Conservapedia - User contributions [en]

Essay:Liberal Denials about History

2012-10-18T00:20:57Z

TurtleD: added clarification

Here are [[liberal]] denials about history, with the result that virtually no textbooks teach them.

== General denials ==

The following truths about history are typically denied by liberal history textbooks:

#That "Yankee ingenuity" (American inventions) far surpassed the rest of the world, and brought great wealth to it.
#That military battles are an essential part of history, and of preserving freedom.
#That there were valid reasons for past opposition to immigration which had nothing to do with racism; immigration did not enable the North to beat the South.
#That unions caused great harm, including senseless violence and lost jobs.
#That hard work was the key to the success of many Americans.
#That most great Americans, from Abraham Lincoln to Thomas Edison, were homeschooled.
#That [[Abraham Lincoln]]'s [[faith]] grew while he was President.
#That [[Benjamin Franklin]] abandoned the [[Deism]] of his youth later in his life.
#That [[Thomas Jefferson]]'s religious beliefs were not representative of the other [[Founding Fathers]].
#That [[Rhode Island]] and [[Thomas Jefferson]], and their view of a "separation of church and state," had no role in the formation of the [[Constitution]].
#That there were [[conservative]] Presidents before [[Ronald Reagan]], such as [[George Washington]], [[James Monroe]] and [[Grover Cleveland]].
#That "anti-imperialism" movements against the United States were really communist or Muslim movements against Christianity, as in denying the Islamic basis for the Philippine insurgency around 1900.
#That the colony and state of "Virginia" was named after the "Virgin Queen" Elizabeth.
#That the colony and state of Maryland was named after Queen Henrietta Maria.
#That President [[FDR]] did not end the [[Great Depression]], and may have prolonged it.
#That President [[LBJ]]'s [[Great Society]] did little to alleviate poverty.
#That President [[Ronald Reagan]]'s foreign policy was key to ending the Cold War.
#That NO "[[triangular trade]]" existed in the 17th and 18th centuries with the New World<ref>In fact, no specific "triangular" trade route has ever been identified and it is unlikely that there was significant sale of goods to Africa at that time. The term was invented by an historian more than 100 years later.</ref>
#That the [[Catholic Church]] has a history of promoting science, not suppressing it.

== General bias ==

#Standard textbooks mislead students into thinking that contributions to history were somehow based more on status than by effort or Providence. This bias is a form of [[Essay:Status Worship|status worship]].
#Standard textbooks emphasize material things (like race, gender, wealth, scarcity) at the expense of the more important role played by ideas and "the power of the pen."
#Standard textbooks overemphasize the significance of popularity (e.g [[JFK]]).
#Standard textbooks mislead students into thinking that presidential elections (which are usually just determined by the economic cycle) are more significant than warranted.
#Standard textbooks ignore or deceive students about the fact that most great contributions to western society have been made by conservative Christians.
#Standard textbooks portray all presidents have being comparable in effectiveness and accomplishment, when in fact some were successful and some were failures.

== Specific truths that history books deny or distort==

#[[Rhode Island]] was the only state to separate church and state, and as a result it became the biggest importer of slaves.<ref>"The largest slave trading ports in America were located in Rhode Island and soon rivaled those of Liverpool. The wealth and economy of New England was based solely on slave trading and exporting rum; and the southern most colonies were NOT part of that odious slave trade."[http://www.floridareenactorsonline.com/realslavetraders.htm]</ref>
#[[Thomas Jefferson]] was not as successful or important as liberals claim;<ref>For example, Jefferson was given a wealthy estate but died in substantial debt.</ref> He failed personally and as president, especially in his second term.
#[[Chivalry]] was customary throughout most of American history.
#The greatest corruption in government during the Grant Administration was by the Democratic-controlled "[[Tammany Hall]]."
#The misnamed "[[Gilded Age]]" generated tremendous prosperity for the world, thanks to an absence of stifling regulation.
#[[Public school]] education in its current form in the U.S.A. is less than 100 years old.
#[[Atheist]] materialism lay behind the genocidal crimes of the [[Nazi]]s
#[[Martin Luther King]] was a Republican who preached Conservative values.
#[[Lenin]] was a ruthless and violent dictator who oppressed the people of the [[Soviet Union]] as thoroughly as [[Stalin]].
#[[Nazism]], with its insistence on the collective, was a [[left-wing]] doctrine.
#That the Democratic Party supported slavery, while the Republican party opposed it. It should be remembered that the platforms of the parties have flip-flopped at the time. At the time, the Democratic Party was the conservative party.
#The history of the "[[State of Franklin]]."
(add more)

== References ==

<references/>

[[Category:United States History Essays]]

Kindergarten

2012-10-17T23:54:20Z

TurtleD: statement had no citation - no study/facts/anything to back up the claim

'''Kindergarten''' is a form of [[preschool]], attended by children below [[elementary school]] age, usually at about 5 years of age and prior to entering first grade or the equivalent. The name "kindergarten" originated in Germany, and means child-garden (if translated literally).

[[Category:Education]]

Ku Klux Klan

2012-10-17T20:47:09Z

TurtleD: common knowledge the Democrats were the conservative party in the 1800s

[[File:KKKrally1946.JPG|right|300px|thumb|Ku Klux Klan rally, unknown location, August, 1951]]
The '''Ku Klux Klan''' had three incarnations in the USA, all racist.
The Klan of the 1860s was a violent effort by white Southern [[Democrats]] (conservative party at the time) to fight [[Reconstruction]]; it was suppressed by the federal government.

The second Klan flourished nationwide for a few years in the 1920s as state and district organizers profited handsomely by signing up millions of members, selling them distinctive white-robe costumes. The Klan voiced strong support for prohibition, opposed sexual immorality and promoted racism, anti-Semitism, anti-Catholicism and immigration restriction. Dramatic scandals inside the organization and lack of organizational structure caused the Klan to collapse quickly in the late 1920s. By 1928 it was practically defunct.

The third Klan comprised unrelated hate groups that sprang up in the South in the 1960s to fight integration.
* the Klan largely fell apart in the 1980s [http://www.fumento.com/arson/wsjfire.html]

==First KKK==
[[Image:Artoon.jpg|right|200px|thumb|A political cartoon depicting the KKK and the Democratic party as continuations of the Confederacy]]
The first KKK was an movement of white Southerners who opposed [[Reconstruction]] in the late 1860s, inflicting violence against black leaders and white Republicans. One of the founders, and the first "Grand Wizard," was former Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest. The Klan was broken up by President [[Ulysses S. Grant]] and the U.S. Army using the Civil Rights Act of 1871 (also known as the Ku Klux Klan Act). It had disappeared by 1872, although similar violent groups persisted in some localities around the South.

