Living in Southern California, despite pockets of conservative communities here and there, we bleed primarily blue. Or so it at least seems, on the surface.
It’s said by some that America leans conservative. You’d never really know that by following pop culture, including much of the mainstream news, TV programming, and Hollywood.
Liberal activists have always appeared to make the loudest noise, wearing their liberalism on their sleeves, in open hostility to all things conservative (last week, one hippie mobile on the road had a bumpersticker that said “I’m pro-choice and I vote”, “Sticking it to the religious right” and a host of other “in your face” type of thumb-in-the-eye stickers plastered to the vehicle like a moving billboard sign). I know I generalize, and it could only be because I live in blue state California; but I think liberals have always been much more vocal and liberated in their views, not shy to make spectacles of themselves in demonstrations. Counter-protestors, such as the Chester County Victory Movement, are the much welcomed exception to the rule.
I have yet to see anyone in Los Angeles sport anti-liberal bumperstickers and t-shirts, though on rare occasions there might be a Bush/Cheney sticker (I’ve only seen one McCain bumpersticker, though I’m sure that will change as the “normal people” who aren’t political 24-7 might show their support for a month or two prior to election); and a little bit more common are pro-troop and military stickers, since those are not statements of political affiliation (although I’ve yet to see a “semper fi” and “Army Strong” sticker alongside “Code Pink” and “I Support the Troops- Bring Them Home” bumperstickers platered onto the same moonbatmobile).
I bring this up, because Bookworm has made the following post (excerpt):
As regular readers know, I’ve chosen to keep my political life separate from the day-to-day aspects of my life. I simply can’t (and don’t want to) run the risk of tainting my carpools, my neighborhood barbecues, my kids’ comfort level at school, the camaraderie of the sports teams with which we’re involved, etc., by exposing myself to the obloquy that is routinely heaped on conservatives here — and this is a hostility that increases as elections draw near, of course.
During the 2004 elections, people who were unaware of my political inclinations announced in front of me that “Bush is the worst President ever,” “Republicans are stupid,” “Republicans are evil,” “Bush is stupid,” “Republicans are corrupt,” “Republicans are fascists” and “Bush should be impeached.” Children ran up to me on the sidewalk chanting “Bush is evil, Bush is evil” — so you know what their parents were saying at the dinner table. In this election cycle, one of my children announced after school that she was voting for Barack Obama “since every one is because he’s black.” I quickly scotched that line of reasoning.
This has been my experience as well. People are shocked with an initial reaction of “disappointment” when they find out I’m a pro-Bush, pro-war on terror conservative Republican…and I vote. Eventually, they seem to get over it (but know better than to discuss politics with me).
The day after the 2004 Election results was a good day to be a Republican voter. I smile to this day whenever I see Kerry/Edwards bumperstickers.
I know I should be speaking out when I hear statements such as these, but the sad fact is that I like these people. Barring their monomaniacal animosity towards Bush and the Republicans, they’re otherwise very nice: they’re hard workers, loving parents, good neighbors and helpful and reliable friends. Being the social creature that I am, I don’t want with one word (”Republican”) to turn these friendships upside down and inside out. (I’m not the only one with this problem.) I don’t want to be on the receiving end of some hideous Jekyll to Hyde transformation, so I just keep my mouth shut.
Those people I know who have spoken aloud their new conservative political views have been horrified by the animosity turned against them by formerly friendly neighbors and colleagues. My in-laws who are, like me, 9/11 neocons (down in Los Angeles) have stared open-mouthed at colleagues who use staff meetings to revile Bush and the Republicans — all to the cheers and huzzahs of the other staff members. (Indeed, what they describe sounds remarkably like Orwell’s Two Minutes Hate.) On the occasions when they’ve suggested that maybe, just maybe, Bush isn’t the Antichrist, they’ve found themselves shunned by these same colleagues.
Bookworm goes on to discuss how she attended her first meeting with local Marin County Republicans:
One after another, people stated their names and their City. Everything stopped, though, when a young woman, maybe 25, spoke her name very softly and added that “I’m a secret Republican.” With that single statement, the stories started.
