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Liberal

Discussion in 'Fred's House of Pancakes' started by dsunman, Feb 13, 2006.

  1. dsunman

    dsunman New Member

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    It used to be the case that in order to be considered a "liberal" or someone "of the Left," one had to actually ascribe to liberal views on the important policy issues of the day – social spending, abortion, the death penalty, affirmative action, immigration, "judicial activism," hate speech laws, gay rights, utopian foreign policies, etc. etc. These days, to be a "liberal," such views are no longer necessary.

    Now, in order to be considered a "liberal," only one thing is required – a failure to pledge blind loyalty to George W. Bush. The minute one criticizes him is the minute that one becomes a "liberal," regardless of the ground on which the criticism is based. And the more one criticizes him, by definition, the more "liberal" one is. Whether one is a "liberal" -- or, for that matter, a "conservative" -- is now no longer a function of one’s actual political views, but is a function purely of one’s personal loyalty to George Bush.

    One can see this principle at work most illustratively in how Bush followers talk about Andrew Sullivan. In the couple of years after 9/11, Bush followers revered Sullivan, as he stood loyally behind Bush, providing the rhetorical justifications for almost every Bush action. And even prior to the Bush Administration, Sullivan was a fully accepted member of the conservative circle. Nobody questioned the bona fides of his conservative credentials because he ascribed to the conservative view on almost every significant political issue.

    Despite not having changed his views on very many, if any, of those issues, Sullivan is now frequently called a "liberal" (at best) when he is talked about by Bush followers. What has changed are not his political views or ideological orientation. Instead, he no longer instinctively and blindly praises George Bush, but periodically, even frequently, criticizes Bush. By definition, then, he is no longer a "conservative."

    Link
     
  2. imntacrook

    imntacrook New Member

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    Actually to be a liberal has nothing to do with George Bush, it is illustrated in the following beliefs:

    1. You have to be against capital punishment, but
    > support abortion on demand.
    >
    > 2. You have to believe that businesses create
    > oppression and governments create prosperity.
    >
    > 3. You have to believe that guns in the hands of
    > law-abiding Americans are more of a threat than U.S.
    > nuclear weapons technology in the hands of Chinese
    > and North Korean communists.
    >
    > 4. You have to believe that there was no Art before
    > Federal funding.
    >
    > 5. You have to believe that global temperatures are less
    > affected by cyclical documented changes in the earth's
    > climate and more affected by soccer moms driving SUV's.
    >
    > 6. You have to believe that gender roles are artificial
    > but being homosexual is natural.
    >
    > 7. You have to believe that the AIDS virus is spread by a
    > lack of federal funding.
    >
    > 8. You have to believe that outdoorsmen don't care about
    > nature, but loony activists who have never been outside
    > of San Francisco do.
    >
    > 9. You have to believe that self-esteem is more
    > important than actually doing something to earn it.
    >
    > 10. You have to believe that Mel Gibson spent $25 million
    > of his own money to make The Passion Of The Christ for
    > financial gain only.
    >
    > 11. You have to believe the NRA is bad because it
    > supports certain parts of the Constitution, while the
    > ACLU is good because it supports certain parts of the
    > Constitution.
    >
    > 12. You have to believe that taxes are too low, but ATM
    > fees are too high.
    >
    > 13. You have to believe that Margaret Sanger and Gloria
    > Steinem are more important to American history than
    > Thomas Jefferson, Gen. Robert E. Lee, and Thomas Edison.
    >
    > 14. You have to believe that standardized tests are
    > racist, but racial quotas and set-asides are not.
    >
    > 15. You have to believe that Hillary Clinton is normal
    > and is a very nice person.
    >
    > 16. You have to believe that the only reason socialism
    > hasn't worked anywhere it's been tried is because the
    > right people haven't been in charge.
    >
    > 17. You have to believe conservatives telling the truth
    > belong in jail, but a liar and a sex offender belonged in
    > the White House.
    >
    > 18. You have to believe that homosexual parades
    > displaying drag, transvestites, and bestiality should be
    > constitutionally protected, and manger scenes at
    > Christmas should be illegal.
    >
    > 19. You have to believe that illegal Democratic Party
    > funding by the Chinese Government is somehow in the
    > best interest to the United States.
    >
    > 20. You have to believe that this message is a part of a
    > vast, right wing conspiracy.
     
