Conservatives have it easy. Every time something happens to confuse their world, they just open their maws and swallow it up, claiming it was conservative orthodoxy all the time. Even neo-cons, whatever the hell they are. "Oh yeah, we always believed that."
But liberals? Nooooooo. We get accused of the most absurd stuff by the Busherinas — Neville Chamberlin-like appeasement to the murdering scum terrorist sons of bitches in the Middle East. (How'z that for sounding like a tough liberal?) The damn conservatives have made "liberal" a dirty word, so now we're "progressive," we're Clinton "centrists," we're pragmatists. (And how did we liberals ever let those Republican word-meisters pin the liberal tail on Clinton's ass? If he's a liberal, I'm a porcupine.)
I love the attacks on the ACLU, the one organization that conservatives should be pouring money into. The ACLU has one purpose — to protect the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. But the conservatives only agree with that when it suits their purposes. Equal rights for women, blacks, gays. Shit, ain't nothing written about that in the stupid Constitution. In fact, the Constitution institutionalizes slavery. Goddamn, ma'am. You gotta stand up for what you believe even if it's based on bias, bigotry, and brain aneurysms.
So what do I mean when I say I'm a liberal?
Equality of opportunity — not equality of the spoils. Clarence Thomas and his ilk notwithstanding, people who think that blacks and Hispanics and other minorities have equal opportunities have their head up their asses. You think racism and sexism aren't alive and well in America today, join Justice Thomas for his oreos and milk. Segregation, school funding, housing, medical care, and basic necessities are so skewed against minorities that I'm amazed they put up with us white devils.
I am my brother's keeper. One of my best friends is a semi-conservative Republican who recently said to me that she's so frustrated by the whole mess this country's in that she can only worry about her family and friends. No, I say. No, and a thousand times no. Injustice done to any is injustice done to me — done to us all. I am responsible — powerless, but responsible. When one person suffers because of intolerance or neglect or bigotry, I suffer — we all suffer whether we know it or not.
Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - steve
I am such a conservative! When we elect a liberal president next time around; could you help compensate my diminished wages and increased taxes? Actually... I think I might quit my job...file for section 8 housing and pick up a welfare check. Let the gov't pick up the tab! =)
2 - Mark Schannon
I'd love to see you survive on that, Steve. In fact, I wouldn't wait. Do it now so you can see what a cushy life it is.
In Jameson Veritas
3 - Arch Conservative
To be fair MArk.......
everytime you hear someone whining about us being too rough at abu gharib or gitmo or spying on terrorists phone calls who's doing the whining?
conservatives?
i think not.......
2. Yes racism still exists today but we have come along way and not every minority needs a liberal promising them an entitlement to succeeed. If we want better race relations we also don't need liberal race baiters injecting racism into every issue of the day when they don't get their way.
3. Injustice done to one is done to us all? Where is the liberal compassion for the millions of babies they serve a heaping helpful of unjustice to every year when they murder them?
4. What americans have been held in confinement and denied lawyers? I think you're confuing american citizens with terrorists.
5. It's not about gay marriage weaking straight marriage. it's about the majority of society getting to decide what it's cultural practices and norms will be and the majority of our society does not wish gay marriage to be legal. But i guess you'd prefer that small minorities dictate to the rest of us what cultural norms ought ot be aginst our will huh?
6. We live on planet earth...not some social utopia. And we never will. There will always be misery that people must go through. Most normal people realize this, do the best they can to help others, and try to enjoy their own lives while they last.
You sound liek the typical liberal so I have one last phrase for you that is definitely not part of your vocabulary. So maybe if you look it up and understand it you might be a little better off here it is:
PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY
4 - Dave Nalle
Interesting. I've been working on a piece with the same title - but not surprisingly we don't agree 100% on what defines us as liberals.
Dave
5 - SHARK
Shark's take
6 - Arch Conservative
Shark says.....
"I'm stickin' with the GOP's implicit mantra: "Fuck you: I got mine."
Yes as ooposed to the Democrats/liberal mantra "Fuck you: what's your is mine!"
7 - Mark Schannon
Shark, love your post. But why give in? The conservatives have fucked up every war we've ever fought. Who won WWI & WWII: Wilson, Roosevelt, Truman. who got us into Vietnam? Eisenhower. Who so valiently beat all those Cuban custodians in whatever Island that was--Reagan. Who lost all those Americans in Lebanon and then snuck away with his tongue up his ass? Reagan. Who went to war to save Kuwait and then chickened out when we could have easily taken out Sadam? Bush 1.