One of the attendees, who had been asked to make phone calls on behalf of McCain, said that he spoke to one lady who said, “Don’t call me again. I’m going to vote Republican, but I can’t let anybody know. It’s got to stay a secret.” Another person recalled a party he attended a few months ago. When he mentioned, discretely, that he was a Republican, a young lady sidled up to him and whispered, “I’m conservative too, but don’t let anyone know. I also have two friends here. I’ll point them out to you. They’re also secret conservatives.” Incidentally, I was unable to interview either of the people who told these anecdotes because both were afraid that any more details might give away their identities and harm them professionally. (Clearly, in their lines of work, they need two resumes, one for public consumption and one that is their secret one.)
~~~
I have a proposal for all of you reading this who live in hostile Blue territory and feel isolated in your conservative political views. The next time you’re at a party, or chit chatting in a park, or standing in line at a store, if the person to whom you’re talking seems like an intelligent, common-sensical type, throw in a reference to Adam Smith. If your conversational partner jumps on that reference, opining that Smith was a great economic philosopher, you’ve just discovered that you’re not alone.
Even if you chose, however, to keep your political affiliations secret — whether because you’re afraid for your job, worried about your friendships, or are just deeply private — please hie yourself to the polls on November 4, 2008, and cast your vote for John McCain. I have a strong suspicion that there’ll be an awful lot of unexpected votes for McCain,
I suspect that as November looms ever closer, more and more voters will find themselves rejecting the socialist liberalism of Obama’s policies, and shill for McCain. This includes cross-over voters.
As for remaining in the closet, I suggest to every conservative out there living in a blue state to not be afraid to come out into the light. You don’t have to be “rah rah Republican” and clown yourself up like the rightwing answer to Code Pink; but don’t be afraid to express your dissent from accepted, popular assumptions: “Bush lied”, “Bush is a moron”, “FOX News is yellow journalism”, etc. I’ve challenged people, friends and acquaintances, and you’d be surprised at how productive such conversations and confrontations can be. You just have to know how to set the tone and know the temperament of the person you are breaking lances with.
If you care about the future of this country, if you don’t want to see it make a sharp left turn in November, then it is in the best interest of every closet conservative out there to become an active participant in recruiting anti-Obama voters by doing what might not come easily: Talking politics. If you find the right stride, friendships to liberals will survive intact. Most of my friends lean left, and some are having doubts about Obama. And I know for certain, that some of their doubts have been influenced by my talking about politics.
A former fetus, the “wordsmith from nantucket” was born in Phoenix, Arizona in 1968. Adopted at birth, wordsmith grew up a military brat. He achieved his B.A. in English from the University of California, Los Angeles (graduating in the top 97% of his class), where he also competed rings for the UCLA mens gymnastics team. The events of 9/11 woke him from his political slumber and malaise. Currently a personal trainer and gymnastics coach.
The wordsmith has never been to Nantucket.
Thank you so much. It’s very unnerving to look around a crowded room and worry that, if you say the wrong thing, everyone will turn on you. The antidote to this is, not only the bravery you suggest (and I’m getting there slowly), but the sense that you are not alone. I hope that quiet conservatives reading this post will know that that are others out there just like them.
Haven’t you heard? Republican is the new gay.
Actually, I work in the entertainment biz and the only openly conservative person I know is also openly gay. I keep my mouth shut- so far. But the irony of having to come out to a gay co-worker is not lost on me. Is it 2009 yet?
Wordsmith, that video was hilarious.
Bookworm and Wordsmith, I too am on that very same boat. It’s okay to parade around outside here in California that you’re a Democrat, but you’ll get murderous glances should you utter your support for Bush or the Republican party. I’ve managed to create a big war within my family; my cousins (blindly) support Obama (only because they’re Democrats, as they’ve told me) and my family and I are going to be voting for McCain. So I have to bite my tongue and not mention a word of politics around them at family gatherings just to keep the peace. I’m just praying that they’ll be too busy to make it to the polls on election day, because changing their minds is definitely out of the question.
The only support I’ve seen here in California for McCain was in affluent neighborhoods, such as Laguna Niguel area and Westwood. One house I drove by had the Republican flag displayed proudly on their front lawn on a pole. Made me smile.
