Since
I seem to be on a rant about objective words that are commonly used as
pejoratives, how about this one: “ideologue.”
I
hear this almost exclusively from the left, be they Democrats or
Republicans. (The terms, “Demopublicans”
and “Republicrats” are becoming more common as the distinctions between the two
parties breaks down. I use the term “left”
advisedly, meaning one who favors bigger government, higher taxes, more welfare
and entitlements, and a general overthrow of the Constitution. I use the term “right” to be the opposite of
that. In this context, Republican and Democrat are not useful. We
can discuss left vs. right, liberal vs. conservative, etc, but not here. I have defined my terms, and will proceed as
if people are actually going to read ALL of this.)
So,
“Ideologue.” I always like to start with
some dictionary definitions. I’m one that
gives me the details of what an ideologue is, not his moral stature,
intelligence, or political affiliation.
Merriam
Webster’s online dictionary is utterly useless:
“An impractical idealist.” “An often blindly partisan advocate or
adherent of a particular ideology.”
MW loves to use words to define themselves, which is completely
invalid. They also throw in the highly
judgmental words, “impractical…blindly
partisan,” which is an evaluation of an ideologue, but doesn’t tell us what
one is. What horse hockey.
Google
says, “an adherent of an ideology, esp.
one who is uncompromising and dogmatic. “a
conservative ideologue.” Well, that’s
certainly not slanted or judgmental. I
won’t even dignify this drivel with a critique.
If this is the only definition you have, you’re in trouble.
To
my surprise, freedictionary.com offered this simple, neutral definition, which
they credited to the American Heritage
Dictionary of the English Language: “a zealous advocate or adherent of an
ideology”, and under the thesaurus section, offered this: “an advocate of some ideology.”
Finally,
Cambridge.org gave what I think is the most succinct definition of the four: “a person who believes very strongly in
particular principles and tries to follow them carefully.”
Between
freedictionary and Cambridge, I think we have something to work with. An ideologue is a person who believes certain
ideas are correct, advocates them, and tries to follow them. If I’m not mistaken, socialism is an idea, as
are fascism and capitalism. Some of us
believe in the idea that individuals
have rights and powers separate and distinct from those of government, and
others believe in the idea that
individuals should be subservient to the government. Joe Biden believes in the idea that, if threatened with home
invasion, one should step out on the balcony and fire a shotgun into the air,
endangering innocent bystanders and telling the thugs where you are. Some of us have pointed out the hazards
inherent in this idea, but Joe clings
to it with considerable tenacity. He
also clings to the idea that guns
cause crime and that gun owners are pretty much the scum of the earth, an idea widely held and expressed with
utmost savagery and hatred by the left.
Nancy
Pelosi believes in the idea that it
is acceptable to create laws without knowing what is in them, and she defends
this idea with great obstinacy and
passion. A tiny handful of real
conservatives in Congress held to the idea
that socialized medicine and government-run health care is a very bad idea, and a large number of liberals
held, with equal fervor and unmatched ad hominem, the opposite idea.
In
truth, any conscious action or consciously spoken word begins as an idea. This
is true for liberals and conservatives, alike.
When liberals call conservatives ideologues, they are, literally,
accusing them of thinking and acting on their thoughts. (Acting on one’s thoughts and ideas is a good
basic definition of “integrity,” a term that actually has meaning, and defines
a trait that was once considered a virtue.)
This
begs the question that if acting on one’s thoughts and ideas is a terrible
thing, worthy obscene vitriol and physical assault, what are the liberals
acting on? I wouldn’t want to accuse
them of hypocrisy, so if they condemn acting on conscious thought, what in hell
guides their actions? I think we know
the answer to that: they are mindless
twits who don’t have sense to pound sand down a rathole. Why do I say that?
It’s
just an idea I had.
Rebsarge
28 Dec., 2013
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