Liberals don't have to be pansies. Those of us who are tough ass, mother fucker, kick their ass liberals have been too quiet.
Archie, welcome to my world. Read what I said to Shark. It's a typical conservative ploy to paint liberals as weak and gutless. Come one, I'll take you on with one paw tied behind my back. I'll fight you with one eye closed. (Cowardly Lion.)
and if you don't know about the American citizens being held incommunicado, then you're not reading all the same scandal sheets I am (Men in Black.)
Most important: Personal Responsibility? No, you mean, personal acquisition. Responsibility implies an obligation to others. Read my lips (Reagan): Equal opportunity, not equal spoils; I am my brother's keeper (Bible); ask what you can do for your country--your responsibility as a citizen, and the Golden Rule (bible?).
No one owes anyone anything except a fair chance. That the conservatives would deny to anyone not born to wealth or lucky enough to stumble into it. Fair chance. No restrictions.
Abortion? (You didn't say, but it's what you meant.) I can't say. I've very troubled by the whole issue. I can see both sides and I wish to hell we could make birth control available to fetuses so there'd never again be an abortion.
And Dave. I knew you'd say that. As I was struggling with this -- because the very phrase liberal has become so distorted as has conservative -- I knew I was slipping from libertarian to conservative in my opinions. But, what the hell, I was hoping you wouldn't read this, LOL.
In Jameson Veritas
8 - Arch Conservative
You need a little prespective Shannon. You imply that just because FDR and Truman were democrats that they are akin to todays democrats and that this somehow has a relationship to the differences between conservatives/liberals and republicans/democrats today. This is bullshit of course. If truman and FDR could see what there party has become they'd probably be pretty upset.
Also it was LBJ not eisenhower who escalated vietnam into what it became and was responsible for thousands of american deaths. It was Nixon, a republican who got us out of the war.
You mention regaan and the 83 bombings in lebanon but you failed to mention how that incapable fuckwit jimmy carter couldn't get the iranians to free american hostages in 1979 and 1980. it was only when regan came onto the scene as president that they were freed. ALso Reagan stared the USSR in the eye and did not blink.
You forgot to mention what a bangup job Clinton did in somalia too.
I am sorry but I don't read whatever left wing online fictiocious news sources you do about american citizens being held captive.
Personal responsibility means accepting your own shortcomings and failures in life and not constantly blaming others. That is play number one in the liberal playbook. Blame someone else. Personal responsibility does not obligate you to ensure the welfare of others.
9 - chantal
Liberalism says that we have a responsibility to our country, to our world, that transcends our pitiful little lives.
Amen....I applaud you Mark, for writing this....I'm with you 100%
10 - Clavos
Mark,
In your litany of US presidents screwing up wars big and small, you forgot JFK authorizing and funding the training of all those luckless Cubans in Central America; after which he sent them to the Bay of Pigs, then withdrew their promised support after the operation was already underway.
11 - Jet in Columbus
The long and short of it Mark is that Bush invaded Afghanistan for only one reason. He knew the people would be behind him all the way, and figured after a few token battles, he could expand to where he really wanted to be in the first place...Iraq.
Bush counted on us being so trusting of him (and we were) that the could pile any load of bullshit on us he wanted and we'd fall for it, and we did.
He went to Iraq for only one reason, to appease his father's failure to capture Saddam when he went there the first time.
12 - Baronius
"Read my lips" was Bush Senior.
The Korean War began under a Democrat and ended under a Republican. Chester Arthur's presidency was peaceful, and he was a Republican. That's just as relevant as the example of Wilson.
Do Jet and Mark really believe that the First Gulf War was a failure? That we should have gone after Saddam, and that it would have been easy? That taking out Saddam would have been moral in 1991, but less so after he continually violated UN resolutions and the conditions of the cease fire, fired on US aircraft, and tortured and killed thousands? That there would have been no danger of sectarian violence fifteen years ago, and that Iran would have respected its borders?
13 - Jet in Columbus
Nixon's presidency was peaceful, that's a good example too
14 - Dave Nalle
if you're income is over $100,000 a year, kiss off Social Security; pay something for your Medicare. Help the goddamn country out of this mess. You helped create it. At the very least, you should help fix it.
