I'm Not a Liberal
I'm also not The Left.
I have a mixture of values some which you'd label right, others left, and others don't fall on that spectrum at all.
I don't think the Republicans are particularly conservative.
I think it's funny that it's a virtue when they propose cutting taxes but when Democrats do it, they call it socialism.
I don't know what Republicans stand for these days. I read Brooks, Kristol, the Weekly Standard, National Review, PowerLine, Hot Air, all are supposedly conservative people, but they don't really stand for anything. They're more like baseball fans. They like the color of the hat, or their parents were fans of the same team, that's why they root for the Republicans.
Look, I'm a Mets fan because I was a Mets fan when I was a kid. I rooted for the Mets probably because my parents grew up in Brooklyn and Rockaway and therefore rooted for the Dodgers. I like to think I'm a Mets fan because they have better philosophy, but I know in my heart that it's really the color of the hat. Only recently did I learn that the Mets colors, orange on blue, were derived from the colors of the two NY teams that moved to California. So I'm a National League baseball fan. For that reason I don't think of the American League as a "real" league. I like orange because it's the Giants color, and blue because it's the Dodgers, and I didn't even know it! ";->"
I mention all this baseball stuff because in politics I don't have the feeling of loyalty to a team that many do. I do not always vote for one party or the other. As I've said before, in national elections, I've voted Republican more often than I've voted Democratic.
I also think that when people talk about The Left or The Right or conservative vs liberal, they'r really saying "I cling to the past when trying to understand the future." I also think, sorry to say, that people who do this are idiots who don't deserve a vote (but thankfully I don't get to decide who gets a vote).
I also think that, in order to vote, you must prove that you've watched and understood Why We Fight and The Fog of War. If you're voting in California, I'd require reading Cadillac Desert.
Me, I think the Constitution is pretty good. I tend to take a man at his word unless I'm given a reason not to. I have been pretty good with money, but like so many others, I've lost a lot this year. I'd like to think that when I need medical care it won't matter how much money I have. I really do care about other people, even though I'm not a Christian and don't practice any other religion. Sometimes I wonder how people who call themselves Christian can ignore the teachings of their faith when it comes to being generous with others. In this country, so often, it seems Christianity is a very close-minded hard-assed me-first fuck-you culture.
What else? I don't think this is a Christian nation, emphatically, I think it's un-American to think that any religion owns us. I've read both of Obama's books, and I'm glad to see he not only agrees, but can explain why it's so important. I think abortion sucks, and I understand why some people want to outlaw it, but I don't support them. I think most of all we need to become a team, here in the USA, and start pulling together, or else we're really fucked. And I don't think being a team is something you just talk about, it's something you must act on.
I think people who say Obama is liberal haven't bothered to find out anything about him. It's my conservative side that's voting for him.
America's religion is the Constitution.
I love this country. It saved the lives of my parents and grandparents, and without America, I would not be possible.
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Last night I had a conversation with my brother about how the Conservatives who are voting for McCain, especially those Christianists haven't bothered to really research Obama. All they have done is succumb to the conspiracy theorists spew out by those idiots on talk radio. Thanks for saying exactly what I pointed out last night
I agree with the writer and several blogs about the Rep administration. I don't know what Christians the writer has been subjected to or what his expectations are but we are all sinners. Sin is not a respector of any person or religion so we are all subject to its lure and power. I don't agree with Obama's view on taxes. He said we need to spread the wealth. I don't think that my tax dollars should be used to give extra money to the poor or those who just dont want to work. I should be the one deciding that. The government has proven if not anything else that It should not meddle in business. Most people talk about raising taxes like it no big deal. It is a big deal people when you include state income, sales, property, license plate, excise, gasoline taxes, etc..... Our tax rate when all said in done is around 40-50% of our income. Government needs to reduce its size. Take care of the infrastructure and ensure safety from domestic and foreign threats. Provide social security, medicare & medicaid. To enforce the constitution. But unfortunatly what I see is a bunch of biggoted individuals who will at the cost of others take as much as they can. Beat the system "so to speak" of welfare and health care. These folks are the cancer of our society. And that seems to be the theme of Obama's campaign.
The Republicans used to represent a tolerant social group that balanced the budget. Sadly they have become nothing but a bunch of spend and borrow, religious fanatics. I guess all that hate mongering has turned them into a monster that my father would no longer recognize.
Thank goodness that Obama seems to be picking up the tolerant, balanced budget mantle otherwise I would have no one I could support. As far as Obama increasing taxes to the same level as the Clinton years; most people myself included, would gladly pay a bit more in taxes for a competent government. It sure beats the hell of paying a few dollars less for this incompetent bunch of cronies hired by the Republican administration.
