Turns out though, maybe rolling coal isn't really meant to make environmentalists angry. It seems to be one of those things young men do that is meant to impress young women, like having a low rider that bounces up and down or a stereo that rattles windows in nearby houses. In other words, one of those things that probably doesn't impress young women at all, but instead it's really mostly a way to show off to other mentally-challenged guys like yourself, because guys are guys and there's something a little wrong with them.
Still, conservatives doing stuff just because liberals don't like it is a real thing. I know an actual personal example of something very close to rolling coal, in fact. No need to pick on this particular person by name, but let's say a senior citizen living by herself. She went and bought a Hummer, the huge kind that gets about eight miles per gallon, to drive her 90-pound self around in, and I swear a big part of the reason was that it was that it was her way of flipping a middle finger (and yes, senior or no, she would happily do that) at anyone who cared about the environment.
OK, easy enough to come up with a single story. Let's look at a few more public issues that demonstrate the politics of hate, or taking an irrational position just because you really don't want to be agreeable about anything.
Global Warming: What do you do if you just can't stand it that Al Gore was right, the planet is heating up, and it's a very bad thing? It turns out that what you do is, you pretend that you understand the field of climate science better than actual climate scientists, with all their elite PhD's and computer models and research. It's the modern-day equivalent of believing that the sun revolves around the Earth, just because you want it to. It takes a lot of anger to twist your mind into believing something so ridiculous.
Obamacare: I have written before about the Affordable Care Act, so I will just repeat this much: The United States has a terrible healthcare system, and the ACA is a step in the right direction that was designed by conservatives to appeal to conservatives. If it had come from a Republican President, it would have widespread support. But conservatives absolutely hate it, because they hate Democrats and they hate Obama, and because they are assholes. And speaking of...
Medicaid Expansion: Most Republican governors have refused to expand Medicaid in their states, even though it would cost them very little and would be a huge benefit for millions of their constituents collectively. And why is this? It is because they want so badly to reject anything initiated by Democrats and President Obama that they are willing to do the obviously wrong and morally deplorable thing because if people were helped by Obamacare, they might like it, and we can't have that.
Light bulbs: Republicans don't want to switch to more efficient light bulbs. Why? Because Democrats want to.
Guns: It isn't enough that one person can buy enough weapons to wipe out a small city. We need to have guns in restaurants, stores, bars, churches, schools, convents and daycares, or so it seems. Is any of this based on evidence, or is it just to annoy people who want to be safer? I have an idea: Let's allow guns at football games, lots of guns. According to gun enthusiasts, that would reduce the gun violence at games...
Bin Laden: When Osama bin Laden attacked the United States, almost everyone, even me, rallied behind President Bush and supported his actions. He squandered that eventually, but for a long time, he had the country's support. When the Obama administration caught and killed bin Laden, it took Republicans less than 24 hours to start complaining that Obama had not given Bush enough credit for it. If you want absolute proof positive that a lot of conservative assholes don't want to give President Obama any credit for anything, anywhere, ever, there it is.
The stimulus: Yes, we went from the worst economic crash since the depression to recovery, but it will always be the Failed Stimulus to Republicans because they cannot admit that their President failed and Obama succeeded, even though clearly that is the case.
Bowe Bergdahl: We brought a captured serviceman home from Afghanistan. Yay! No wait, booooo!
Unions: Some Southern states are so anti-union that they have told auto companies not to bring jobs to their states if they include union jobs. WE WILL NOT STAND FOR OUR CITIZENS HAVING GOOD JOBS WITH GOOD BENEFITS. Union-hating over common sense.
I know I seem inflexible and combative, but this is one big reason why. Republicans have made it extraordinarily clear that they don't want to work with Democrats, don't want to give Democrats any credit, will oppose anything Democrats want just because, and will push to the limit any conservative policy that liberals really don't like. Republicans are basically a reflection of Rush Limbaugh and Fox News, taking the opposition view to everything Obama and Democrats do, whether it makes sense or not. You can't work with that.
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