A former NPR CEO decided to take a year off from work to surround himself with conservatives, Trump supporters, and Evangelical christians - groups he admittedly only “knew through Jerry Falwell and the movie Foot Loose.” In turn, he found a group of people deeply engaged in caring for others, a justifiable dissatisfaction for the mainstream media, and even developed a sense of appreciation for guns.

Link

I listen to my local NPR station but have quit donating to their fund drives. Don’t like their political views and the anti-gun crap.

Terrific. He found a clue. Good for him.

It took him long enough, didn't it?

Thanks. I enjoyed the read.

So the thought crosses my mind - can we on the right “cross the aisle” and understand the left side?

Well, it’s hard to get into the simple minded state of bliss “nothing to worry about, the govt. will take care of everything” after being conservative all my life.

It would appear that they fear the self dependent and certainly mistrust/fear those that are. A typical failing, their trouble comprehending that there are others that are not insecure like they are.

quote:

Originally posted by Chris42:
So the thought crosses my mind - can we on the right “cross the aisle” and understand the left side?

No, I put away childish fantasy when I was a child.

quote:

Originally posted by parabellum:

quote:

Originally posted by Chris42:
So the thought crosses my mind - can we on the right “cross the aisle” and understand the left side?

No, I put away childish fantasy when I was a child.

Read The New York Post Article that was quoted. You can see charts showing how the left has peeled off from being somewhat moderate to far left, while conservatives has generally stayed the same or moved moderately to the right. It shows the divide that has widened in the last 20 years. I don't think there will be much reaching across the isle.

The whole article is worth the five minutes to read.

One might as well attempt to discuss philosophy with a chihuahua.

quote:

Originally posted by Chris42:
So the thought crosses my mind - can we on the right “cross the aisle” and understand the left side?

Well, it’s hard to get into the simple minded state of bliss “nothing to worry about, the govt. will take care of everything” after being conservative all my life.

It would appear that they fear the self dependent and certainly mistrust/fear those that are. A typical failing, their trouble comprehending that there are others that are not insecure like they are.

If the point of it all is to unite regardless of consequence, then yes we can cross the aisle and give in. But that is not the point. What we are doing is preserving true principles of individual liberty, peace, prosperity, law and order. I do understand what Leftists want. They want liberty without accountability. They want to compel others to surrender individual liberty for the notion of collective benefit. They want to punish the innocent for the deeds of the guilty. They want to socially engineer at the cost of self determination. This list goes on and on.

The trouble with Leftism is that it is a childish way of solving social problems. It uses destructive false principles to remedy consequences of the application of other destructive false principles. Leftist reflexively destroy individual liberty and accountability, self sufficiency, self determination, primary ownership and administration of one's own produce and accumulation, voluntary service and sacrifice, true equality, high moral codes, respect and defense of the innocent, helpless and others' rights. I will not negotiate any of those principles away to unify with the other side. To the contrary, it is my life's effort to regain what has been lost and promote those principles at every opportunity.

I listen to NPR on 'Lame Radio Saturdays'. It is mostly propaganda with varying degrees of intensity all day. It is a window into the blue pill mind and a view of the matrix at work. This NPR agent took the red pill. He educated himself and recognized some truth. Good for him. I suspect he'll follow up with heavy doses of blue pill and return to the fantasy land of childish perspectives and policy.

Fuck no. There is no "reaching across the aisle" to understand the left. Half of leftists hate America and want it transformed into their utopia, the other half are just completely insane. You don't meet insane people who hate America half way.

quote:

Originally posted by parabellum:
No, I put away childish fantasy when I was a child.

I think you're on to something...

"When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things."

1 Corinthians 13:11

I learned a new phrase: Acela corridor.

Sounds like he sort of gets it, but then he closes with predictable anti-Trump demagoguery because of Trump's media rants (reference NYP article, rather than linked story). You just spent the last several column inches illustrating perfectly that Trump's complaints are legitimate and the country from the "Acela corridor" to the Left coast is ignored and misunderstood, then try to make Trump share the blame for the fact that the media is not trusted.

It will be interesting to see how the book on his experiences is received. Whether or not he makes the morning news/talk shows and gets to sit with Ellen in the afternoon hawking his book.

I guess we'll see

I can't stand "Bro Country", the dominant radio genre around these parts, so I listen to NPR until the condescending "vocal fry" by the female voices makes me want to drive off the bay bridge.

Poor NPR: Senior VP fired Juan Williams 2 days after he appeared on O'Reilly and admitted to stereotyping Muslim. BOD then fired the VP, then the CEO. But NPR still can't shake the libs out: they ARE NPR. NPR just paying lip service: they don't want to understand the great unwashed.

The article is good only if libs read it and realize that their fantasy of conservatives and flyover country is wrong, as the author says. He's basically saying--look, these folks have guns, they hunt, they voted for Trump, but they're still decent people who have a good reason to feel (and vote) the way they do. We shouldn't treat them like savages.
And I know that this contempt of the right by the left is real because I read it all the time in my family's FB posts.

quote:

Originally posted by Chris42:...- can we on the right “cross the aisle” and understand the left side? ...

One may toss hyenas a piece of meat and satisfy them for a short while, but you can never reach in and take any portion of the meat back.

It's only a one way street with hyenas.

Liberalism is s mental disorder, and any attempt to reason or debate with a liberal will quickly be met with being called a racist, being compared to Hitler, violence, or some combination thereof.

This guy was obviously open to hearing something other than the liberal party line, which I think is extremely rare for people in his demographic (liberals) most of whom are happy in their little narrow minded alt-left echo chambers.

quote:

Originally posted by erj_pilot:

quote:

Originally posted by parabellum:
No, I put away childish fantasy when I was a child.

I think you're on to something...

"When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things."

1 Corinthians 13:11

He has to know that the left will turn on him if he genuinely had a change of heart.

I’d take a liberal shooting to demonstrate that one can be a safe, sane, common sense kind of guy who just happens to be a conservative who believes everyone has a right to defend themselves.

quote:

Originally posted by Chris42:
So the thought crosses my mind - can we on the right “cross the aisle” and understand the left side?

Only member showpro would think so.
Fantasyland on the left is not a place where logic and common sense prevails. I'm prone to also think the laws of physics don't work there either.

There's no reason to take potshots. Mind your manners, please.

He still can't resist jabbing at Trump.

I would love to see his notes from that year among the raggedy assed masses. "They do not actually mouth breathe. Must have been one of daddy's jests." "At times, I actually want to shake their hands and even-- this has happened!-- give one a hug. They have so enlarged my concept of the human! Primitive, yes, at times repulsive, yes--but definitely human! Most of them."