Tuesday, October 7, 2008

Stay and fight

I have to admit I'm enjoying some of the satire afoot this election. This one's great. This one had me until they started talking about moving to Canada if Palin becomes vice president. There are few things that make me hate liberals (disclosure: I am one) more than empty threats to move to Canada if Republicans win. Why? Because such threats validate three talking points that conservatives are always using against liberals:
  1. Liberals are intolerant. They talk a good game, but when it comes down to it, they just don't want to live in a country with people who disagree with them.
  2. Liberals don't love America. They'll stay if they like the government's policies, but they'll find another home if they disagree with the government. They don't think their country is worth fighting for.
  3. Liberals are liars. How many liberals moved to Canada after the 2000 election? After 2004? They won't really do it this year either.
For all of conservatives' faults, do you ever hear them threaten to move to... well, I'm not sure where they'd move to, but they don't threaten to leave if they get an election result they don't like. They impeach, they recall, they filibuster... they fight to control their country. Dirty at times, but they still fight. If liberals want their ideas to be taken seriously, they might start fighting for them instead of whining about running away.

2 comments:

Tamu said...

I have always thought it was an empty threat to leave. I live in Canada, and I always thought liberals would lose by attrition in the US, if they kept leaving.

Also, in Canada, we are have a conservative government that is in bed with the States' current administration. Also our Liberal party is much more centrist. So US folks, take care of business down there and I'll try to do my part here, because where am I going to move?

Seth Masket said...

Maybe you could work out a trade with an American liberal. You move south when one of us moves north. It's a good time for you... our housing market is depressed and your currency is worth more than ours.