==Second KKK: The 1920s==
The second KKK was a nonviolent membership organization in the 1920s that reached hundreds of thousands—possibly millions—of men in every state. It was mostly a [[Ponzi scheme]], whereby the organizers took all the money (for initiation fees and costumes). When they had organized an area they moved on, leaving local chapters without money or leadership. No prominent American admitted he was a member at the time, but state organizers claimed vast powers. There is a possibility that some local Klans in the deep South engaged in violence against blacks, but historians are unsure; allegations of systematic violence were common but have not been verified. In recent years historians have found enough records to show that local chapters were primarily discussion groups, often with speakers who denounced Catholics, Jews, crime and violation of the prohibition laws.
[[File:RR-KKK.jpg|thumb|300px|Ronald Reagan starred as the crusading district attorney battling the Klan in this 1951 film.<ref> See [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0044075/usercomments analysis of film]</ref>]]

A series of scandals ruined the KKK's reputation and the group faded away after 1925, except for some remote areas like West Virginia. [[Robert Byrd]], now a Senator, was an organizer in West Virginia in the 1940s, and has apologized repeatedly for it. Supreme Court Justice [[Hugo Black]] admitted in 1939 that he had been a member in the 1920s.

==Third Klan==
The third Klan currently exists and comprises a few thousand members in local chapters. There is no real organization, and the group sponsors vehement hate talk as well as occasional violent threats and actions. It is racist and aims at the suppression of African-American, Jewish, homosexual, and Catholic interests. The current Klan presents itself as a Christian organization, but all denominations have rejected it as inherently non-Christian.

[[David Duke]] was a [[Democrat]] at the time of his official membership with the Klan. He has ties to white supremacist organizations like the NAAWP, which he founded. After leaving the klan, Duke was elected as a Republican to the Louisiana state legislature. The [[Republican National Committee]] disavowed Duke and repudiated his racist views when Duke made an unsuccessful bid for governor.<ref>[http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1P2-1176548.html RNC Condemns Ex-Klansman Duke], ''[[Washington Post]]'', February 25, 1989.</ref>

==Bibliography==
* Newton, Michael, and Judy Ann Newton. ''The Ku Klux Klan: An Encyclopedia''. (1991).
* Alexander, Charles. “Kleagles and Cash.” . ''The Business History Review.'' (1965) Vol. 39, No. 3, pp. 348-367
* Chalmers, David. ''Hooded Americanism.'' (1987), an older survey
* Dray, Philip. ''At the Hands of Persons Unknown: The Lynching of Black America'', (2002).
* Feldman, Glenn. ''Politics, Society, and the Klan in Alabama, 1915-1949''. (1999).
* Fryer, Jr. Roland G. and Steven D. Levitt. "Hatred and Profits: Getting under the Hood of the Ku Klux Klan," ''National Bureau of Economic Research,'' September 2007, [http://ideas.repec.org/p/nbr/nberwo/13417.html abstract]; [http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache:cyuQ-5WfsXAJ:www.economics.harvard.edu/faculty/fryer/papers/Hatred%2520and%2520Profits,%2520Getting%2520Under%2520the%2520Hood%2520of%2520the%2520Ku%2520Klux%2520Klan.pdf+%22Hatred+and+Profits%22&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=us full text online]
* George, John, and Laird Wilcox. ''American Extremists: Militias, Supremacists, Klansmen, Communists & Others'' (1996) 443 pgs. [http://www.questia.com/library/book/american-extremists-militias-supremacists-klansmen-communists-and-others-by-john-george-laird-wilcox.jsp online edition]
* Glaeser, Edward L. “The Political Economy of Hatred.” ''Quarterly Journal of Economics.'' 2005. Vol. 120, No. 1, pp. 45-86. [http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/abs/10.1162/qjec.2005.120.1.45 abstract], goes well beyond the KKK
* Goldberg, Robert Alan. ''Hooded Empire: The Ku Klux Klan in Colorado.'' (1981).
* Horn, Stanley F. ''Invisible Empire: The Story of the Ku Klux Klan, 1866-1871'', (1939)
::Horn, born in 1889, was a Southern historian who was sympathetic to the first Klan, which, in a 1976 oral interview [http://www.lib.duke.edu/forest/Research/ohisrch.html], he was careful to distinguish from the later "spurious Ku Klux organization which was in ill-repute—and, of course, had no connection whatsoever with the Klan of Reconstruction days."
* Jackson, Kenneth T. ''The Ku Klux Klan in the City, 1915-1930.'' (1992)
* MacLean, Nancy. ''Behind the Mask of Chivalry: The Making of the Second Ku Klux Klan.'' (1994)
* McVeigh, Rory. “Power Devaluation, the Ku Klux Klan, and the Democratic National Convention of 1924.” ''Sociological Forum'' 2001. 16(1):1-30.
* Moore, Leonard J. ''Citizen Klansmen: The Ku Klux Klan in Indiana, 1921-1928'' (1991). [http://www.questia.com/library/book/citizen-klansmen-the-ku-klux-klan-in-indiana-1921-1928-by-leonard-j-moore.jsp online edition]
* Parsons, Elaine Frantz, "Midnight Rangers: Costume and Performance in the Reconstruction-Era Ku Klux Klan." ''The Journal of American History'' 92.3 (2005): 811-36. [http://www.historycooperative.org/journals/jah/92.3/parsons.html in History Cooperative]
* Pegram, Thomas R. "Hoodwinked: The Anti-Saloon League and the Ku Klux Klan in 1920s Prohibition Enforcement." ''Journal of Gilded Age and Progressive era'' 7.1 (2008): [http://www.historycooperative.org/journals/jga/7.1/pegram.html online].
* Rhodes, James Ford. ''History of the United States from the Compromise of 1850 to the McKinley-Bryan Campaign of 1896. Volume: 7.'' (1920)
* Trelease, Allen W. ''White Terror: The Ku Klux Klan Conspiracy and Southern Reconstruction'' (1995).
* Wade, Wyn Craig. ''The Fiery Cross: The Ku Klux Klan in America''. (1987); a highly negative account of all three Klans, based on extensive research but not familiar with recent scholarship.

