Proud to be Liberal
Why Liberal values are American values

By Brian Elroy McKinley

Seems these days Conservatives have convinced themselves, and some of the American public, that being a Liberal is akin to being a card-carrying member of the Communist Party. While this may be a great smear tactic for an election year, to believe such a notion proves that the believer is uneducated in the fundamentals of the American political system. Our nation was founded on Liberalism. Embodied in the Declaration of Independence are its three tenets: "Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness." The very term, itself, is taken from the same root as the second of these precepts. To be a Liberal is to defend the freedom - the Liberty - of all people who make up our great nation. To be a Liberal is to trust individuals and families to run their own lives as they see fit. To be a Liberal is to create a nation where anyone can excel if they are willing to do the work.

http://elroy.net/politics/liberal.html

Gee, never heard this one before. :roll:

You liberals think you're so great because the founding fathers were liberals. Well have news for you -- you are NOTHING like the founding fathers. A liberal today is something completely different than a liberal from 1770's.

[quote:e78107b05e="J_Lively"]Proud to be Liberal
Why Liberal values are American values

Our nation was founded on Liberalism. Embodied in the Declaration of Independence are its three tenets: "Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness." The very term, itself, is taken from the same root as the second of these precepts. To be a Liberal is to defend the freedom - the Liberty - of all people who make up our great nation. To be a Liberal is to trust individuals and families to run their own lives as they see fit. To be a Liberal is to create a nation where anyone can excel if they are willing to do the work.

http://elroy.net/politics/liberal.html[/quote:e78107b05e]

To bad todays democratic party does the exact opposite of what is claimed here. If you are gay, a minority, or an animal they want to defend your freedom, but if you are not then they want to take your freedom away. The last line should read:

To be a liberal is to create a nation where anyone can excel (unless you're white) if they are willing to work. But if you excel too much we are going to take your money because that is not fair. If you do not want to work thats OK to because we will give you the money we took from the people that have exceled too much.

[quote:5a4ae3f9b8="DaveTooner"]Gee, never heard this one before. :roll:

You liberals think you're so great because the founding fathers were liberals. Well have news for you -- you are NOTHING like the founding fathers. A liberal today is something completely different than a liberal from 1770's.[/quote:5a4ae3f9b8]

Prove it. Show me how ALL liberals are one way or another. You use stereotypes and generalizations to explain what "liberals" are. I do not fit these stereotypes and I am very liberal.

I support the Constitution 100%. I support personal freedom, equal opportunity (you can't pursue happiness without it), and personal choice 100%. These are all ideas this country was founded on.

Dave, I have read much of your conservative rhetoric, and I will tell you your ideas about liberals are so off. I don't use extremists like Ashcroft or Jerry Falwell as my standard by which to judge all conservatives or Republicans. Why do so many conservatives use extremists like Barbara Streisand or Ann Hetch (sp?) to judge all liberals as tree-hugging, free-loving, immoral American-haters? As a member of NOW, Planned Parenthood, and a few other liberal groups I don't mention because I don't want to give out personal info on the net, I can tell you that your pre-conceived ideas about liberals are way off from the norm.

[quote:63b568b094="SB54"]To bad todays democratic party does the exact opposite of what is claimed here. If you are gay, a minority, or an animal they want to defend your freedom, but if you are not then they want to take your freedom away. The last line should read:

To be a liberal is to create a nation where anyone can excel (unless you're white) if they are willing to work. But if you excel too much we are going to take your money because that is not fair. If you do not want to work thats OK to because we will give you the money we took from the people that have exceled too much.[/quote:63b568b094]

So untrue. Please, give me examples. I saw where you pointed out a few Democrats who had done things you disagreed with. I didn't read too closely but I know that you wrong on at least one account (Tipper Gore never fought for censorship, she supported warning stickers being placed on music CDs that told if there was inappropriate content on these albums for younger listeners) and you may have been wrong on the other accounts if I went back and checked.

Just because a couple of Democrats stray from the party platform (our platform basically supports the ideas expressed in the article) does not mean that the whole party agrees. There are many Republicans who are somewhat liberal and stray from their base party platform, too. McCain and Powell (who are very liberal on social issues) come to mind right away. There are also some conservative Democrats like Leiberman who stray.

