REST IN PEACE COMMON SENSE

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   minuspcposted 11 years ago

   The demand that all GOOD people be politically correct has effectively caused the death of common sense.  The fear of being harshly  judged by the speech patrol causes good ideas to die and really, really bad ones to flourish;  causes potentially good leaders to be ostracized and obviously lousy leaders to flourish; causes bad social policies to ruin good people, and many more ills too numerous to list here.  Following the rules of being politically correct dictates results that seldom if ever make good sense. How can the constructive dialouge that leads to worthwhile activity  ever take place in an atmosphere where good arguments must be sifted for content that may be judged to hurt someone or some group's  feelings (think turkeys)?
   
   While writing this I have in my mind's eye an article I read in my local Liberal Rag.  The article goes on and on about the harmful factors in using the "I word".  The "I" indicating Illegal as in Illegal Immigrants.
   
   I also see in my mind's eye the outrage on the faces of people with agenda who rage against the notion of voter identification.  Come on people, does anyone really buy the alleged arguments against preventing fraud at the voter booths?  And if so, why?  And the group Factcheck that "found" little if any fraud; puleeze.  How do they go about checking "fact"?  I suspect foul play.
   
   The demand to be politically correct really hurts Republican candidates for political office.  For instance, while they must constantly try to avoid to close a connection to the Tea Party, they do not dare bring up such issues as Obama's association with the now mostly defunct ACORN group, by which he was once employed and even more recently had in his employ.
   
   I see the most glaringly far reaching dangers brought on by political correctness within our education systems.  In the results of  innefective parenting pproducing children who need special educational processes that can not be provided by the innefective teachers that political correctness keeps in chaotic, politically correct classrooms.  I challenge anyone to follow the dialectical process presented in this picture and not be freightened for America's future.
   
   As I have gone through the processes that the insistence on being politically correct have caused the development of, I feel sometimes frustrated, sometimes humiliated  and often I can even find a scary bit of humor.  But I always wonder how long we, as a thinking populace, can survive the death of common sense.

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   1. 73

      Quilligrapherposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Greetings, minuspc. I am happy to have the opportunity to exchange viewpoints with you.
      
      Please permit me to toss in a few of my own observations here. I, for one, have not observed the death of common sense in the political sector because common sense was never, ever really very common in the first place. Furthermore, what the OP statement refers to as excessive political correctness and the lack of common sense is actually a widespread tendency among political junkies to be lazy and unwilling to do the independent research required to protect themselves from the lies and distortions running rampant across the political spectrum. 
      In less time than it took to open this forum thread you could have explored this issue thoroughly and discovered the truth for yourself.
      
      This issue generally divides the electorate into two groups. The adherents of one-group make broad claims, unsupported by any kind of evidence, that voter fraud at the polls is threatening confidence in the election process. They offer as their sole argument a list of social activities that usually call for some form of identification. The other group typically has done the research necessary to discover that investigation and several academic studies have proven repeatedly that significant and widespread voter fraud at the polls simply does not exist.
      
      Here is some research that demonstrates why new regulations that force existing legally registered voters to obtain a photo ID are NOT justified on the grounds voter fraud significantly affects election outcomes.
      
      If you are an open-minded, unbiased American reading the published statements of Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott, you should be a little baffled by his use of the word “abounds”. He tried to support his state’s 2011 voter photo-ID law by saying, “In Texas, evidence of voter fraud abounds. In recent years, my office has secured more than 50 voter fraud convictions.” {1} Obviously, Mr. Abbott does not believe Texans can do the math! The number of registered voters in Texas hovers each year around 13 million. About 8 million turned out for the 2008 presidential election. {2} Can you do the math, minuspc? Fifty voter fraud convictions “in recent years” when a typical major election turns out 8 million voters. One fraudulent vote in each 160,000 ballots!
      
      A U.S. federal court, I would add, ruled on Aug. 28, 2012, that this voter identification law discriminates against black and Hispanic voters. Fortunately, this kills the law before it could effect the approaching Nov. 6th presidential election.{3}
      
      To claim voter fraud is widespread one either has to have not researched to see if such a claim in true, or has researched, found nothing, but spreads the lie anyway.  Studies have established repeatedly that the biggest election frauds occur after the polls close. All of the hoopla over the need for voter ID is without merit particularly in the light of the large body of research proving voter fraud is not a major issue. Take a look at the 2007 staff report prepared by a Republican lawyer and a liberal election expert for the federal Election Assistance Commission, minuspc. It found among experts "there is widespread but not unanimous agreement that there is little polling place fraud.” {4} Further, the justice department under President George W. Bush spent 5 years and considerable resources trying to identify polling place fraud and could not find one case they could prosecute! {5}
      
      I have also searched for evidence to support the notion voter fraud at the polls is a serious problem but I have not found anything. I’m sure you can not be relying on just “common sense”. You must have some meaningful data to offer us since you have already rejected what you call “alleged arguments” proving how little fraud actually takes place at America’s voting booths. I would find such data very interesting.
      
      Thank you, minuspc, for this interesting thread.  I hope you are having a pleasant evening. I am looking forward to seeing your data.
      
      {1} http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/st … 53658158/1
      {2} http://www.sos.state.tx.us/elections/hi … 0-92.shtml
      {3} http://in.reuters.com/article/2012/08/2 … JM20120828
      {4} Urbina, Ian (April 11, 2007), "Panel Said to Alter Finding on Voter Fraud", The New York Times, found at http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/11/washi … TQ/Xp4VjMA
      {5} Richard L. Hasen (2007-05-18). "The Fraudulent Fraud Squad: The incredible, disappearing American Center for Voting Rights.". Slate, found at. http://web.archive.org/web/201012251102 … genum/all/

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2. 77

   Mighty Momposted 11 years ago

   Politically correct used to be associated exclusively with liberal lefties.
   No more.
   The Tea Party has mandated what is politically correct for Republicans.
   Which has nothing to do with "sense."
   
   I agree that we need to put the word "common" back into our language and come together in the CENTER to reclaim our collective sense.
   Otherwise, the ideological divide will get wider and wider.

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