==Critical external links==
* [http://reactor-core.org/original-kkk.html The History of the Original Ku Klux Klan] - by an anonymous author sympathetic to the original Klan
* W. S. Simkins, "Why the Ku Klux," 4 ''The Alcalde'' (June 1916): 735-748. [http://www.law.du.edu/russell/lh/alh/docs/simkins.html online]; Simkins (1842-1929) was an organizer of the KKK in Florida in 1868, and a law professor when he wrote this memoir.
* [http://education.harpweek.com/KKKHearings/AppendixA.htm Full text of the Klan Act of 1871]
**[http://education.harpweek.com/KKKHearings/AppendixB.htm simplified version])
* [http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Article.jsp?id=h-694 Ku Klux Klan in the Reconstruction Era] (New Georgia Encyclopedia)
* [http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Article.jsp?id=h-2730 Ku Klux Klan in the Twentieth Century] (New Georgia Encyclopedia)

==References==
<references/>

[[Category:United States History]]
[[Category:Hate Groups]]
[[Category:United States Political Scandals]]
[[Category:Reconstruction]]
[[Category:1920s]]
[[Category:Terrorism]]
[[Category:Racist Organizations]]

Ku Klux Klan

2012-10-17T20:46:26Z

TurtleD: Undo revision 1012659 by TurtleD (talk)

[[File:KKKrally1946.JPG|right|300px|thumb|Ku Klux Klan rally, unknown location, August, 1951]]
The '''Ku Klux Klan''' had three incarnations in the USA, all racist.
The Klan of the 1860s was a violent effort by white Southern [[Democrats]] to fight [[Reconstruction]]; it was suppressed by the federal government.

The second Klan flourished nationwide for a few years in the 1920s as state and district organizers profited handsomely by signing up millions of members, selling them distinctive white-robe costumes. The Klan voiced strong support for prohibition, opposed sexual immorality and promoted racism, anti-Semitism, anti-Catholicism and immigration restriction. Dramatic scandals inside the organization and lack of organizational structure caused the Klan to collapse quickly in the late 1920s. By 1928 it was practically defunct.

The third Klan comprised unrelated hate groups that sprang up in the South in the 1960s to fight integration.
* the Klan largely fell apart in the 1980s [http://www.fumento.com/arson/wsjfire.html]

==First KKK==
[[Image:Artoon.jpg|right|200px|thumb|A political cartoon depicting the KKK and the Democratic party as continuations of the Confederacy]]
The first KKK was an movement of white Southerners who opposed [[Reconstruction]] in the late 1860s, inflicting violence against black leaders and white Republicans. One of the founders, and the first "Grand Wizard," was former Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest. The Klan was broken up by President [[Ulysses S. Grant]] and the U.S. Army using the Civil Rights Act of 1871 (also known as the Ku Klux Klan Act). It had disappeared by 1872, although similar violent groups persisted in some localities around the South.

==Second KKK: The 1920s==
The second KKK was a nonviolent membership organization in the 1920s that reached hundreds of thousands—possibly millions—of men in every state. It was mostly a [[Ponzi scheme]], whereby the organizers took all the money (for initiation fees and costumes). When they had organized an area they moved on, leaving local chapters without money or leadership. No prominent American admitted he was a member at the time, but state organizers claimed vast powers. There is a possibility that some local Klans in the deep South engaged in violence against blacks, but historians are unsure; allegations of systematic violence were common but have not been verified. In recent years historians have found enough records to show that local chapters were primarily discussion groups, often with speakers who denounced Catholics, Jews, crime and violation of the prohibition laws.
[[File:RR-KKK.jpg|thumb|300px|Ronald Reagan starred as the crusading district attorney battling the Klan in this 1951 film.<ref> See [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0044075/usercomments analysis of film]</ref>]]

A series of scandals ruined the KKK's reputation and the group faded away after 1925, except for some remote areas like West Virginia. [[Robert Byrd]], now a Senator, was an organizer in West Virginia in the 1940s, and has apologized repeatedly for it. Supreme Court Justice [[Hugo Black]] admitted in 1939 that he had been a member in the 1920s.

==Third Klan==
The third Klan currently exists and comprises a few thousand members in local chapters. There is no real organization, and the group sponsors vehement hate talk as well as occasional violent threats and actions. It is racist and aims at the suppression of African-American, Jewish, homosexual, and Catholic interests. The current Klan presents itself as a Christian organization, but all denominations have rejected it as inherently non-Christian.

[[David Duke]] was a [[Democrat]] at the time of his official membership with the Klan. He has ties to white supremacist organizations like the NAAWP, which he founded. After leaving the klan, Duke was elected as a Republican to the Louisiana state legislature. The [[Republican National Committee]] disavowed Duke and repudiated his racist views when Duke made an unsuccessful bid for governor.<ref>[http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1P2-1176548.html RNC Condemns Ex-Klansman Duke], ''[[Washington Post]]'', February 25, 1989.</ref>

