It is not just that one sees few Bush-Cheney bumper stickers and lawn signs - even in areas in which one knows his support is high. I do not have such a bumper sticker or lawn sign. In fact, most Bush supporters I have asked, even those who are fairly passionate on the topic, just don't think the risk of a key-scratch or broken home or car window, or much worse, is worth whatever benefit one receives from a partisan bumper sticker or lawn sign. There are just too many personal stories of cars and homes defaced and damaged.
The sentiment is not symmetrical: One sees plenty of Kerry-Edwards bumber stickers and lawn signs - even in highly Republican neighborhoods. Indeed,one sees plenty of such stickers and signs that express left-wing sentiments much more intense and partisan than mere support of the Democratic presidential ticket. Not infrequently these stickers and signs mention some form of violence or even death with respect to Republican officials.
Is he really as dumb as he comes off? Hopefully he's just clouded by his own partisonship to the point where his views make no sense. First, is he polling Bush Supporters around the country? "most Bush supporters I have asked". Haha! What the hell? More to the point he obviously hasn't lived in a conservative state like Texas. His polling didn't extend out this far instead it stayed with he and his friends over a couple beers, it would seem. Let's see what has happened to people who show their support for Kerry:
- Car honked at multiple times;
- You get followed into a parking lot by the honking cars;
- You are yelled at by a Bush supporter because "You goddamn John Fucking Benedict Arnold Kerry supporters hate America"
- You are threatened
- You are fired because you have a Kerry sticker on your car
- You are kicked multiple times by a rabid Bush supporter while the Secret Service is restraining your movement.
The idiocy of his statement is that he seems to be drawing some sort of a link between being liberal and being violent. People get riled up about politics. Not just Democrats and not just Republicans. People. Plain and simple. Not every person to be sure. But there are idiots who would rather fight with someone, destroy their property, and kick down signs than engage in useful discussion. Of course, one might say that the liberals who get made at Mr. Robert Musil have only realized that he's not willing to discuss. He isn't willing to look at things fairly if he is coming from the assumption that liberals are violent while conservatives are peaceful.
He ends by stating:
I call it "a climate of fear" because nobody should have to take into account a serious likelihood that those who do not agree with a bumber sticker's sentiment will damage a car or a home. But I am not really afraid of these new liberals. They are pathetic.
Oh, that's ironic because I was just about to call your blog a "climate of stupidity."