Check out the party platforms and really research the history of the parties before making up your mind or forming pre-conceived notions.

[quote:ea8de1aa25="J_Lively"]


So untrue. Please, give me examples. I saw where you pointed out a few Democrats who had done things you disagreed with. I didn't read too closely but I know that you wrong on at least one account (Tipper Gore never fought for censorship, she supported warning stickers being placed on music CDs that told if there was inappropriate content on these albums for younger listeners) and you may have been wrong on the other accounts if I went back and checked.



Check out the party platforms and really research the history of the parties before making up your mind or forming pre-conceived notions.[/quote:ea8de1aa25]

I said Tipper gore lead a "crusade aginst music" which was true. The final result was a warning label, but her group did not want just a warning label. She even said that in the VH1 movie. her little crusade has lead to censorship of CD's at stores such as Wal-Mart and Target.

So you don't believe that liberals want to take whats yours and give it to someone else. here is an example: It's called the Revenue Reconciliation Act of 1993. I know it is a customary to question the knowlege of the new guy, but I know where I stand and my beliefs wont change. I will never suport a political party that wants to take what is rightfully mine and give it to somebody else.

[quote:8374251373="SB54"]I said Tipper gore lead a "crusade aginst music" which was true. The final result was a warning label, but her group did not want just a warning label. She even said that in the VH1 movie. her little crusade has lead to censorship of CD's at stores such as Wal-Mart and Target.

So you don't believe that liberals want to take whats yours and give it to someone else. here is an example: It's called the Revenue Reconciliation Act of 1993. I know it is a customary to question the knowlege of the new guy, but I know where I stand and my beliefs wont change. I will never suport a political party that wants to take what is rightfully mine and give it to somebody else.[/quote:8374251373]

I have no desire to change your mind, and please don't take it personally that I question you... I ask everyone here why they think the things they do.

You are confusing what is and what is not censorship, though. Censorship is when books are burned or music albums are taken from shelves so that NO ONE can purchase, see, hear or read them. Using your standard of what is censorship it could be thought that movies are censored because they are rated and minors can't watch certain films.

I re-read your post and you were also wrong about Lieberman supporting censorship -- again, he only supported minors being protected from certain violent material in video games. Neither Tipper nor Lieberman ever tried to make it impossible for adults to purchase this material.

And please explain what you mean by rightfully mine or yours? I have no problem with paying my taxes. I want my country, and my world, to be a better place and I am more than willing to pay my share to make that happen.

I don't understand why you blame everything on the Dem. party. Bush Sr. said "no new taxes" and then one of the first things he did once elected was raise taxes. Under the current president's plan it seems that the middle class is getting a break, but if the plan lasts through later administrations (which I hope it doesn't) the richest members of our society will actually benefit most. Also, you speak of censorship... what about Bush Sr. controlling the media and only allowing certain reporters to cover the Gulf War and those reporters were very controlled and only allowed to report on certain things? What about what Ashcroft is doing right now in the name of "Homeland Security?" He wants to be able to invade your privacy and freedoms in very un-Constitutional and un-American ways just to keep you "safe." And what's funny is that so many Americans are scared witless and are willing to give up their rights so that 9-11 won't happen again. Hell, if we keep going the way we're going, we'll help the terrorists win because when freedoms are given away like that America truly crumbles and that's what they want.

Okay, rant over. :D

[quote:7cc5eb41f3]Gee, never heard this one before.

You liberals think you're so great because the founding fathers were liberals. Well have news for you -- you are NOTHING like the founding fathers. A liberal today is something completely different than a liberal from 1770's.[/quote:7cc5eb41f3]

so what? conservatives today are different too. our society changes; liberals press for change and if that change is accepted they become conservatives. I mean if conservatives had their way during the american revolution us would remain a group of british colonies.

I hear this all the time "liberals try to change things, conservatives try to make things stay the same." If this were true, wouldn't that imply that conservatives are happy with everything in this country? Give me a break. Conservatives want to make as many changes as liberals do.