Compassionate Conservatives

A recent study said that conservative and liberal brains are wired differently and that liberals can deal with change better than conservatives. I think the difference is more evident in attitude towards authority especially if it wears a uniform. I have found that there is an easy way to check out the political leanings of a new aquaintance. I just ask them what they think of Rodney King and most conservatives think he deserved the beating. Joe Darby, the Abu Ghraib whistleblower is hated by the conservatives. The conservatives defended Lt. Calley, Ollie North and Reagan so I question their self-characterization of law and order proponents when they excuse some criminals.

I do believe combining the terms "compassionate conservative" is the biggest scam ever, because for decades when progressives defended the downtrodden, they were ridiculed as "bleeding heart liberals". Show me where someone spends their money and I will show you their priorities. More and more military spending and more and more prisons does not say compassion to me. I think the only defense for a draft is that you get a cross section of people to offset the monolithic mindset that permeates the military (and police) and maybe a few more whistleblowers will get inducted. It takes a warped mind to defend torture.

The opposite of empathy is disgust and I believe the people of New Orleans, victimless drug users, Moslems, Mexicans, feminists, oh hell, lots of people disgust them.