==Bibliography==
* Newton, Michael, and Judy Ann Newton. ''The Ku Klux Klan: An Encyclopedia''. (1991).
* Alexander, Charles. “Kleagles and Cash.” . ''The Business History Review.'' (1965) Vol. 39, No. 3, pp. 348-367
* Chalmers, David. ''Hooded Americanism.'' (1987), an older survey
* Dray, Philip. ''At the Hands of Persons Unknown: The Lynching of Black America'', (2002).
* Feldman, Glenn. ''Politics, Society, and the Klan in Alabama, 1915-1949''. (1999).
* Fryer, Jr. Roland G. and Steven D. Levitt. "Hatred and Profits: Getting under the Hood of the Ku Klux Klan," ''National Bureau of Economic Research,'' September 2007, [http://ideas.repec.org/p/nbr/nberwo/13417.html abstract]; [http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache:cyuQ-5WfsXAJ:www.economics.harvard.edu/faculty/fryer/papers/Hatred%2520and%2520Profits,%2520Getting%2520Under%2520the%2520Hood%2520of%2520the%2520Ku%2520Klux%2520Klan.pdf+%22Hatred+and+Profits%22&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=us full text online]
* George, John, and Laird Wilcox. ''American Extremists: Militias, Supremacists, Klansmen, Communists & Others'' (1996) 443 pgs. [http://www.questia.com/library/book/american-extremists-militias-supremacists-klansmen-communists-and-others-by-john-george-laird-wilcox.jsp online edition]
* Glaeser, Edward L. “The Political Economy of Hatred.” ''Quarterly Journal of Economics.'' 2005. Vol. 120, No. 1, pp. 45-86. [http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/abs/10.1162/qjec.2005.120.1.45 abstract], goes well beyond the KKK
* Goldberg, Robert Alan. ''Hooded Empire: The Ku Klux Klan in Colorado.'' (1981).
* Horn, Stanley F. ''Invisible Empire: The Story of the Ku Klux Klan, 1866-1871'', (1939)
::Horn, born in 1889, was a Southern historian who was sympathetic to the first Klan, which, in a 1976 oral interview [http://www.lib.duke.edu/forest/Research/ohisrch.html], he was careful to distinguish from the later "spurious Ku Klux organization which was in ill-repute—and, of course, had no connection whatsoever with the Klan of Reconstruction days."
* Jackson, Kenneth T. ''The Ku Klux Klan in the City, 1915-1930.'' (1992)
* MacLean, Nancy. ''Behind the Mask of Chivalry: The Making of the Second Ku Klux Klan.'' (1994)
* McVeigh, Rory. “Power Devaluation, the Ku Klux Klan, and the Democratic National Convention of 1924.” ''Sociological Forum'' 2001. 16(1):1-30.
* Moore, Leonard J. ''Citizen Klansmen: The Ku Klux Klan in Indiana, 1921-1928'' (1991). [http://www.questia.com/library/book/citizen-klansmen-the-ku-klux-klan-in-indiana-1921-1928-by-leonard-j-moore.jsp online edition]
* Parsons, Elaine Frantz, "Midnight Rangers: Costume and Performance in the Reconstruction-Era Ku Klux Klan." ''The Journal of American History'' 92.3 (2005): 811-36. [http://www.historycooperative.org/journals/jah/92.3/parsons.html in History Cooperative]
* Pegram, Thomas R. "Hoodwinked: The Anti-Saloon League and the Ku Klux Klan in 1920s Prohibition Enforcement." ''Journal of Gilded Age and Progressive era'' 7.1 (2008): [http://www.historycooperative.org/journals/jga/7.1/pegram.html online].
* Rhodes, James Ford. ''History of the United States from the Compromise of 1850 to the McKinley-Bryan Campaign of 1896. Volume: 7.'' (1920)
* Trelease, Allen W. ''White Terror: The Ku Klux Klan Conspiracy and Southern Reconstruction'' (1995).
* Wade, Wyn Craig. ''The Fiery Cross: The Ku Klux Klan in America''. (1987); a highly negative account of all three Klans, based on extensive research but not familiar with recent scholarship.

==Critical external links==
* [http://reactor-core.org/original-kkk.html The History of the Original Ku Klux Klan] - by an anonymous author sympathetic to the original Klan
* W. S. Simkins, "Why the Ku Klux," 4 ''The Alcalde'' (June 1916): 735-748. [http://www.law.du.edu/russell/lh/alh/docs/simkins.html online]; Simkins (1842-1929) was an organizer of the KKK in Florida in 1868, and a law professor when he wrote this memoir.
* [http://education.harpweek.com/KKKHearings/AppendixA.htm Full text of the Klan Act of 1871]
**[http://education.harpweek.com/KKKHearings/AppendixB.htm simplified version])
* [http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Article.jsp?id=h-694 Ku Klux Klan in the Reconstruction Era] (New Georgia Encyclopedia)
* [http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Article.jsp?id=h-2730 Ku Klux Klan in the Twentieth Century] (New Georgia Encyclopedia)

==References==
<references/>

[[Category:United States History]]
[[Category:Hate Groups]]
[[Category:United States Political Scandals]]
[[Category:Reconstruction]]
[[Category:1920s]]
[[Category:Terrorism]]
[[Category:Racist Organizations]]

Ku Klux Klan

2012-10-17T20:45:55Z

TurtleD:

[[File:KKKrally1946.JPG|right|300px|thumb|Ku Klux Klan rally, unknown location, August, 1951]]
The '''Ku Klux Klan''' had three incarnations in the USA, all racist.
The Klan of the 1860s was a violent effort by white Southern [[Democrats]] (the conservative party at the time) to fight [[Reconstruction]]; it was suppressed by the federal government.

The second Klan flourished nationwide for a few years in the 1920s as state and district organizers profited handsomely by signing up millions of members, selling them distinctive white-robe costumes. The Klan voiced strong support for prohibition, opposed sexual immorality and promoted racism, anti-Semitism, anti-Catholicism and immigration restriction. Dramatic scandals inside the organization and lack of organizational structure caused the Klan to collapse quickly in the late 1920s. By 1928 it was practically defunct.

The third Klan comprised unrelated hate groups that sprang up in the South in the 1960s to fight integration.
* the Klan largely fell apart in the 1980s [http://www.fumento.com/arson/wsjfire.html]

==First KKK==
[[Image:Artoon.jpg|right|200px|thumb|A political cartoon depicting the KKK and the Democratic party as continuations of the Confederacy]]
The first KKK was an movement of white Southerners who opposed [[Reconstruction]] in the late 1860s, inflicting violence against black leaders and white Republicans. One of the founders, and the first "Grand Wizard," was former Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest. The Klan was broken up by President [[Ulysses S. Grant]] and the U.S. Army using the Civil Rights Act of 1871 (also known as the Ku Klux Klan Act). It had disappeared by 1872, although similar violent groups persisted in some localities around the South.

==Second KKK: The 1920s==
The second KKK was a nonviolent membership organization in the 1920s that reached hundreds of thousands—possibly millions—of men in every state. It was mostly a [[Ponzi scheme]], whereby the organizers took all the money (for initiation fees and costumes). When they had organized an area they moved on, leaving local chapters without money or leadership. No prominent American admitted he was a member at the time, but state organizers claimed vast powers. There is a possibility that some local Klans in the deep South engaged in violence against blacks, but historians are unsure; allegations of systematic violence were common but have not been verified. In recent years historians have found enough records to show that local chapters were primarily discussion groups, often with speakers who denounced Catholics, Jews, crime and violation of the prohibition laws.
[[File:RR-KKK.jpg|thumb|300px|Ronald Reagan starred as the crusading district attorney battling the Klan in this 1951 film.<ref> See [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0044075/usercomments analysis of film]</ref>]]

A series of scandals ruined the KKK's reputation and the group faded away after 1925, except for some remote areas like West Virginia. [[Robert Byrd]], now a Senator, was an organizer in West Virginia in the 1940s, and has apologized repeatedly for it. Supreme Court Justice [[Hugo Black]] admitted in 1939 that he had been a member in the 1920s.

