Quote: Animalman said: No, I don't think so. If he had, he probably would have said something remotely close to that, instead of saying what he actually said, which wasn't remotely close to that.
No. It was.
Obviously, any government can be relative based on its maintainers. However, government in general is a beast. Whether or not its caged is up to both the maintainers and the proleteriate(sp). Considering the issue is over that singular line of comment and not being spread anywhere near the full context of the cartoon, it is very safe to say that he was talking about the nature of government.
Even if Dave Barry wasn't saying that, the fact here is that the joke is being extrapolated over modern politics. So this has less to do with Dave Barry and more to do with the interpretation of it by James South.
Quote: His joke was that the government was an enemy. How is that a conservative perspective being expressed?
Because modern conservatives don't want their lives governed by government. This is opposed to liberals who want particular sanctions for every social and business issue out there. The individual citizen cannot do anything for him/herself without socialist America deciding a law should be attached to his/her whims.
Quote: I have no idea if he was talking specifically about this Bush, and I didn't make that claim, or imply it was so. For all I know, he wrote the comment 10 years ago(he wrote most of his books before 2000, so it's fairly likely he did).
Quote: Animalman said: Distrust in the government is hardly an attitude exclusive to conservatives. Infact, in today's USA, the conservatives tend to be the ones saying we should all trust the government, or, at least, the conservative administration running it.
This is a clear implication on your part that you thought the comment was regarding modern political extremes. Even if that strip was written 10 years ago, the 'Big Brother Conservative' label, used by the left, has been around since the mid-eighties.
You could probably say that you were just humoring G-man, but at the same time, you also bothered to try and spin the joke.
Quote: Regardless, these days, it doesn't appear to be a widespread belief amongst conservatives. Really, Barry's intent means less than the intepretation of the statement and the context in which it's placed.
Which is my point.
Quote: Anyway, the comment itself way too unspecific to ascribe a political agenda. That's my point. You, and G-Man, are making this out to be something it isn't, both on the part of Barry, and of the professor who interpreted the quote.
I may have over-assumed the intent of Barry--I admit I probably shouldn't have--But your attempt at trying to spin G-man's observation by saying 'Conservatives trust in the administration' instead of just saying that the joke was "too broad" in the first place doesn't put your intent in a much better light.
However, even in the face of my over-assumption, I'd still bet dollars to donuts that I got the context of Barry's joke right as well as South's interpretation.
Quote: Yet not too broad for you to attribute a "conservative lean" to it?
Once again: I wasn't simply interpreting Barry's intent, but also (and primarily) South's interpretation of what it meant.
Also, I'd like to hear how you think the statement doesn't have a conservative lean to it (beyond saying that all modern conservatives are Bush apologists that is), out of context or in context--It doesn't matter. I still say it's a modernly conservative inherency.
