We have had a member here, who have since left the board, who was railing against moral decline of American society, and specifically the failure of the parents to raise their kids properly. He then had a thread that indicated that his own child has drug/alcohol/crime/whatever - don't exactly remember - basically, all kinds of problems that supposedly are eliminated by good parenting.

Start with abiding by your own declared morality - for example, stop throwing stones until you are sure of your own house...

I blame rock and roll. It's the devil's music.

Serious question: how do conservatives today cope with what conservatives in the previous generation did (such as the post above), which was completely discredited later? Doc?

The best part? All those good, conservative Gawd fearin' southern folks who were fighting to keep the negro in his place... became Republicans when the parties had an ideological shift in the sixties.

Parties change names/ideologies - democrats today are what republicans were in 1950s, and vice versa. But the ideological directions stay the same. Conservatives used to fight pretty much everything considered standard today:
- universal suffrage
- evolution (Scopes monkey trial)
- separation of church and state
- emancipation
- 8hr working day
- restrictions on child labor
- social security
- civil rights
- gay marriage
- environmental protections

So being wrong all the time before, I just can't understand how do they have guts to even have opinions anymore?

Nevermind

It boils down to keeping power and control. Conservatives tried to tear the union apart over slavery, and constantly seek to weaken any group that they feel threatens their power and privilege. Women, minorities, members of different religions, etc. I have a hypothesis that the conservative fascination with guns is less about freedom and liberty and more about maintaining power. The downside is pesky minorities and wrong thinkers benefit too, but we can see in many states, licensing and mandatory training to carry may reduce the amount of undesirable elements actually bearing arms in public.

I can't say I believe in moral facts. It's more of a belief that is accepted by society in general. It seems to boil down to treating others like you would like to be treated. But there is always loopholes in that as well. Religion can't exist without moral facts, they're the only real fetter for religions in the world.

As for Conservatives, I'd say we need the current extreme conservatives to balance out the extreme progressives. It's scary to imagine what the country would be like if either one managed to take control. That's why I'm not too concerned about what the Congress doesn't accomplish as opposed to what they do. When the sides agree on something it's either incredibly serious for the country, or very bad for us.

I know of more extreme conservatives currently in Congress. People who say that abortion is illegal, people who say that climate physics is hoax, people who say that gays should not be treated equally with everyone else, etc.

Who are the extreme progressives (assuming that by extreme progressives you mean people who believe in centrally planned economy a la Soviet Union rather than market-based one that exist everywhere in the world)?

Nancy Pelosi or Feinstein?

Can you cite either of them saying anything advocating centrally planned economy?

I'd say anyone who openly belongs to the Communist or Socialist parties in the U.S. People who support abortions, but want firearms completely banned. PETA. The people that come out to riot in Seattle on May 1st. I would agree there are more extreme conservatives in Congress that progressives, but that's not the limit of nutters in this country.

Lol

"For instance, liberals and conservatives are equally likely to reject fact-checking messages that contradict misperceptions or believe in false political rumors about candidates they oppose."
http://qz.com/364207/its-not-just-clima ... e-equally/

Also - fucking really? Feinstein is a progressive?
- Supported Iraq war. Supported troops escalation
- Supported wiretapping
- Cosponsored Patriot Act
- Supports capital punishment
- Tough on crime
- Cosponsored flag desecration amendment
- For Internet censoring
- Called for Snowden's arrest
- Strong supported of NSA bullshit

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_ ... _Feinstein

Pretty fucking please. Being anti-gun does not automatically make someone a liberal, or a progressive...

According to your definition (excluding abortion - which is the fucking law of the land; supporting it does not make someone extreme) - there is NO ONE in Congress who is extreme progressive.