Oh, and Wordsmith, I’m also a fellow Bruin.
We’ve heard about conservatives in the entertainment field having to be secretive, but David Zucker (one of the people behind the Airplane movies) has supposedly (this artical could just be a movie plug) has become more conservative and has even made an anti-liberal spoof called An American Carol.
http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/015/385rlkfy.asp?pg=1
I understand having to hide your political affiliations quite in a place like Hollywoodland, where your career can be ended with a few discreet words. But where else do people really have to worry about that?
I think people that have to hide that they’re who they are are pretty weak. If you believe in something why not have enough guts to stand up for it, and damn the consequences? If Americans did that in the 1940’s, we’d all be speaking German now.
This country didn’t get to be the great country it is because people were too cowardly to stand up for what they believe in.
Stand up and be proud of what and who you are, regardless of your political affiliations!
Anything less is cowardice.
BTW, excellent post Word!
I’m with thebronze-first of all I wouldn’t live in a community where I was regarded as evil because of my political beliefs-downtown Denver was bad enough and I didn’t conceal my disdain for liberal bullshit one iota. None the less, I’m glad to be gone from there and as for the last several place I’ve lived, the political atmosphere was the primary consideration. I consider liberalism a mental disorder and just don’t associate with crazy people. I essentially was run out of Denver because the city refused to confront the illegals. They have turned vast areas of the city into a toilet. I wouldn’t consider for a second to date a liberal woman and have walked away from commission work if my potential client is pushy about their political views. I haven’t talked to my creepy liberal sister for years.
Unlike the writer in your link, I don’t think but for exposing your political views, these people make fine friends. They are nutz and if they had their way, this country would be destroyed. They are like a parasite and won’t stop even as they are killing the host. Every one of their political beliefs have been proven time after time to be failures and yet I’m regarded as evil and stupid? Even with ongoing real time, real world examples of their failed policies, they continue to want to institute the same things here? And I’m supposed to be cowed by them? Be quiet with crazy people running around??
Need any more proof that liberalism truly is a mental illness. When half of America is ‘afraid’ of the other half the country is already lost or is ripe for the picking. For the elderly (me) it is comical watching the young eating it’s own by ‘running’ people for office who aren’t qualified to be on the street without an excort. Who will pay in the future for making a pure politician and con man without one actual accomplishment a hero? The very people who push an enemy of the majority for the highest office in the land. I’ve been watching the liberal talking heads all morning and they all ooze jealousy and envy of the accomplishment of others but not one of them has the brains to look at their candidate’s failures. Do you really know one person who has spent their entire adult life associating with criminals, druggies, and yes, terrorists that didn’t continue the life style (while causing the death of hundreds) until they die at their own hand?
This should be all you need to know about a man. and what his true feelings are:
“…I will stand with them (Muslims) should the political winds shift in an ugly direction.” B Hussein Obama,
page 261 of his book, Audacity of Hope…
I think there are two reasons why many people are “Closet Conservatives” or Closet Republicans”.
1) Conservatism, as a movement, is by it’s nature a more private affair. It is a movement of quiet introspection and study. Of Learning and Reason. It is not a loud, obsequious and obnoxious philosophy. Thus, Conservatives tend to be much more reserved in their approach. Even the titular mouthpiece of Conservatism in America, Rush Limbaugh, sounds quiet and reserved when placed alongside your average Code Pinker.
2) Liberalism tends to be the philosophy of the young, reckless and careless. Thus Conservatives have learned, through personal or vicarious experience, that broadcasting one’s conservatism or association with the GOP can lead to unwanted, vicious, and occasionally illegal attention from young Liberals who don’t care if they go to jail and have no concern for your personal safety or respect for the law. How many of us have heard of Conservatives’ cars being keyed after putting a Bush bumper sticker on?
It’s unfortunate, but when one cannot trust the political opposition to have any respect for the law, or the law to do anything to track down and punish violators, one is forced into silence. Young Liberals are the Brownshirts of our time, sad to say, and the law just coddles them. Is it any wonder that more conservatives don’t speak up or broadcast their views?