  3. EricGo

    EricGo New Member

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    Heh, I don't believe any of those of these things, but please don't conclude that I am a republican. That would be an insult.
     
  4. dsunman

    dsunman New Member

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    I only believe that this message is a part of a vast L U N A C Y
     
  5. Jack 06

    Jack 06 New Member

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    Only half-vast. B)
     
  6. MyPria

    MyPria New Member

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    Right on imntacrook!!!!! :lol:
     
  7. Salsawonder

    Salsawonder New Member

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    LUNACY does seem to abound in this one!!
     
  8. hybridTHEvibe

    hybridTHEvibe New Member

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    did you miss your Pep Rally today?
     
  9. imntacrook

    imntacrook New Member

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    Did I strike a nerve?
     
  10. Salsawonder

    Salsawonder New Member

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    No nerve there dude! I tend to wonder which person is most concerned about the conspiracy theory here.....Not I
     
  11. Jack 06

    Jack 06 New Member

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    I agree with one.

    Conservatives, on the other hand, believe that:

    1. government should stay out of the personal lives of individual adults---uh, except people who want to avoid excruciating pain by accepting their doctor's judgement that their illness is terminal, and choosing to end their own lives; except gay people who want to marry; except women who want to end their pregnancy after 45 days; and except people whose last name is Schiavo.

    2. an adult with a chronic, painful medical condition cannot be trusted to decide that the use of home-grown (or government-sold) marijuana is appropriate to relieve the pain, but can be trusted to keep a loaded AK-47 at home and to kill someone with it whom he thinks may harm him

    3. a person should be able to do anything he/she wants with his/her property, except to build housing for low-income people on it

    4. teenagers in school should be taught it is just as likely that the Christian God created all life forms as that a scientifically-described and verified process known as natural selection did; but not what role condoms can play in the prevention of diseases such as AIDS

    5. "welfare" payments to feed and clothe children in low-income families are "wrong", but subsidy payments to businesses and corporations under the "free enterprise system" in the form of tax breaks or government-guaranteed, interest-free loans are "good"

    6. environmentally-concerned citizens lobbying for cleaner air and water are "wackos", but pollution-belching coal and oil companies are "deserving businessmen" who should have government-established pollution standards lowered or suspended

    7. political contributions illegally made, and obtained through deception and conflict-of-interest personal favors are pretty harmless, at least if the recipients who got the lion's share were Republicans; but experienced government employees who blow the whistle on government lying and other wrongdoing should be fired or demoted immediately

    8. vindictively blowing the cover of a CIA agent isn't wrong or unpatriotic, but allowing citizens to see pictures of the torture and murder perpetrated by their own government is

    9. a Republican President who goes AWOL from his military unit during wartime is above reproach, but another, Democrat President's past real estate dealings deserve at least a Congressional investigation

    10. practically unlimited government debt is a good thing, especially if a lot of it was and is used to pay for a war the President wanted to fight, even if one's unborn children are saddled with making the payments when they come due; but citizens who are laid off from their jobs (which are then given to other people in other countries) and who cannot make two consecutive house payments should have the houses taken away and sold (preferably for a profit) by financial institutions

    11. North Korea and Iran, who are real or potential international nuclear threats, should be dealt with by persuasion on the part of European and Asian countries and the UN rather than direct American intervention; but Iraq was the deadlier threat, was involved with 9/1/1 and should be punished even at the sacrifice of the lives of---er, half the number of Americans who died in the WTC (or more)

    12. an unrepentant lesbian is an abomination before God, unless she is a Republican Vice-President's daughter, in which case the news media should ignore her
     
  12. Zacher

    Zacher New Member

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    Hey, get pretty good AM reception on the ol' Prius, do ya, imntacrook?

    Right on, Jack_06! I thought I was going to have to do it!
     
