Why are so many American conservatives now calling themselves "classical liberals?"
There is a substantial portion of our polity that still believe in liberalism. Unfortunately, they can’t call themselves liberals any more. That went away in the FDR administration, when the Progressives somehow managed to fool the populace into thinking their far-right views (often considerably farther right that the Republicans) were “liberal.” The Progressive movement is still very much popular and still being called liberal, even though they are solidly opposed to liberalism.The issue of gun rights is an easy one to use as a litmus test. Liberalism requires the Second Amendment be taken very seriously, and liberals would, if in power, be rolling back many of the regulations on the books, including much of the National Firearms Act of 1934.If that one doesn’t get you, try a few other popular topics:The liberals’ minimum wage is $0. Minimal business and banking regulations. Minimal environmental laws. Of course, they were out front in the gay marriage movement, are loathe to support overseas military operations, are generally pro-choice on abortion rights, and have a strong tendency to oppose drug laws.To Progressives this looks “conservative,” because it’s similar to the way the US operated in the 19th century, but the Progressives have a rather warped prism through which they peer.
Why can't conservatives think for themselves?
The sad thing is, despite how much this looks like trolling, there are people out there who hold this position. Of course conservatives do think for themselves, which becomes abundantly clear when you realize that they don't all watch Fox, and many of them bring up issues that they have personal experience with. I'm a more liberally-minded person, living in a conservative area, and I have to say that it's my impression that they're just critical of all the sources being shown to them. And while I do agree that liberals do mostly think for themselves, I can't ignore that there are places in more liberal areas that are echo chambers and do not condone free thought away from a certain narrative. It's mostly called "the liberal arts" nowadays, and there are certainly cases where liberals go into college expecting to become smarter, more open-minded, tolerant, and educated, but actually leave the opposite, at least in some regards. Perhaps, you shouldn't just take a professor's word for it. Doing so on his or her word alone will at least not be the open-minded, and suggests a level of intolerance if unwilling to look at alternate sources. Seeking out all forms of knowledge is the educated thing to do, and at least understanding their perspective will make you more intelligent even if you don't agree.
Why can't conservatives think for themselves?
Actually, conservatives do think for themselves, but it is poor pathetic liberals who have been brainwashed by their liberal teachers, professors, and the liberal news and entertainment media who are unable to think for themselves and who are unable to have a rational debate with conservatives. How can liberals believe that Islam is a religion of peace when Mo was a murdering Warlord and sexual predator and Muslims are taught that he is the perfect man to emulate? How can you believe that the word "Jihad" does not mean holy war, when that is the definition in the dictionary? How can you support late term abortions? How can you support bringing in hundreds of thousands of Muslims from Muslim countries where Jihad (holy war), and barbaric and misogynistic Sharia law are popular? How can you call conservatives fascists when you are the ones physically attacking and trying to silence those who disagree with you. The answer is that you are brainwashed and are unable to think logically about your irrational liberal views.
Why do liberals think that black conservatives hate themselves?
They say that "they're Uncle Toms", they're "traitors to their race", that they are "deluded", just because they believe in personal responsibility, hard work, strong military that is #1 in the world, freedom, low taxes and are against abortion, all of which these good values are hated by liberals. How can liberals be this racist?
Why do people say that conservatives can't laugh at themselves?
Conservatives usually enjoy "bullying" humor more. Rush does the rich kid laughing at the poor kid with funny eyeglasses all the time. That is the basis of his humor. I don't think he is capable of taking a lot of criticism, and seems to get a bit huffy and puffy about it. Keep in mind, I mostly ignore Rush and think of him as the right wing version of Michael Moore (whom I also now ignore because I don't like his taunting and smoke-and-mirrors act, plus I feel that to ignore Rush on tactics means one should ignore MM on tactics as well). Liberals act more like the kid who is standing up to the bully, sort of, but they also can't laugh at themselves much, because they see their "work" as too "critical". I think the only people who are able to laugh at themselves are people who decided to effectively say "everyone is an @$$", like George Carlin did.