Thankfully, I work in a company that tends towards conservatism, despite the fact that I live in a Blue State. So I can proudly display my McCain bumper sticker, right alongside my “Still Voting Democrat? You’re Stuck On Stupid!” Rush Limbaugh bumper sticker. I know my co-workers won’t key my car. And even if they might, it won’t stop me from speaking up.
We live in a critical time in history. We teeter between Freedom, the bondage of Liberalism and Socialism and oppression of Radical Islam. History will be made by what we now do. History is made by the bold, those who are willing to take risks. If the Founding fathers were willing to risk their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor for my right to be free, then what kind of man would I be to not be willing to risk the same to KEEP our country free from those who would enslave it to the corrupt ideology of Liberalism?
A Car can be repainted, broken Windows can be repaired, and injuries heal. But Freedom, once lost, cannot be easily reclaimed. Conservatives need to be bold. To speak boldly, and to act with courage. The time for hiding who we are and what we believe is over. Speak now. act now, and vote in November. We will reclaim America and hold back the night.
God Bless America.
As a handyman in the San Francisco bay area, I never discuss politics with my clients, I just can’t afford that risk. My wife had a friend over who admitted that she was aware of Obama’s racist background, and abject lack of experience, but “Oh, I could never vote for a republican!” So yes, I understand exactly what you’re saying here.
I live in Mini-Me Chicago. Wehavenot had a eleced Republican here since I was born. The Democrat Machine runs everything aloing with the Unions.
And the sad thing is, I have lost friends because of my politics. I get very empassioned when I talk politics. I also look at more than our local News Rag for information. I try and not talk politicswith friends and also some family memebrs. My immediate family is conservative, but I have aunts and uncles that are liberals. it is always nteresting when they get to together. There are 3 conserative vs. 3 liberals.
I tend to agree with Wearyman on this also. Conservative are more often more calm and think inward and are not out there admitting to the world who they are, such as CodePink and the rest of their ilk.
Excellent post and replies! I learned most of this in the last big election when Moorebots started broadbrushing all conservatives as baby killers and the like. If you want to really make a flaming lib angry, point out that in America you don’t have to proclaim your affiliation to the masses! Of course, the NYFB approach automatically labels you as “against me”, as it were, to the left masses, but so what? I think what bothers me most is the loathing and contempt I see in the left’s faces when you don’t parrot their ideals. If you don’t agree with them, you are apparently sub-human and not worthy of having a discussion with. Global warming was just a barometer for the intolerance of the left. How many that berated you for your skepticism of the warming predictions have retracted, or apologized for their contempt? You can’t argue with someone immersed in blind faith.
Damn well said! Here, here!
Silicon Valley has a similar problem. One might well say they would not live in a neighborhood that condemned their politics – and you probably wouldn’t move to a neighborhood like that either, but what about The Pod People?
What if you lived somewhere that was at one time “normal,” with a balance of opinions and ideas, but then it changed almost overnight when the Pod People Kool-Aid drinkers (and Manufacturers!) moved in – and they went to vote your taxes UP.
What if suddenly an influx of young know-nothings with a fistful of money showed up? They’re Ultra-Liberal, Super Eco-Friendly, Hip-To-Be-Green, and working at “Spoogle” in the endless campus-lifestyle – with stock-options out the wazoo. They moved to your town from Spacecamp Oregon, and Treehugger Washington, from Taxville Massachusetts and Gununfriendly Chicago. They never heard of “location, location, location” and started buying up even the crappy shanty-dwellings out from underneath the Mexican illegals – and for ungodly sums – just to own some real-estate — and you were still just squeaking by paying the mortgage.
They grew up Liberal and affluent, skiing in Colorado in the winter and surfing on Kauai in the summer. They come from wealthy Liberal suburbs to begin with – and now they’re even moreso. They feel the Guilt their Liberal Parents taught them and intend to pass it along to their own children just as soon as they have some – most will vote for Obama because it makes them feel good about themselves. They have a lot of New Money, and think that it is because they’re *smart* – not that they’re taken advantage of, or that they were just in the right place at the right time – they attribute their success to themselves and their own vast intellect. At age 24.
And now they live all around you…and you “get” to shop at Whole Foods… It’s Demographics.