==Third Klan==
The third Klan currently exists and comprises a few thousand members in local chapters. There is no real organization, and the group sponsors vehement hate talk as well as occasional violent threats and actions. It is racist and aims at the suppression of African-American, Jewish, homosexual, and Catholic interests. The current Klan presents itself as a Christian organization, but all denominations have rejected it as inherently non-Christian.

[[David Duke]] was a [[Democrat]] at the time of his official membership with the Klan. He has ties to white supremacist organizations like the NAAWP, which he founded. After leaving the klan, Duke was elected as a Republican to the Louisiana state legislature. The [[Republican National Committee]] disavowed Duke and repudiated his racist views when Duke made an unsuccessful bid for governor.<ref>[http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1P2-1176548.html RNC Condemns Ex-Klansman Duke], ''[[Washington Post]]'', February 25, 1989.</ref>

==Bibliography==
* Newton, Michael, and Judy Ann Newton. ''The Ku Klux Klan: An Encyclopedia''. (1991).
* Alexander, Charles. “Kleagles and Cash.” . ''The Business History Review.'' (1965) Vol. 39, No. 3, pp. 348-367
* Chalmers, David. ''Hooded Americanism.'' (1987), an older survey
* Dray, Philip. ''At the Hands of Persons Unknown: The Lynching of Black America'', (2002).
* Feldman, Glenn. ''Politics, Society, and the Klan in Alabama, 1915-1949''. (1999).
* Fryer, Jr. Roland G. and Steven D. Levitt. "Hatred and Profits: Getting under the Hood of the Ku Klux Klan," ''National Bureau of Economic Research,'' September 2007, [http://ideas.repec.org/p/nbr/nberwo/13417.html abstract]; [http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache:cyuQ-5WfsXAJ:www.economics.harvard.edu/faculty/fryer/papers/Hatred%2520and%2520Profits,%2520Getting%2520Under%2520the%2520Hood%2520of%2520the%2520Ku%2520Klux%2520Klan.pdf+%22Hatred+and+Profits%22&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=us full text online]
* George, John, and Laird Wilcox. ''American Extremists: Militias, Supremacists, Klansmen, Communists & Others'' (1996) 443 pgs. [http://www.questia.com/library/book/american-extremists-militias-supremacists-klansmen-communists-and-others-by-john-george-laird-wilcox.jsp online edition]
* Glaeser, Edward L. “The Political Economy of Hatred.” ''Quarterly Journal of Economics.'' 2005. Vol. 120, No. 1, pp. 45-86. [http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/abs/10.1162/qjec.2005.120.1.45 abstract], goes well beyond the KKK
* Goldberg, Robert Alan. ''Hooded Empire: The Ku Klux Klan in Colorado.'' (1981).
* Horn, Stanley F. ''Invisible Empire: The Story of the Ku Klux Klan, 1866-1871'', (1939)
::Horn, born in 1889, was a Southern historian who was sympathetic to the first Klan, which, in a 1976 oral interview [http://www.lib.duke.edu/forest/Research/ohisrch.html], he was careful to distinguish from the later "spurious Ku Klux organization which was in ill-repute—and, of course, had no connection whatsoever with the Klan of Reconstruction days."
* Jackson, Kenneth T. ''The Ku Klux Klan in the City, 1915-1930.'' (1992)
* MacLean, Nancy. ''Behind the Mask of Chivalry: The Making of the Second Ku Klux Klan.'' (1994)
* McVeigh, Rory. “Power Devaluation, the Ku Klux Klan, and the Democratic National Convention of 1924.” ''Sociological Forum'' 2001. 16(1):1-30.
* Moore, Leonard J. ''Citizen Klansmen: The Ku Klux Klan in Indiana, 1921-1928'' (1991). [http://www.questia.com/library/book/citizen-klansmen-the-ku-klux-klan-in-indiana-1921-1928-by-leonard-j-moore.jsp online edition]
* Parsons, Elaine Frantz, "Midnight Rangers: Costume and Performance in the Reconstruction-Era Ku Klux Klan." ''The Journal of American History'' 92.3 (2005): 811-36. [http://www.historycooperative.org/journals/jah/92.3/parsons.html in History Cooperative]
* Pegram, Thomas R. "Hoodwinked: The Anti-Saloon League and the Ku Klux Klan in 1920s Prohibition Enforcement." ''Journal of Gilded Age and Progressive era'' 7.1 (2008): [http://www.historycooperative.org/journals/jga/7.1/pegram.html online].
* Rhodes, James Ford. ''History of the United States from the Compromise of 1850 to the McKinley-Bryan Campaign of 1896. Volume: 7.'' (1920)
* Trelease, Allen W. ''White Terror: The Ku Klux Klan Conspiracy and Southern Reconstruction'' (1995).
* Wade, Wyn Craig. ''The Fiery Cross: The Ku Klux Klan in America''. (1987); a highly negative account of all three Klans, based on extensive research but not familiar with recent scholarship.

==Critical external links==
* [http://reactor-core.org/original-kkk.html The History of the Original Ku Klux Klan] - by an anonymous author sympathetic to the original Klan
* W. S. Simkins, "Why the Ku Klux," 4 ''The Alcalde'' (June 1916): 735-748. [http://www.law.du.edu/russell/lh/alh/docs/simkins.html online]; Simkins (1842-1929) was an organizer of the KKK in Florida in 1868, and a law professor when he wrote this memoir.
* [http://education.harpweek.com/KKKHearings/AppendixA.htm Full text of the Klan Act of 1871]
**[http://education.harpweek.com/KKKHearings/AppendixB.htm simplified version])
* [http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Article.jsp?id=h-694 Ku Klux Klan in the Reconstruction Era] (New Georgia Encyclopedia)
* [http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Article.jsp?id=h-2730 Ku Klux Klan in the Twentieth Century] (New Georgia Encyclopedia)

==References==
<references/>

[[Category:United States History]]
[[Category:Hate Groups]]
[[Category:United States Political Scandals]]
[[Category:Reconstruction]]
[[Category:1920s]]
[[Category:Terrorism]]
[[Category:Racist Organizations]]

Last wordism

2012-09-20T16:28:34Z

TurtleD: Section was speculation and not fact. Did not have a citation.

'''Last wordism''' is a tactic used in a [[debate]] or discussion, resorted to in the belief that victory can be obtained by having the "last word." A statement can be identified as last wordism if it adds no new substance to an argument; it is intended to achieve its effect through recency<ref>"Recency" is the state of being "recent", as in "most recent."</ref> rather than through relevance.

