The late Fred Thompson, on Law & Order, had a scene that summed up a fundamental weakness of "conservatives."

[Miles Archer]

I thought Fred was a pretty boring and tedious guy. His "District Attorney Arthur Branch" was an arrogant, humorless prick, and while his character's JOB was to uphold the law, he...just like Tom Selleck's "Police Commissioner Frank Reagan" on Blue Bloods...frequently made his disdain for liberals and liberalism in general.

But Thompson had one scene that really put it into focus for me.

"D.A. Branch" smugly and dismissively spat out the phrase "nattering nabobs of negativity" in one episode. I had to look it up. I'd forgotten the source, which was scriptwriter William Safire, for Spiro Agnew. I cringed when Thompson said it, and realized that it's a fundamental difference between Republicans and Democrats.

I don't know about you, but I don't "repeat catch-phrases," and I don't see it happening on DU. We tend to express our thoughts in our own words, but the current Trump "buzz words and catch phrases" addiction is sickening. Democrats...at least in my somewhat limited experience...DO NOT ADOPT THE ROLE OF "PARROT."

Part of the reason why I parted with a long-time friend earlier this year is that he told me I had "Trump Derangement Syndrome" one time too many.

Whenever I encounter someone who SPEAKS in buzzwords and catch phrases, I don't feel that i am in the presence of an intellectual powerhouse.

But Thompson's character told an uncomfortable truth, seeing as we have the excruciatingly biased Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito on the SCOTUS.

We simply have people in our country who ascend to positions of great power, who do so under the premise of upholding the law and / or interpreting the constitution, but are really there to advance their personal ideology and agendas.

It's a shame Thompson was on Law & Order for 7 years. I enjoy the show but enjoy episodes with him much less.