or leftist], most liberals I know would be happy to see anyone do this.
In fact, liberals would like to see everyone in America be able to do this, and not just Georgie's rich friends, as we have had for the last few years.
Obviously, this bumper sticker is the result of the Bill O'Reilly/Rush Limbaugh mindset. This mindset dictates that a "conservative" should never agree with a liberal on anything. If a liberal believes something, then it must be evil and must be opposed by conservatives. And if there's something that a conservative really believes in, then the lie must be advanced that no liberal could possibly agree with it. It is this kind of thinking that has so sharply divided our country.
There are many things that liberals and conservatives disagree on, but there are also many things that both sides can agree on. I can't believe that any American would not want people to work hard, succeed, and be happy -- no matter what their political persuasion!
We used to have the ability to disagree in this country, and still be able to work out a compromise that the majority of people could accept. But the O'Reilly/Limbaugh mindset, accepted by many right-wingers, is destroying the ability to compromise with the opposition. Anything not done their way is evil and must be stopped.
Don't get me wrong, I love my left-wing beliefs and I'm willing to fight for them. But that doesn't mean that conservatives are evil and can never have a good idea. Just because someone disagrees with you doesn't make them un-American -- it just means we still live in a free country.
Ah but you didn't read the fine print:
ReplyDeleteWork hard... at the expense of others.
Succeed... in being a self-serving prick.
Be Happy... about the suffering of others that you'll never experience.
That's how to irritate a liberal. Not all conservatives live like that, but those who take pleasure in irritating others do.
There are lots of stupid bumper stickers (like "W stands for Women"), but it's the ones you see rarely that I find the most amusing.
ReplyDeleteThis one was great: "If Mary were pro-choice, there'd be no Christmas."
just look around at the nation and see where and who are doing the best through these trying times i am buying a succeed bumper sticker now. the liberal federal goverment is tearing us apart and spending us and our children into debt we may never be able to pull ourselves out off. the mainstream liberals dont seem to care, well most conservatives are hardworking people who would not even take wellfare if they were eligible for it, but this is exactly were obama and his clowns are doing. states need to say enough is enough
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