Aah, now I see. Trump’s phrasing struck me as odd: “If they don’t love it, tell ’em to leave it”. I’ve never known anyone demand that level of enthusiasm from someone they are about to dismiss – “if they don’t like it…” is the more usual phrasing. Christ, that’s horrible.
iknklast
Catwhisperer, I think that isn’t uncommon as a level of demand, though. Love it or Leave it was the bumpersticker I grew up seeing. It’s been a common phrase in this part of the country (the midwest) for my entire life. It never diminished, it never went away, and it was never like it, always love it. My older brother screamed it at me hundreds of times.
iknklast
And why people don’t realize love can include seeing flaws, I don’t know. People don’t usually accuse someone of not loving her husband or telling her to leave him if she complains about him leaving socks scattered on the floor. They don’t tell someone to love their dog or leave him if they complain about him shredding the newspaper. Men complain about their wives and aren’t told “love her or leave her”. We realize love can go hand in hand with exasperation, annoyance, and just plain anger at times. Those emotions don’t preclude love.
It’s only America that we have to love with that fervor, that level of extreme love.
Catwhisperer
Huh, that’s interesting. I don’t think I have heard “love it or leave it” in my entire life. Must be a british stiff upper lip type of thing.
Sackbut
A history of “America: Love It Or Leave It”. Very interesting; I remember the bumper stickers in the 70s, but I didn’t know the rest of the story.
I grew up in the Midwest and deep South. “Love it or leave it” was a background hum. However, because my parents were hippies, and my social class was somewhat upper, I also heard the response from ’65 and ’80: “change it or lose it.” It seems like the nation is stuck in a periodic curve. Maybe it won’t go away until the Boomers do.
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6 responses to “Where we are now”
Aah, now I see. Trump’s phrasing struck me as odd: “If they don’t love it, tell ’em to leave it”. I’ve never known anyone demand that level of enthusiasm from someone they are about to dismiss – “if they don’t like it…” is the more usual phrasing. Christ, that’s horrible.
Catwhisperer, I think that isn’t uncommon as a level of demand, though. Love it or Leave it was the bumpersticker I grew up seeing. It’s been a common phrase in this part of the country (the midwest) for my entire life. It never diminished, it never went away, and it was never like it, always love it. My older brother screamed it at me hundreds of times.
And why people don’t realize love can include seeing flaws, I don’t know. People don’t usually accuse someone of not loving her husband or telling her to leave him if she complains about him leaving socks scattered on the floor. They don’t tell someone to love their dog or leave him if they complain about him shredding the newspaper. Men complain about their wives and aren’t told “love her or leave her”. We realize love can go hand in hand with exasperation, annoyance, and just plain anger at times. Those emotions don’t preclude love.
It’s only America that we have to love with that fervor, that level of extreme love.
Huh, that’s interesting. I don’t think I have heard “love it or leave it” in my entire life. Must be a british stiff upper lip type of thing.
A history of “America: Love It Or Leave It”. Very interesting; I remember the bumper stickers in the 70s, but I didn’t know the rest of the story.
https://www.bostonglobe.com/news/politics/2019/07/17/painful-history-trump-love-leave-argument/IxNJigjzgWlg1HYd2STQHM/story.html
I grew up in the Midwest and deep South. “Love it or leave it” was a background hum. However, because my parents were hippies, and my social class was somewhat upper, I also heard the response from ’65 and ’80: “change it or lose it.” It seems like the nation is stuck in a periodic curve. Maybe it won’t go away until the Boomers do.