I think it's important that we quit calling right-wingers 'conservative'

[rumguy]

They don't conserve anything. They don't conserve money. They don't conserve the environment. Their foreign policy is not cautious or careful.

Hell - there's not much that is conservative about them.

We need to call them right-wingers. We are more conservative than they are - this is important because many people like the idea of being conservative.... And there's a lot to be said for conserving things.

Labels matter - they frame things in important ways.

Here in Washington I hear prominent Dems saying that Dino Rossi (the pubbie candidate for governor) is too conservative for Washington. They should use the term right-wing instead.

[tridim]

1. That would make a nice question to ask your right wing friends

"Name one thing that the repukes conserve"

There is no answer.

[ranosgol]

2. I agree..these guys are about as Conservative as Hitler.

I hate to use Hitler but it fits sometimes.

I am not saying the GOP wants to put people in gas chambers by any means but they are using the same propaganda tactics to the tee.

[Maple]

3. None of the old labels mean anything anymore

Leftwingers and rightwingers are all leftovers from the Cold War.

Means nada now...except they're both seen as extremists.

Conservative and liberal are from the same era.

They all have too much baggage from the last century.

We all need new names.

[rumguy]

5. that may very well be true

but for purposes of elections this year I think right-winger is the best way to describe them - or wingnut - whatever...

they are not conservative...

[Maple]

8. If you are talking solely next month, fine

I meant in general, and for every other election.

It's obviously way too late to change names before the upcoming US election.

[TaleWgnDg]

4. exactly!! and I've been saying it for years . . .

that so-called "conservatives" are any BUT conservative. Instead, that are radical off-the-wall whackos.

Rightwinger is an excellent tag. Extremist is another great tag.

. . . . . . . . .

edited to add: btw, when you've got George Will and Pat Buchanan bashing GWBush's policies, then you KNOW the tag "conservative" no longer sticks.

[Eye and Monkey]

6. Radical.

Someone on DU suggested "radical" a week-or-two ago. I like it. I've used it, and it drives pseudocons crazy.

[nadinbrzezinski]

9. I know I even put one of our radicals

in the same boat as the ones they claim to hate... two sides of the same coin and both are TRUE BELIEVERS... drove him batty

[Eye and Monkey]

10. similar experience!

cheers

[Zero Division]

19. Radical Right Wing - It does have a nice ring to it

I've always been a fan of alliteration.

[UCSBLiberalCat53]

7. Why not call them

Reactionaries?

[rumguy]

11. I don't think reactionary is right either

They're something different. A reactionary, as I understand it - wants to return to some time way in the past. Well - Thomas Jefferson coined the term 'separation of church and state'. Their fusion of fundamentalist christianity with corporate power and militarism is something new and different.

[nadinbrzezinski]

13. problem is they share elements of

Millenarian thought with any religious extremist on this planet....

Hence why they want to go back to a wonderful era well in teh past when all was good

For AQ it is the caliphate, for our radicals it is .... somehwere before Presdient McKinley, and for some even before the Civil War... maybe Massachussets Bay Colony.

[UCSBLiberalCat53]

26. Hmmm

Contrary to popular belief, the Massachusetts Bay Colony was NOT ruled by church leaders. The Puritans thought if government and the Church mixed, government would corrupt the church. Ministers were forbidden to hold public office, even though they were the most respected figures in the colony. However, you're right that their laws were based on God's law like forbidding work on the Sabbath. So basically based on your model, you probably won't see Falwell or Robertson in positions of leadership but probably advisory positions.

They probably also desire to go back to Biblical Israel. They seem to love the types of capital punishment that the Bible talks about, like death by stoning for adulterers, but that poses a slight problem. These flying monkeys wouldn't mind stoning Bill Clinton to death, but what about Henry Hyde and other Republicans caught in adulterous affairs?

[Erika]

America is Owned by Asia!

Bush has sold us out with his borrowing to foreign nations who can call in the chips anytime and may be doing so with corporate deals. The average Joe has no idea of that fact.

[rumguy]

16. yeah what's conservative about that?

NOTHING!

[Merlin]

12. I totally agree.

There are some really positive attributes to conservative thought. I respect genuine conservatives.

I know conservatives. Some of them are friends of mine. Right wing idealogues are no conservatives!

[shraby]

14. Radical right wing idiots works for me

[Zero Division]

21. Heh, didn't see your post until just now.

[The_Casual_Observer]

15. Used to mean they were "conservative" when it came to

creating or supporting social programs for the poor. Now it means that they are the craziest people on the planet.

[carnie_sf]

17. I think reactionary

fits perfectly. After all, their heroes in Wash DC are trying their damnedest to recreate the gilded age.

[oscar111]

18. "RW thieves" "Thief-rule".-- best terms

"RW thieves" gets to the core of the repubs policies. Their basic source of strength is cheap labor {thats us}. That is the main kind of theft they use.

store ripoffs, bank ripoffs, repair ripoffs, landlord ripoffs happen, but are small in comparison.