  13. Zacher

    Zacher New Member

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    re: #18

    Are you really obtuse enough to fail to understand the difference between a constitutionally protected expression of free speech (like a parade on any topic, by any group, neo-nazis, gays- etc.) and a constitutionally prohibited display of religious material on government property? You do know that that is the only 'manger scene' objection some people have, right? You don't believe that some of us don't want you to do whatever the hell you want with your very own yard, do you? Or is that not what Rush and Liddy and Hannity told you? Have you ever even talked rationally with a liberal about these things? You are under some serious misconceptions about our philosophy, and I think the problem, in both directions, is the middlemen who are (literally) selling all of us a bill of goods about 'those evil other guys' (be they liberals or neocons). You would think the internet would have turned out to be this great conduit that finally let us circumvent those who profit from our conflict, but mostly we all just show up and spout our party lines. We sure don't have to ALL agree (that would be a little spooky, I think).
    Just quit labeling each OTHER and start considering the differences in our IDEAS.
     
  14. darelldd

    darelldd Prius is our Gas Guzzler

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    I'm sure glad that we have people like you around, Jack. :)
     
  15. Jack 06

    Jack 06 New Member

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    imntacrook isn't a bad dude, either, but Kerry's hesitation and, yes, wimpishness in responding quickly to the Swift Boaters made me a "first responder". :)

    This thread aside, someone named horton the elder made an anti-Semitic remark a few hours ago on another thread. I'm afraid the relative incivility in spots lately is perhaps drawing the loonies out of the woodwork. Or it could just be coincidence.

    horton, if you read this, please return to where you made your Hitler comments and answer to some of us.

    Thanks, zacher and darelldd.
     
  16. Ken Cooper

    Ken Cooper New Member

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    This moderate Republican finds your description of a liberal a little extreme but not all that far off the mark, at least as a description for someone who resides on the far, far left.

    On the other hand, I have to agree with dsunman. By current administration criteria, I, a voting Republican since 1960, somehow am now falling into the "liberal" catagory. Personally I don't believe that a Republican has to necessarily buy into the: deceptivity associated with our having gone to war in Iraq; spying on citizens without using the vehicle for doing that, the secret court designed to provide proper warrants; the attempts to water down the administration's role in the ineptness associated with Katrina; the significant reduction of environmental programs; or even the step-by-step diminishment of a strong middle class. One other point, Reagan believed that providing benifits for business was good for all of us. I agreed with his "trickle down economy" approach. Bush, on the other hand tries to make us believe that his tax breaks for the rich (at the expense of those who are not) is the same thing .. It's not.

    Bush and his administration, I'm sure you'll agree, are pretty much oriented toward the far, far right. It's nice to see though that finally even the Republican dominated house and senate are starting to reign in on the excesses.

    So .. I don't in any way meet your description of a liberal, but I do believe that by current administration standards, I somehow have fallen into that catagory.
     
  17. Mystery Squid

    Mystery Squid Junior Member

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    You are sooo full of it. You're what gives liberals a dirty name. Just because someone makes a negative personal observation/opinion regarding the Jewish does NOT make it anti-Semitic.

    Funny, for a "peaceful" liberal, you're the one to cast the first stone.
     
  18. Mystery Squid

    Mystery Squid Junior Member

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    You da man!!!

    :D
     
  19. Mystery Squid

    Mystery Squid Junior Member

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  20. dsunman

    dsunman New Member

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    more L U N A C Y

    $430bn
    The budget deficit under the administration's plan unveiled two weeks ago. Once again, the Iraq War is off budget. That bill was about $120bn in 2005. So assuming the same, this brings the total budget deficit to about $550bn, I guess the Japanese and Chinese governments will keep buying our debt for now, putting us in more hock to them.

    Negative personal savings rate
    According to The Economist, American households had negative savings in two of the past six months. In other words, an average Joe piled up more debt rather than save anything from his paycheck.

    $726bn/ $900bn, or 6.7% of GDP
    The trade deficit in 2005, a new record, up 17% from the previous year, and a steady climb from $96bn in 1995. The OECD's prediction for the current account deficit in 2006 is 6.7% (said to be narrowing, but still embarrassing).

    Current administration itself is "ultra liberal" when it comes to fiscal responsibilities.

    Our kids will be paying for this BIG TIME.