I’ll move when I can afford to sell without taking the massive tax-hit, but this is not the place I grew-up, not since the Dot-Com boom brought all the Ecoweenies and Social-Justicers out from under some eastern rock, to descend upon here like a blanket of locusts.
What? None of our regular libs weighing in on this? Aren’t they always the ones that whine about not having a voice?? LOL
Did 17 years in California. I didn’t “hide” my conservatism, but I also
don’t*didn’t* flaunt it. If someone brought up politics, I discussed it without shying away. If it broke up a friendship, then it wasn’t a friendship worth having to begin with.Now I’m in Oregon, and it’s no different than California. My family is also split, with basically my parents and I being on the one side (despite my mom as a registered DNC), and the rest on the other. Except for one in-law my niece married. I was happy to get another body and voice in there…
But as an aside… anyone notice that the progressive/lib stickers are attached to a very AGW unfriendly vehicle?? :0)
Also, Leah, there is no dearth of “affluent neighborhoods” in Southern Cal… or northern either. But Bookworm’s got it tougher. Marin County is a progressive bastion all to itself… and they’re far more vicious up there than in Southern Cal.
Hubby stopped in Iowa to fill up, a car with similar graffiti was in the next row of pumps. All he did was just gaze at the car as he filled our car and a woman started swearing at him for looking at her car. What in the world was her point in even pasting that garbage on the car if she didn’t want someone to read it? Hopefully, she was stable enough to drive home without running over any children or neighborhood pets.
Wordsmith, you raise interesting questions. I have wondered about this sort of thing myself. Certainly, the posts show that there are many facets to the answer(s). Here are a few more musings on possible explanations.
Much of what we are seeing today, I believe, had its roots in the 60’s (I was born in ’48, so I am part of that wave of baby boomers). A major part of this dynamic is the Liberal leanings of academia and its impact on news, information flow and the nature of our political debates.
I think that many Liberals of the 60’s and subsequent decades went into academia. In some ways this is natural. Liberals want a safe world. They want it to be a world where you may not be able to rise very high, but you are never going to fall very far either. Academia is a microcosm of that safe world. A tenured professor will probably seldom become a multi-millionaire. On the other hand, the salary is comfortable, benefits are good, after a point you don’t work too hard (that is what graduate assistants are for), and there is a certain prestige (students have to sit enthralled with your lectures) – so, all in all, not a bad life. For entrepreneurial personalities, the confines of the academic world are too narrow for their ambitions. For Liberals, it is a comfortable universe. If only the world at large could be like it.
Liberals are utopians. They want the world not only to be safe but to be perfect, at least according to their values: no war, no suffering, no exploitation: perfect harmony among peoples, cultures and religions. It is a binary view. There is little room for discussion. Either you are against war or you are a warmonger that thirsts for the blood of the innocent. Either you support global warming, or you are callously driving the planet and all life on it to extinction. Either you favor abortion unconditionally, or you are promoting female servitude in all of its forms. With these attitudes as the starting point, there is not a lot to discuss. With these attitudes as the starting point, if you disagree you are automatically a monster and need to be shouted down, not engaged in discussion. And the persons doing the shouting have the right (in their views) to do this because they care about people and you don’t. It is the Rosie O’Donnell school of political debate.
The organizational vehicles for Liberals to create this perfect world are the university system, the media, government programs, judicial activism, international organizations, international tribunals, etc. The fact that Liberals have such influence in the university system means that this is the world view that many young, impressionable people will receive and act on. And, that these ideas will flow through, especially into careers in the media or entertainment industry.
And, because the mainstream news media are on board with this Liberal leaning, having been formed by these very same ideas, the Liberal views seldom get publicly challenged in those established channels we turn to for news. Or, if they are challenged, the challenge is presented as some aberrant menace. I think that Fox News leans to the Right, but, is that so bad when most of the other major news outlets lean to the Left? Doesn’t that provide some balance?
Finally, because the MSM will repeat the same position over and over, it becomes the conventional wisdom. It is beyond question. It has become, in fact, the safe message that can be screamed from the rooftops (or car bumpers) and only challenged at one’s peril.
Here here, JohnM. Standing cyber ovation from me. And you described a couple of our regular site pests to a tee!