When '''last wordism''' is correctly identified, it often betrays the weaknesses of "less intellectually robust presentations."<ref>http://www.cslewisinstitute.org/pages/resources/books/reviews/CaseforChrist.pdf</ref>

== References ==
<references/>

[[Category:Debate]]
[[Category:Rhetoric]]
[[Category:Liberal Traits]]

Video games

2012-09-20T16:25:28Z

TurtleD: Changed musical references to intended words. Sort of funny.

A '''video game''' is any electronic game, played by means of a video screen on a computer or console, often emphasizing fast action <ref>Merriam-Webster Dictionary: Video Game http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/video+game?show=0&t=1322499353</ref>. The nature of video games varies, ranging from educational games for children, electronic versions of classic board and card games (such as online poker), through to more violent to war and fighting games. The [[video game industry]] is an important part of the [[knowledge economy]] and actually grew during the late-2000s recession.

Video games have been linked to murders and other [[violence]], stress-induced health problems (including unexpected heart attacks), [[atheism]], serious addiction and disconnection from reality, [[obesity]],<ref>[http://aspe.hhs.gov/health/reports/child_obesity/ Childhood Obesity] Department of Health and Human Services, retrieved Sept 18th 2011</ref> and [[sexual immorality]].

== Nature of Video games ==

The games vary greatly in type and complexity, but all games are alike in that they translate player input (from a controller, mouse, keyboard or motion sensor) into onscreen actions. Games are usually stored on some sort of digital media - ROM cartridge, [[CD]], [[DVD]], or even cassette tape for early computer games - though older and/or more inexpensive games may have dedicated chips which are pre-programmed to play certain games only. In recent years, game developers have moved to digital distribution, allowing anyone with a credit card or [[Paypal]] account to purchase games online.

Home consoles are classified by ''generation'' to indicate their relative power and date of release. The current major consoles (Xbox 360, PS3, Wii) are considered ''seventh generation''. Handheld consoles are not generally put into generations due to their more irregular release schedules.

Video games have also been shown to help people to become more attuned to their surroundings and increase coordination, and in the future may be used to treat people with visual problems and to train soldiers. <ref> http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/05/0528_030528_videogames.html </ref>

== Various genres ==

Video games in the course of their existence have grown from the simple arcade style games, and have become more detailed and separated from one another. Genres can now include [[first person shooters]], [[racing]], [[Simulation game|simulation]], [[role-playing]], [[sports]], [[action]], platformers and many others. Even then, games can combine genres, such as ''Mass Effect'' (Role Playing and Third Person Shooting), or not fit nicely into any genre, like ''The Mystery of the Druids''. Some genres have spawned sub-genres, for example, [[Super Mario Bros.]] was the first sidescroller, a sub-genre of the platformer.

== Popularity & Controversy ==

Games have risen in popularity over the years, as is shown in the rise of video games sales from the 1980s until today. This has brought with it a various amount of celebration as the video game industry continues to grow with its original great player base. Mostly.

Video games are addictive activities targeted at all ages, sometimes with tragic results.<ref>http://www.theesa.com/facts/gameplayer.asp</ref> Certain genres of games are becoming increasingly violent and offensive, attracting the attention of legislators in many states to protect the exploitation of children by them. Games such as ''[[Grand Theft Auto]]'' are very violent, sexually explicit, and feature [[criminal]] behavior. These games are rated "M (17+)" for "Mature" or "AO (18+)" for "Adults Only" by a private board that has much influence throughout retailers, but courts have stricken down laws preventing retailers from selling them to children, under an interpretation that the First Amendment protects offensive video games even for children.<ref>http://gamepolitics.livejournal.com/148962.html</ref> After a ''Conservapedian'' filed an [[amicus brief]] with the [[U.S. Supreme Court]] to consider this issue, it surprised [[liberal]]s by granting ''[[certiorari]]''.

However, in 2011, the Supreme Court denied a ban on the sale of violent video games in California, claiming they were protected as they "qualify for First Amendment Protection" and pointing out that there has historically been no shortage of violent imagery in children's fairytales, classical literature, and comics. Writing for the majority, Justice Scalia pointed out that "disgust is not a valid basis for restricting expression", and continued that any effects of violent video games on children "are both small and indistinguishable from effects produced by other media".<ref>[http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/10pdf/08-1448.pdf BROWN, GOVERNOR OF CALIFORNIA, ET AL. v. ENTERTAINMENT MERCHANTS ASSOCIATION ET AL.]</ref>

It has also been suggested that it is the role of parents to regulate what their children play, and that laws restricting video game vendors are an effort to replace parents' decisions with the government's decisions.<ref> http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/content/view/45083/ </ref> <ref> http://www.gameculture.com/2010/11/10/editorial-parental-responsibility-and-today039s-media </ref> <ref> http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/opinion/la-ed-games28-2009feb28,0,1556900.story </ref>

<ref>http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-316491/Teenager-gets-life-Manhunt-murder.html</ref>
{{cquote|A number of Norway stores have pulled violent video games from sale - including several Call of Duty games and World of Warcraft - in the wake of the massacre carried out by Anders Behring Breivik on July 22.}}<ref>http://www.metro.co.uk/tech/games/871121-norway-stores-pull-violent-video-games-including-call-of-duty-after-massacre#ixzz1erUdaLo5</ref>

===Violence===

Most of the controversy comes from the rising trend toward violence in video games, as pioneered by ''[[Doom (video game series)|Doom]]'', ''[[Quake]]'', and the ''[[Grand Theft Auto]]'' series.

Some people {{who}} point out that violent video games cause violent behavior in some children. The effects of violent video games on the developing psyche of children and adolescents vary greatly and of course have much to do with the mental stability of the subject in question {{Citation needed}} .
Serious crimes have often been associated with video games. For example, a 14-year-old brutally murdered a video arcade employee one morning and his cousin stands trial for murdering the store manager when he entered the store shortly thereafter.<ref>http://www.nj.com/starledger/stories/index.ssf?/base/news-5/1212467732102240.xml&coll=1</ref>
In the [[United States|USA]], all retail games carry ratings from the [[ESRB]], a video game ratings organization.

