one problem is umbrella terms.
like liberal.
what does that mean?
broad-mindedness – sure, it's generally good to have an open mind
favors reform and progress – err, depends, some reforms and progress suck.
tolerant of change – yeah, depends on the change, the stock market goes up: good change, the stock market goes down: bad change. we change the coasts into god-fearing myopic trolls: bad bad bad.
big, plentiful – a liberal spray from his can of anthrax: poor gamesmanship.

while i grant conservatives are an occasionally fetid bunch,
i do find frequent boneheaded vacuity with liberals
who don't look any farther into the science or reasoning or ramifications of their opinions/actions
than what they read on their organic/vegan/wholefoods flyer
handed out by dirty, patchouli-wearing, dreadlocked, co-ed, greenpeace missionaries.

and so i giggle at the nose-thumbing from the suv lady,
even as i shake my imaginary fist at not being able to see
past her fat ass at what traffic there might be up ahead.
and i actually appreciate the “work hard and be happy”
rah rah rah part of her plastic dissertation.
that she uses it as a wedge to separate herself from the wooly liberal
does strike a dissonant note and
goes against most of my experience
with overly-educated, impassioned,
if at times too empathetic, liberals.

while tempered by a short-fuse and
general distaste for everyone,
i was groomed to withhold judgement
based on preconceived prejudice, slogans and stereotypes
in favor of drilling down and finding out the
entertaining bizarro idiosyncrasies
hidden just beneath the surface in most people.
it's also entertaining to find the boundaries
of someones knowledge about whatever
strongly held belief they are currently pushing.

blah blah blah. keep up the good fight.

Hug a logger. You'll never go back to trees.

I admit that I still haven't reached the level of zen sufficient to not let that bother me. I've been thinking a lot about this topic lately, and I'm not entirely sure what is to be wished for; if I really want to be the sort of person who's just wryly amused by everything instead of getting upset when people are obviously stupid and shortsighted and unjust. Surely the wryly-amused state would be better for my own mental health, but maybe pursuing my own mental health in these matters is less noble than I should aspire to.

The funniest thing is that a few years ago I resisted describing myself as a 'liberal.' But then 'liberal' came to mean a person who lacked far-reaching brain damage, and here we are.

So this woman in her SUV, which may not be environmentally sound, is probably a pretty safe vehicle for her asshat family. She probably doesn't view it as much of a status symbol when she's filling the tank. So with her macaroni and cheese brain, she has accomplished her mission; she's annoyed a liberal. ;)

You're probably right about this woman, but then again, she could be like that annoying woman from the coffee shop.

My personal favorite for bumper stickers other than my Queensryche “Revolution Calling” and “Speak the Word” ones has to be “Guns don't kill people, I kill people.”