Why do Liberal Democrats seem so much nicer than Republicans?

[Labors of Hercules]

Could it be because they really ARE GENUINELY so much nicer?

:loveya:

[Bluzmann57]

1. Repubs are just generally nastier

Bitter, nasty people. Not all repubs are that way, but most of them seem to be. I suppose when one is backing a sure loser one has little choice but to be bitter and nasty. I mean it has to be tough going through life like that.

[old mark]

7. Yeah, but

they were nasty when they were winning, even worse when they won.
Look at Newt. Trent Lott. Bush. Rove. Rush.
Any nice people there?
Any one you'd want to spend a few hours in conversation with?

They are self centered, sick bastards who seek their own kind.

mark

[Blue Belle]

2. They have the ability to empathize...

and have genuine compassion for people.

[Ishoutandscream2]

4. Yes, absolutely

[johnaries]

9. Well said!

"...No man is an island, entire of itself...any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind; and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee."
John Donne

Republicans just can't wrap their heads around this concept. They only believe in the Individual. See also Rugged Individualism, Herbert Hoover, Hoovervilles.

[theoldman]

3. Because most Republicans are ignorant assholes.

If you cannot win an argument with intelligence you have to resort to arrogance. Just take a look at how Bush talks.

[Enthusiast]

16. They confuse arrogance with

They confuse arrogance with 'speaking with conviction'. This appears to be very effective with their (blind) followers. However, much of America has grown tired of their ruse.

[seabeyond]

5. i use to be nice. cant say i am nearly as nice as i use to be. i have gotten too angry

the republicans are too angry. too many of us in this nation are TOO angry. about TOO many things.

[deadmessengers]

6. You didn't see last night's JimRob thread, did you?

That thread was presumably posted by a liberal Democrat, and was one of the most disgusting things I've ever seen - completely beyond the pale. Fortunately, the mods jumped in and deleted it, but while it was up, it was the absolute antithesis of "nice". Then there was the comment I saw a few days ago wishing Rush Limbaugh an on-air heart attack, which was followed by a pretty good pile-on when I pointed out that comments like that aren't really representative of Democratic ideals. Then, there was the mass grave-shitting that took place when Reagan & Ford croaked a few years back.

None of these things could be considered "nice", but I've seen them all posted here.

[seabeyond]

8. wow

i went in to look at your site and got a HUGE fuck you.... lol lol. not TOO nice. lol.

good thing i dont take things personally, wink

[deadmessengers]

10. Yeah, that was what I put up when comment spammers cost me $400 in bandwidth fees.

Not nice, but somewhat appropriate considering...

[seabeyond]

12. ah

i am sorry someone did that. i really dont know much at all about all that. but i do get someone fuck with you and costing you money that was unwarranted.

i hear ya on the big fuck you

[johnaries]

11. There are always exceptions. But as you said that thread has been deleted

and replaced by this one:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=3303297&mesg_id=3303297

which currently has 24 recs. I believe it represents the spirit of DU much better than the short-lived thread you mention.

[WA98296]

13. Intelligence.

[baby_mouse]

14. There are nasty liberals and nasty republicans.

It's just that the nasty republicans let their nastiness spill out unchecked into their law-making.

[TWiley]

15. Butt, Republicans are Nasty with a Halo on top.

Nasty I can take, but it is the Halo I find so annoying.

[seabeyond]

18. now there is the hypocrisy factor that the repugs cling to. n/t

[TWiley]

19. Yes, anything with a halo

greed with a halo
intolerance with a halo
violence / war with a halo
pride with a halo
and of course
nasty with a halo

[baby_mouse]

22. Revolting, isn't it?

That sweet, well-cultivated "best behaved little boy in class" demeanor masking a brain that sniggers at torture. It's vile.

[CrispyQ]

17. When you live your life in fear,

fear of change, fear of those different than you, fear that someone might get something that you don't get, fear that you might look foolish, and the list goes on, it makes you mean, nasty & angry.

[Beregond2]

20. Exactly what I was going to post.

Republicans are people who live in fear. Fear of uncertainty, of mystery, of paradox. Fear of the unknown, of change, of difference. And if you look at their upbringing, it is often authoritarian in nature, parents who don't encourage their children to grow into independent, self-actualizing people, but rather into conforming, obedient drones. So when they encounter people who seem to threaten the status quo, the authoritarian structures that order their inner and outer lives, they react with hate, because they are so threatened.

I had an experience once years ago that for me sums-up how they are. I had a roommate who was raised in San Diego by a Navy father. I once referred to a pair of pants as, well...a pair of pants. This kid looked shocked, and said: "My dad says only women wear pants! Men wear trousers!" Just that much difference from what he had been told put him into a state.

I have sadly come to the conclusion that conservatives can never change, let alone BE changed. They might reluctantly vote for a Democrat when their own leaders have fucked things up beyond belief. But once things are back on a fairly even keel, they will go right back to voting agaisnt their own interests, because they are more comfortable being told what to do.

[SoCalDem]

21. Selfish people are usually not very "nice".. republicans have mastered the dark art of selfishness.

:(

[EFerrari]

23. Authoritarians tend to be Republicans.

People who want to tell you how to live.

Democrats tend not to need to do that. :)

[Juche]

24. Yes, we have more empathy

It sounds dismissive and condescending, but it is true. HIstorically conservatives have fought hard to keep up oppressive systems that made life miserable for huge swaths of life. Liberals and progressives fought to make society more inclusive.

ie, it was conservatives who were indifferent to the suffering of blacks in the south, and progressives who empathized and helped fight for equal rights. Same with womens rights, gay rights, foreigners rights, the poor, the sick, animals, and almost any other sentient group. Liberals are just more likely to care, it happens again and again.

[MiniMe]

25. It's hard to be nice with a bug up your ass

[Orsino]

26. They are better able to translate whatever niceness they possess...

...into goodwill for people they haven't met. Republicanism is founded on fear.

[blondeatlast]

27. We aren't raised to resent--anything. I know enough wealthy Republicans my age

to say that that has a LOT to do with it.