But nooooooo. "I paid into Social Security and Medicare. They're my rights." Despite the fact that most people get tons more out of both than they ever put in.
You're just wrong on this, Mark. The problem is not people greedily accepting these benefits, the problem is their existence in the form they are in from the get-go. If the systems were fair and equitable those with high incomes would not be in a position to be resentful of them and insist on getting back what they can from the system.
Better not to have done it in the first place, but once you make the decision that government is going to be the nation's nanny then it becomes incumbent upon government, not individuals to determine how to make the system fair.
Dave
15 - Nancy
I believe the first gulf war was a failure. If Bush 1 had finished it to begin with, instead of just doing a half-assed job from the start, we wouldn't be where we are now ... and possibly we wouldn't be saddled with Junior in the WH, which would have prevented a lot of grief & trouble for all Americans in the present & future, considering how inept he is & all he's done to destroy this country. All this demonstrates to me is that Dubya came by his incompetence honestly - about the only thing he ever HAS acquired honestly.
I'm fairly on the left, but Mark, I don't see where "slamming welfare moms" - or any other group of freeloaders - is a violation of anything except allowing people to sponge off the state who are (for the most part) perfectly capable of working; and I should know, because to my shame my own sister is one of them. IMO, if they want state support, they can certainly take state-assigned jobs a la the 1930's public works programs (addressed in another thread, currently). There are damned few of them who for health reasons just can't work. Nor should these same people be breeding additional kids while they're on the dole. Again, I'm talking from personal knowledge of people who use (and IMO abuse) the system.
Not all 'liberals' are wimps, Mark is absolutely right. Depending on the issue, some of us are pretty kick ass - and the first ass I'd start with is Dubya Bush. He and his coterie are NOT true conservatives. I don't know what they are (the term "neo-nazis" comes to mind, especially pertaining to Cheney) but they sure as hell don't hold or practice the true, traditional conservative values of smaller, less intrusive government, lower taxes (except for the rich), etc. The current GOP has gotten so far away from these values, they no longer can claim that mandate, and when they do, they lie - as ususal. That seems to be about the only thing the current GOP leadership does well these days. But they aren't the Real Thing. They're a fake, masquerading as the Real Thing.
16 - Maurice
"...tons more out of both than they ever put in."
Jesus help me. The cap is always going up but I will use todays cap in my example:
I pay $5580 and my employer matches that amount. I work for 40 years. Total paid in is $446400. If I receive 15K per year I would have to live to 97 years of age to BREAK EVEN. I plan on dying at 77.
Also, please quit telling me about prejudice.
17 - Nancy
Why do you plan on dying at 77? Do you figure you're going to be senile by then, or does that just strike you as a good age to cash out? I personally hope you live in good health & prosperity to be 97 & break even.
18 - Ruvy in Jerusalem
Mark,
You are not talking about liberalism, you are talking about social justice. Look at the eight degrees of tzedaká that Maimonides describes in his writings. The highest level of tzedaká is helping a fellow get a job - do that on a large enough scale, and you have wiped out poverty.
19 - Mark Schannon
Where to begin, where to begin? Archie, what a clever game you conservatives play. Democrats you like wouldn't like the Democrats of today, ergo, the Democrats of today aren't worthy of consideration. Unless you commune with the dead and FDR & HST have told you something...then you should share.
Johnson had Vietnam dumped on him. Ike took over from the French--the first stupid mistake; Kennedy escalated but Kennedy was no liberal; and Johnson was trapped. And I wouldn't bring up the Iran hostage situation--I've never been a conspiracist, but how remarkable the timing. The release of the hostages was probably the greatest political trick in history. Also, the USSR was on the brink of disaster long before Reagan. Giving him credit for that breakup is like giving the Pope credit for the breakup of my first marriage. (??? I don't understand that either.)
Clavos, the Bay of Pigs was planned by Ike & delivered to JFK who stupidly listened.
Let's face it...virtually every president since Washington's been a jerk, so this argument's going to get us nowhere.
Dave, how dare you call me wrong!? The gov't can't fix the system. IF they try, the old fogeys and AARP go balistic.
Nancy, because some abuse a system doesn't make the system bad. Anyone who wants to try living on welfare and living where welfare moms are forced to live, be my guest.
Government's completely screwed up most social services over the years but the basic concepts are still legitimate.
And Ruvy, to me liberalism and social justice are very close. Unlike those rotten conservatives who believe in social injustice, LOL.