"thief-rule" gets to the reality of how we are ruled by thieves, and points out their method of bought elections.
===Say "campaign bribes", do not say "campaign donations".

"radical" may work in annoying them, but in our minds, realize that that term does not invalidate any idea system.

democracy was radical in 1776, now it is mainstream.

extremist is also not a term to dismiss things, for the same reason.\

wingnut is too obscure.

"reactionary" is an odd term. If one reacts to a bad policy, then it is good to be reactionary. Forget this term.
"Mammonist" is too obscure for Joe sixpack.
==============================
"RW thieves",

is the best term for them.

[arikara]

20. There is one thing that they try to conserve

and that's their own bank accounts. How about calling them mammonists.

[grasswire]

22. I call them anti-American

But radical works, too. Or the more casual "wingnut."

[Bluebear]

23. "Extreme right wing"

Too extreme for America.

[MsConduct]

24. Yeah, right-wing (nuts) are as 'conservative'

as the all the followers of dictators are, in that crazy radical way.




Peace

[UdoKier]

25. I never use that term.

I'm conservative - in dress and lifestyle. There is nothing conservative about the modern-day GOP. Sick, corrupt, twisted, sometimes backward-looking, but not conservative.

[drhilarius]

27. I prefer "regressives"...

sets them in contrast to us,and it pretty much sums up their ideology.

[w4rma]

28. Yup. Neo-cons aren't conservative. I never use conservative to label them.

In fact, I think it's lying about them to call them conservative.

[Sugarbleus]

29. the New American Fascist Party..........n/t

[KayLaw]

30. I hate to say it

But most are simply suckers who are giving away everything so the big corporations/media/robber barrons can govern. They lose their good-paying jobs, civil rights, clean environment, etcetera, pay for infrastructure and the war machine so the elite don't have to, and get little to nothing in return.

[Hekate]

31. "Extreme right-wing" or "extreme right-wing radical" ...

I have been using these terms for quite awhile to differentiate them from true conservatives and old-style Republicans, hoping to make my audience think. Doesn't matter if my audience tilts to the left or to the right -- I want to move them away from overly-simplistic thinking and toward understanding just who is the problem.

Hekate

[auburngrad82]

32. I like Robert Reich's term

Radical Conservatives. That associates the word radical with their own term in people's minds and gives it a negative connotation without being overtly nasty or rude.

[ProfessorGAC]

33. Good Call

I've taken to referring to them as the Fringe Right.

One thing i find galling is the reference to Dems as being out of the mainstream. When someone says that to me, i ask 2 simple questions. "What percent of the vote did your guy get in 2000?" "What was the overall ratio of Repub to Dem votes in 2002 Congressional races?"

Answers:
In 2000, Bush was elected with less than 45% of the popular vote. It would appear that HE is not the mainstream's choice. More people didn't want him than did!

In 2002, the overall ratio was 201:200. Given that there are moderate repubs, that would indicate that the extremists on the right are not representing at least 50% of the people.

They are NOT part of the mainstream. The mainstream has rejected their message. It's only their reliance on the 28% who would vote Republican even in Jesus were running on the Dem ticket that keeps them in power and allows them to organize their campaign of obfuscation. They are not representing the mainstream, and they never have.

Given that, it is obvious that they are extremists who cannot win on their message but need other means to win.
The Professor

[Flammable Materials]

34. The phrases I use:

"worrisome extremists"
"fundamentalist radicals"
"hijackers of the Republican Party"
"non-conservatives"
"reactionaries"
"religious authoritarians"
"American jihadists"

[laylah]

35. Personally, I call them

right-wing nut jobs...does that count?

Jenn

[thinkingwoman]

36. I prefer "radicals," "extremists," and "fundies"

And I'm not shy about using those terms. I don't miss any oppotunity to point out that "conservative" means fiscal responsibility, LESS governmental intrusion and a strong belief in personal freedom.

Those words produce strange looks in this repug region, but it's fun.

[candy331]

37. Yes, Yes, I've been saying this for a long while now they wear this label

as a badge of honor, they are anything but honorable. Time to call a spade a spade and conservative they are not and anyway most people are conservative in some sense one way/another.

[BulletproofLandshark]

38. I call them Anti-American fascists...

always an attention-getter.

[Sputnik]

39. That's why I call them "Cons"

They hate that.

[rumguy]

40. kick

[hiphopnation]

41. Well stated

My dad is a "conservative" and he ain't buyin' the steamin pile o' sh*t this dork and his daddies buddies are sellin. Really, I come from a whole family of thoughtful conservatives none of whom go to church regularly, think America should be seeking domination of the world oil supply, think the state should tell women or gays how to live thier lives etc. But they ARE conservative folk in the family, "down-home", and especially monetary sense of the word. :shrug: