Why the "clever" name calling needs to stop

Not that I suspect this plea will fall on anything but deaf ears, but I have to say, I'm sick and tired of reading all of the various oh-so clever names that bloggers and such like to use to express their distaste for someone or something.

For example:

• Madistan - wow, Madison is totally like a country in the Middle East! And all countries in the Middle East are totally awful!
• Repuglican/Rethuglican - as frustrated as I get with many people who associate themselves with the Republican party, I recognize that they're not all terrible people, and that calling them names like this isn't exactly going to make them more sympathetic to me or my arguments.
• Democrat Party - It's called the Democratic Party, folks, much as you may dislike it. This is not clever, it's just dumb.
• Barack Hussein Obama - First off, do the folks who insist on spelling out his full name every damn time also do the same for every other famous person they mention? No? What a surprise! Don't try to argue with me that you're not doing it to be offensive, or because you don't think simply having the middle name Hussein makes you just like Sadam. Hussein, as far as I'm aware, is about equivelent to the name John in the Middle East in how common it is.
• The Chimp - I am by no means any kind of fan of George W. Bush, but referring to him with stupid nicknames like this doesn't do anyone any good, and makes you look like a preschooler. There are many, many valid points to be made about his policies and actions that don't involve name-calling.

There are more, of course, and I seem to come across a new one every day. I'm tired of them. I may be guilty of having fallen into this trap in the past, but I've long since been making a concerted effort to leave the ad hominem attacks and blatant jingoism out of my vocabulary. I don't care which side of the debate you're on--stupid nickname's and other such insults only hurt your arguments. Ultimately, aren't we all trying to find a better way? To convince those we disagree with that maybe our ideas would work better? And to remain open to new approaches to things, so that we don't necessarily get mired down in our own, stubborn ideaology?

Perhaps that's a bit too idealistic of me. There are certainly people out there who are more interested in generating hits, ad revenue, and bigger paychecks / fame than they are in fostering real, constructive debate. But I have to think that there are just as many, if not more, people out there looking to change some hearts and minds, and to learn a few things themselves.

I thought we were all supposed to have learned that name-calling is useless and mean back in, say, kindergarten. Apparently some of us have since forgotten that valuable lesson.

In response: Bask in (conservative) bumper stick wisdom

I stumbled across this little gem from Atomic Trousers the other day. Apparently that post saw the site's highest hit count, as it was spread far and wide across the conservative blogosphere.

Now, I'm no fan of jingoistic bumper stickers. I'd rather someone actually did something about the problems they see in the world than just slap a sticker on their car and feel good about themselves. I'll even admit that I have been guilty of this in the past, but no more.

Regardless, the reasons given for hating the stickers in the AT post are what really disturb me. There's enough self-congratulatory back-patting in the comments section to make a thoughtful person start to believe that the world is full of selfish pricks with no sense of compassion for their fellow human beings.

Anyway, because I believe in turnabout being fair play, I've decided to list a series of jingoistic conservative bumper stickers that I have, amazingly, seen around Madison (and beyond).

1) "Don't believe the media, conservatives are the good guys!"
Yikes. Way to paint the world in black and white there, buddy. There's so much wrong with this one that it's hard to know where to begin. First off, the "media" isn't any one thing, conservative or liberal. There are networks and organizations that fall on all sections of the political spectrum, and to continue with this pained battle cry that conservatives are somehow largely discriminated against in this country is disingenuous at best and disgustingly self-centered at worst.

2) "Allah know of Islam, I learned on 9/11."
Holy mother of yikes, this one about made me swerve off the road when I saw it. How ignorant can one person be? Has this person ever met a Muslim? Been friends with one? Bothered to even just read a non-biased account of Islam? This sort of attitude makes me think the answer is a resounding "no," because otherwise how could a person still come to the deluded conclusion that all Muslims hate us and want us dead? Yikes, it's people like this that help us end up in religious wars without end.

3) "Nuke Iran Before Iran Nukes US!"
Ah yes, the time honored tradition of thinking nuclear war will solve all of our problems. Point some of those missiles at you and your family, then tell me how gung-ho you are for a nuclear holocaust.

4) "Anti-War = Pro-Terrorism"
Here we have another shining example of blanket stereotyping and complete fallacy. Didn't we learn this back in, like, 5th grade? Y'know, that whole "all eagles are birds but not all birds are eagles" thing? Of course, that barely even applies in this instance, because equating "anti-war" with "pro-terrorism" is so absurd as to render it completely moot.

5) "Abortion Clinics: Keeping Choice From America's Parents Every Day"
This one is just so what-the-fuck. So these abortion clinics, they're going out and forcing people to have abortions? Where are they getting this shite? The clinics that offer this service do so because it's legal, it's important that people have a place to go to have it done safely, and they provide counseling before and after to help people make informed decisions as to whether or not the procedure is right for them and then how to cope with what is, without a doubt, a deeply unpleasant experience. No one likes abortion. Sometimes it's just necessary, and the decision should always be left up to the pregnant women, not the government, not some conservative who knows nothing about the individual's situation. Get over yourselves.

I could go on, because there are just as many wacky right-wing bumper stickers as there are wacky left-wing bumper stickers. It's just that, for me, most of the right-wing jingoisms make me want to vomit, so in the interest of not blowing chunks all over my computer, I'm going to stop the list here.

Point is, if you want to make a difference in the world, have real, constructive debate with people of all political and social stripes, etc., then stupid slogans are not the way to go. This applies to everyone. Drop the stereotypes, open your friggen mind a little bit, and for heaven's sake, get out a little more. It'll do you good.