Digby makes a very good point about the real world effects of conservative propaganda:
I'm convinced that one of the mistakes we've made over the years is not telling enough stories of real people who were affected by the conservative movement's deregulation fervor. When they can keep it all abstract and clean it sounds great. It's not so impressive when you see the human results of their "ideology."
With that in mind, consider Senator Orrin Hatch's (R-Wackaloon) claim that Utah doesn't need the stimulus money ("Utah is going to get by fine whether we get that money or not.") in light of what is actually happening in Utah ('on the ground'):
...Utah is being forced to cut back on services in ways that will have real harms. For example, they're eliminating 90 beds at the Utah State Hospital, where the state's most severely mentally ill are housed. The right likes to talk about waste and bureaucrats, but I'm not sure I understand how letting dozens of severely mentally ill people wander around the state is going to lay the foundations for long-term growth.
This is why no one should take the conservative movement seriously. There was a time when conservative offered serious policies. Ok, they were pretty daffy ideas*, but they actually tried to solve problems. But now, all we have are Peter Pan conservatives: anything's possible if you wish hard enough. I'm open to hearing different ideas about how to solve problems, but they just deny the existence of various problems.
It would be laughable if the consequences weren't so awful.
Because if we help severely mentally ill people then the terrorists win.
*As one loyal reader notes whenever she hears about 'conservatives no longer being the party of ideas', they, in fact, have lots of ideas. The problem is that most of these ideas suck.
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I just watched part of a vid (couldn't stand to watch all of it) of the latest stuff puked out by Alan Keyes. He is one mentally ill person that turning away is a good solution.
and Utah has horrible policies and aid for the mentally ill and their families even before this.
Oh, but the private sector will make much better use of the moneyâ¦like executive compensation and acquisitions.
And what about survival of the âfittest,â i.e., folks who vote Republican?
These "conservative" are morally and pragmatically dead fucking bankrupt, and the overwhelmingly vast majority of citizens are clearly aware of it. If only our pathetic excuse for a national press corps could unwrap their lips from around sick-fuck right-wing cock for long enough to realize it to, we might have a chance of stopping the motherfucking train before it plummets off the goddamn cliff into oblivion.
Someone should tell the voters in those states that their Governors are refusing to accept money that they have paid - or will pay - for some strange principle. Other states will *gladly* take the money that the folks in Utah have donated to the cause.
biber hapı