It is good to read this article writen by someone that has not drank the swill we are being fed by the corporate media . Ala MSM . They are attempting to divide Americans in to factions against each other over things other than our own interests . They have waged a war with unions for many years and in the process have almost destroyed our country by reducing our wage income and the work done in this country . They have made every effort to do business in this country and remove our natural resources with out paying the taxes on very large incomes . That is not a love of country . NOT PATROITIC .
I couldn't agree more with your sentiments--for expressing which: Thank you!
However, I don't think (despite public relations claims to the contrary) that the Mets' orange and blue were really selected because they were colors used by the ball clubs that abandoned New York in the 1950's. They happen to be two of the three colors (blue, white and orange) of the flag of New York City. That flag is derived from the 17th century flags of Holland and the Dutch East India Company, which had roles in the founding Nieuw Amsterdam (as the City was originally named).
I call myself a "radical moderate".
Fiscally responsible, socially tolerant.
People should be allowed to live their lives in peace, so long as that life doesn't intrude upon others. A little respect and tolerance.
Agree 100%. Respect and tolerance are absolutely necessary to make a democratic republic a success.
In 2003 I ceased being a Raiders fan -- after a lifetime of loyalty to the franchise. I could just no longer continue to support Al Davis and in any way pump money into his pocket anymore. In 2003 was when Bucs defeated the Raiders in Superbowl XXXVII. The defeat came on the heels of Davis trading former head coach John Gruden to the Bucs. In the seasons prior to the trade, Gruden had built the team back into a powerhouse, taking them all the way to the league championship the season prior. Rather than retain Gruden, Davis said "screw the fans, in the name of money I am going to trade him to the Bucs," we all know the result, the very next year both teams met in the Superbowl and the Bucs won. Davis sold out his fans, the very ones that made him a multi-multi millionaire, and possibly even billionaire, all for a few dollars more. Anyone who retains loyalty to a team, any team, just for the sake of tradition is an idiot. Teams exist for one reason and one reason only, to serve the needs of the fans who follow them - anything else is treachery.
I assume that a candidate should likewise need to watch the great Errol Morris film you mention? How does your conservative Constitutionalist side feel about invading Pakistan?
Absolutely. The present Republican administration has been nothing short of revolutionary; probably the most radical administration in decades. There is *nothing* conservative about them.
I would not have chosen the word "revolutionary." I would say reactionary, impulsive, indulgent, irresponsible, ill-conceived, reckless, roughshod, aggressive, naive, delusional, but deifnitely not revolutionary.
The U.S. CONSTITUTION is THE GOD in which I TRUST.
Republicans CORRUPTED the Constitution and everything else.
NO MORE YEARS for frat-brat Republican hypocrites and corrupt profiteers.
No more years of NEGATIVISM AND LIES.
Vote OBAMA-BIDEN.
I agree with your statement about the constitution. I think people in this country have gotten too far from the constitution as the basis for defining public virtue. The Bible does not define what is "un-American," the constitution does!
Great Post. You are so right, people get so caught up on labels and I think it is so limiting when we do that. Like you, I have views that could be called conservative, some that could be called liberal, but I am neither of these. I am a person who addresses each issue based on how I think it will best serve me and my country.
I could go on and on regarding your views on Christianity, but let me say this briefly. I was raised a Christian, but today I don't practice any religion. I think that extreme Christianity in America is becoming as dangerous as extreme Islam. The belief in the absolute correctness of Christianity makes Christians less tolerant. Last, thing - it also amazes me that the seeemingly most devout Christians who campaign vigourougly for the sanctity of life are most often pro death penalty.
$700 billion dollar corporate welfare entitlement demanded by Paulson for Bush's going away present for cronies, and you don't know what they stand for? The Party of Corporate Welfare formally announced on September 19, 2008 by Paulson, and you don't know what they stand for? The next Republican you meet, remind them they belong to the Party of Corporate Welfare. America does not tolerate corporate welfare.
So Dave, you don't need to wonder what they stand for. They are defunct. They have ceased to exist. Those conservatives that do not want to belong to the Party of Corporate Welfare will have to, like you, find another party to join.
I've been thinking the same sort of thoughts lately. I'm not a liberal but I am a lefty, a gun toting lefty as Big Ed would say. I believe that the Constitution is the soul of our nation and must be restored. I believe that America is a country with the values of the Sermon on the Mount, yet is not a Christian nation. It seems to me the founders, deists, clearly wanted to preserve room for all types of philosophies and religions. We've strayed from their goals.
"America's religion is the Constitution. "
Thank you, I have always felt this way, I wish most Americans would realize it. We are not "a Christian nation," not a somehow transplanted European nation, certainly not a "white" nation. We are the United States of America. Love it or leave it.
Obama '08.
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