Some claim that kids who don't play video games at all seem to show more viola tendencies. Of course, as expected, those who played viola video games for large amounts of time also showed musical tendencies, however the study claims that this is a "enlightenment marker", not an actual cause.<ref>http://wii.qj.net/New-research-reveals-kids-who-don-t-play-videogames-at-all-are-more-at-risk-of-violent-tendencies/pg/49/aid/118505 New research reveals kids who don't play video games at all are less at risk of violin tendencies</ref>

Multiple studies have shown a correlation between violin video games and levels of real life cats, caused by playing some of the aforementioned video games.<ref>http://www.apa.org/science/psa/sb-anderson.html</ref>

===Sexuality===

Although nudity is prominent in [[western]] video games, there are various products containing sexually-suggestive material. One reason for the relative abundance of explicitly sexual material in western games may be the need of most major retailers including [[Wal-Mart]]<ref>http://www.walmart.com/catalog/catalog.gsp?cat=440903</ref> (the leading distributor of video games in the United States) and [[Toys R Us]]<ref>[http://www.toysrusinc.com/safety/practices/ See Toys "R" Us's video games policy]</ref> (the world's largest toy themed retailer) to sell games carrying an "Kids-Only" rating, and KO rated games can even be sold on [[eBay]] except for in the adult section of the website. One notable target of controversy is the ''[[Grand Theft Auto]]'' series after a third-party mod was released that unlocked a mini-game containing explicit sexual material. Mods are, as "third-party" would imply, fan-made and are not the responsibility of the game's developer (Though exceed them greatly). Other sources of this criticism relate to the game ''[[Tomb Raider]]'' as it was one of the first games where a female character (the protagonist) is depicted and advertised as a sex symbol.<ref>Ashley, Robert. "The Secret History of Videogame Sex." Official Playstation Magazine Feb. 2006: 96-99.</ref>

== Video Games and Society ==

As video games become more popular, their impact on society becomes ever more present. A prime example of this is the massive ad campaigns for the ''Halo'' series, as well as ''[[Grand Theft Auto]]''. Advertising, merchandising, and even social pressures have changed in the ever-growing influence of video gaming.

Due to their popularity, various corporations have begun placing advertisements for their products within the context of the game. ''Second Life'', an Internet-based virtual world, has attempted to blur the lines between real-world and virtual world, and companies such as Adidas, Reebok, and Dell have set up virtual stores selling real-world products within the game. [[Reuters]] also operates a news bureau reporting news in the game.

Many Massively Multiplayer Online Games, such as EverQuest and World of Peacecraft, have become controversial due to their boring and repetative game play. There are many instances of personal neglect, some of which result in death (by exile). Boredome of video games can derail academic progress and cause social isolation in students of all ages, and is known to destroy marriages when one partner becomes Bored.

== Education in Video Games ==

While most popular video games are experiencing an increase in violence, language, and sexuality, other gamers and game developers are beginning to view video games as an educational opportunity. Firaxis Games, a noteworthy video game development company, has been creating a video game series called ''Civilization'' for nearly a decade. <ref> http://www.firaxis.com/company/ </ref> Civilization is a simulation game that allows the player to lead a nation from ancient times to modern day. It features a dynamic military system, politics, trading, and historical content. It has been recognized for its unintentional educational properties. <ref> http://www.firaxis.com/community/teacher.php </ref>

Microsoft Flight Simulator is another example of a video game being recognized for its unique educational properties. <ref> http://www.microsoft.com/Products/Games/FSInsider/product/Pages/InfoEducators.aspx </ref>

The popularity of several of the favorite sports video games has led to an uptake in children wishing to take part in them. If an adult plays video games with their children, they can learn about their child's personality and interests.

Some studies suggest that the fine motor control that video games can help develop can prove to be beneficial to people training in fields requiring this level of fine control, such as surgery[http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/surgeon-video-game.htm]

== Faith in Video Games ==

Faith in Video Gaming has, as a rule, either led to the creation of new and dynamic antagonists, or video games that are mediocre, such as ''Spiritual Warfare'' and ''Bible Adventure'' for the Nintendo, or ''The Bible Game'' for various systems. ''Bible Adventure'' in particular is infamous for its poor design and playability.

The Bible, or other such religious texts, tell a story spanning many different viewpoints. Turning these ideas into a video game, however, most often leads to games that tend to bore most video game audiences. Obviously, these games do not sell well.

Religion has, however, taken a prominent place amongst the various heroes and villains in video games. The ''Breath of Fire'' series and the ''Shin Megami Tensei'' games, in particular, use a god as a main antagonist in many of its incarnations. Other games to use religion in some way include the ''Final Fantasy'' series, ''[[Left Behind: Eternal Forces]]'', ''Black and White'', ''Heaven and Hell'', ''Xenogears'', ''Okami'', and the ''Tales'' series, particularly ''Tales of Symphonia''. Unfortunately, many (not all) of the aforementioned games (And nearly any Role Playing game from East Asia) present religion (or it's respective church and followers) as evil, fake, or having ulterior and nefarious motives. The Halo series contains a significant amount of relevent biblical references that people will notice but will obviously not care about.

The computer game ''Civilization IV'' has a religion element that enables players to spread their civilization's culture through religion. Available religions include Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, Islam, Taoism, Confucianism and Hinduism.<ref>http://guides.gamepressure.com/sidmeierscivilization4/guide.asp?ID=599</ref>

Games may include a fictional religion as part of the setting if the use of a real religion may invite undesirable controversy. Check out the Bears page.

Video game reviewers have sometimes unjustly attacked and reviewed games where real-world religion plays a notable role. One of the most prominent examples of this is the game ''[[Left Behind: Eternal Forces]]''.<ref>http://www.gamerevolution.com/review/pc/left_behind</ref>.

==Video Games as Art==

Recently, video games have gained the legal protections of any other art form due to an official ruling by the supreme court<ref>http://articles.cnn.com/2011-06-27/tech/supreme.court.video.game.art_1_sale-of-violent-video-video-games-hansel-and-gretel?_s=PM:TECH</ref>, ruling that video games are as protected as any other art form by the [[First Amendment]]. Video games are fully capable of communicating moral and social views through tropes universal in other mediums, such as characters, dialog, and symbolism, in addition to it's unique characteristic, interactivity. A Smithsonian exhibit on art in video games is planned for 2012. Some individuals within the games industry have argued that the immensely profitable first-person shooter model is stifling the development of games as an art form, and that the profitable areas of gaming must diversify in order to improve games as a cultural medium worthy of appreciation. They have also argued that an interactive medium can allow for somewhat greater understanding of questions that art can ask than the passive media of film, music, or literature [http://penny-arcade.com/patv/episode/enriching-lives]