And Chantal & Jet, thanks.
In Jameson Veritas
20 - Ruvy in Jerusalem
Nark, I tend to agree with European classical liberals in providing a definition, whether I like the definition or not. I suspect that our friend Mr. Nalle will write about that definition himself. No, boychick, go straight to the Holiness Code in Leviticus and to the writings of the Jewish prophets on social justice. That is the source of what you are talking about, whether you realize it or not.
Selected from Vayikrá/Leviticus, Chapter 19
"When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not complete your reaping to the corner of your field, and the gleanings of your harvest you shall not take. You shall not pick the underdeveloped twigs of your vineyard; and the fallen fruit of your vineyard you shall not gather; for the poor and the proselyte shall you leave them - .....
You shall not steal, you shall not deny falsely, and you shall not lie to one another. You shall not swear falsely by My Name...
You ahall not cheat your fellow and you shall not rob; a workers wage shall not remain with you till morning. You shall not curse the deaf and you shall not place a stumbling block before the blind...
You shall not commit a perversion of justice; your swhall not favor the poor and you shall not honor the great; with righteousness...
...You shall not stand aside while your brother's blood is shed... You shall not hate your brother in your heart...You shall not take revenge and you shall not bear a grudge against the members of you people; you shall love your brother as yourself...
In the presence of an old person you shall rise and you shall revere a sage...
The proselyte who dwells among you shall be like a native among you, and you shall love him like yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt...
You shall not commit a perversion in justice, in measures of length, weight, or volume. You shall correct scales, correct weights, correct dry meansures and correct liquid measures..."
Tzédek tzédek tirdóf - justice, justice shall you pursue!
21 - Arch Conservative
And Ruvy, to me liberalism and social justice are very close. Unlike those rotten conservatives who believe in social injustice, LOL."
That's not it. Liberals have the tendency so to see social injustice where there is none, but rather just individual incomptency. They also have the tendency to grossly overexaggetrate real instances of social injustice, claiming it is the norm when it is not.
I'm not exactly sure what you mean by social injustice. To me you seem to think that unless everyone enjoys the same quality of life there is social injustice. This is just not so. We conservatives believe in helping our fellow man. We realize that society has an obligation to those who cannot help themselves ie the elderly, the hanidcapped, children.... However you liberals call us callous because we will not tolerate those able bodied individuals who are too stupid or lazy to make their own way in the world.
One last thing. If liberals are so caring and conservatives don't give a shit about anyone but themselves how do you explain the fact that red states, which are mostly dominated by conservatives, give far more in charitable donations each year than blue states, which are dominated mostly by liberals? This little piece of truth doesn't quite fit into your liberals love everyone conservatives only love themselves paradigm.
22 - Dave Nalle
Dave, how dare you call me wrong!? The gov't can't fix the system. IF they try, the old fogeys and AARP go balistic.
So you're suggesting forced extermination by revolutionary brigades as a solution to the threat of the elderly?
Dave
23 - zingzing
hey archie--if you are going by the Catalogue for Philanthropy Generosity Index, that's a skewed result, as it gets its data from tax records, which only reflects about 1% of actual giving.
adjusted for reality, the top ten states are:
1. Utah (red)
2/3. Maryland/New York (tie) (blue/blue)
4. Connecticut (blue)
5. California (blue
6. Hawaii (blue)
7. New Jersey (blue)
8. Georgia (red)
9. South Carolina (red)
10. North Carolina (red)
so that means that utah (a red state) gives the most per person, but who the fuck lives in utah? now look at #'s 2-7. that's some people. blue people. liberal people.
the Catalogue for Philanthropy Generosity Index does accurately reflect the people that give to charity so that they can itemize it and get a tax refund (ahh, so very conservative). greedy fucks just want to look good. and the winners there are:
1. Mississippi
2. Arkansas
3. Oklahoma
4. Louisiana
5. Alabama
6. Tennessee
7. South Dakota
8. Utah
9. South Carolina
10. Idaho
red the whole way down! yippee!
24 - Nancy
Zing, do you think the blues don't take it off on their returns? Just playing devil's advocate here. Remember, the Clintons used to deduct the value of their used underwear they gave to Goodwill (ick!).
25 - Nancy
Zing, do you think the blues don't take it off on their returns? Just playing devil's advocate here. Remember, the Clintons used to deduct the value of their used underwear they gave to Goodwill (ick) }:P