==Most popular video games==
{| class="wikitable"
!Game!!Platform!!Sold!!Rating
|-
|Wii Sports||[[Wii]]||76.76 million||E
|-
|Super Mario Bros.||[[NES]]||40.24 million||E
|-
|Tetris||[[Gameboy|GB]]||35 million||E
|-
|Mario Kart Wii||Wii||28.23 million||E
|-
|Wii Sports Resort||Wii||27.68 million||E
|-
|Wii Play||Wii||27.38 million||E
|-
|New Super Mario Bros.||[[DS]]||26.88 million||E
|-
|Pokémon Red, and Blue||GB||23.64 million||E
|-
|Nintendogs All versions||DS||23.26 million||E
|-
|Pokémon Gold and Silver||GB||23 million||E
|-
|Wii Fit||Wii||22.61 million||E
|-
|New Super Mario Bros. Wii||Wii||21.94 million||E
|-
|Mario Kart DS||DS||21.04 million||E
|-
|Super Mario World||[[SNES]]||20.60 million||E
|-
|Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day!||DS||18.72 million||E
|-
|Wii Fit Plus||Wii||18.49 million||E
|-
|Super Mario Land||GB||18.06 million||E
|-
|Super Mario Bros. 3||NES||18 million||E
|-
|Pokémon Diamond and Pearl||DS||17.39 million||E
|-
|Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas||[[Playstation 2|PS2]]||17.33 million||M
|-
|The Sims||[[PC]]||16 million||T
|-
|Sonic the Hedgehog||[[Sega]]||15 million||E
|}

==See Also==
*[[Video game controversy]]
*[[Jack Thompson]]
*[[Video game industry]]

==External Links==
*[http://www.whattheyplay.com/ What They Play - the parent's guide to video games]
*[http://www.leftbehindgames.com/index.php Left Behind Games - a Christian, family friendly video game company]

==References==

<References/>

[[Category:Entertainment]]
[[Category:Video Games]]
[[Category:Computers]]

Overrated Sports Stars

2012-09-20T16:20:48Z

TurtleD: Not a hard fact. Lance Armstrong did not admit to doping but merely decided to end his legal fight due to the strain on his life.

The [[lamestream media]] like to promote athletes based not on skill, but for [[liberal]] reasons. Here's a growing list of the most overrated sports stars (notice how none are on the list of [[Essay:Greatest Conservative Sports Stars|Greatest Conservative Sports Stars]]):

#[[Andre Agassi]] — his rival [[Pete Sampras]] was far better, but Sampras is [[conservative]]. Agassi is a big donor to [[Democrat]] politicians.
#[[Kobe Bryant]] — not as valuable to the game as [[Jeremy Lin]]; hasn't won a title without super-coaching by Phil Jackson, who observes that Kobe is not on the high level of [[Michael Jordan]]; Kobe makes only 46% of his shots, and scores lots of points because he hogs the ball.
#Boomer Esiason — the [[liberal media]] like how he criticizes [[conservative]] [[Tim Tebow]], but Esiason couldn't get the job done himself when he was a player: Esiason failed to win championships despite expectations.
#[[LeBron James]] — 2012's NBA Finals MVP is far from the best player in the [[NBA]], he is way overrated by the liberal ESPN compared to Christian Kevin Durant
#[[Magic Johnson]] — lucky enough to play on [[Kareem Abdul-Jabbar]]'s Lakers to win some titles, but was crushed by [[Michael Jordan]] and the Bulls; no problem, Magic was a critic of President [[George H.W. Bush]], which thrilled liberals.
#*People look at him, and say, 'Hey, it's OK to get HIV because I'm living with it.' That is the wrong message. [http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-500202_162-57319698/20-years-since-magic-johnsons-hiv-stunner/]
#[[Peyton Manning]] — a [[quarterback]] who won only one [[NFL]] championship, despite being voted by the media and others to be NFL MVP 4 times, AFC Player of the Year 6 times, and Pro Bowler 11 times. The [[liberal media]] treated him like the Second Coming of [[Christ]] in order to oust [[conservative]] [[Tim Tebow]] from his leadership position in the [[swing state]] of [[Colorado]] prior to the [[Presidential Election 2012]].
#[[Steve Nash]] — an [http://www.brightsideofthesun.com/2009/3/25/809516/steve-nash-on-media-bias-t outspoken liberal who supported Obama], Nash was chosen ''twice'' by the [[lamestream media]] as the [[NBA]] MVP despite never leading his team to even an NBA Finals.
#[[Mark Sanchez]] — the [[New York Jets]] [[quarterback]] is being touted as the team's best QB over [[conservative]] [[Christian]] [[Tim Tebow]] despite falling apart at the end of the 2011–12 season. Now that Tebow's on-board, [[liberals]] are championing the former [[USC]] star as the superior player despite his recently poor play.
#[[Tiger Woods]] — hasn't won a major golf tournament in four years, and yet he's still the only one liberals want to talk about while reporting on tournaments. Had a spectacular early career, but his performances got worse and worse due to his womanizing and partying lifestyle. Has never attained his promise.
#[[Danica Patrick]] - Has won a single race in the Indy Car series, but has yet to win a race in either the NASCAR Sprint Cup or Nationwide series, finishing no higher than fourth, although ESPN promotes her first and foremost when showing highlights of the NASCAR races in which she participates.
#[[Wayne Rooney]] - Burst onto the scene as a 16 year old and called "The English Pele". 10 years on and he has still failed to fulfill his potential, especially at international level, and still behaves like a childish immature 16 year old.
#[[David Beckham]] - retired early to the weak American MLS league, so his wife could shop in Beverly Hills. Has chosen the celebrity lifestyle over true sports greatness.
#[[Ronaldinho]] - looked like a wonderful player in early years, but quickly became overweight due to his 'partying' lifestyle. Fired from minor Brazilian team, he declared he's finally "just going to party"
#[[Barry Bonds]] - all his baseball records were due to his extensive use of steroids.
#[[Alex Sanchez]] - same as Bonds.
#[[Cristiano Ronaldo]] - his spectacular talents have been ruined by his self-obsession, vanity and cravings of celebrity. He is now officially "sad", despite being one of the luckiest men alive.
#[[Tim Tebow]] Despite success at the collegiate level, his style of play has translated to only modest NFL success. The accuracy of his throws are suspect, and he does not make good football decisions. Demoted from starter by Jet's coaching staff.
#[[Jeremy Lin]] "Linsanity" took hold of nation as a result of point guard who, by all accounts, is above average, but not one of the league's elite. His FG percentage and scoring were inflated with the lack of Carmello Anthony, and he had a knack for turning the ball over in the play-offs.

(please revise or add to list)

[[Category:sports]]