Anyone here a self-identified liberal?

bonnie1965

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Originally Posted by CarolPetunia

Yes, I am a liberal. But like the vast majority of liberals, I do not conform to the extreme stereotype plastered onto us by the political opposition.


Like nearly all other liberals, I respect the spiritual beliefs of others, so long as they don't try to force their religious principles on me through the political process. This includes the prejudices of those religions that think God has told them to discriminate against certain kinds of people. We liberals have a bumper sticker for them: "Hate is not a family value."

What most liberals actually want is a government that recognizes our responsibility, as a rich and fortunate nation, to treat our own citizens humanely. Again, contrary to popular rhetoric, this does not mean "using our tax money to support people who are too lazy to work." It means supporting those who cannot find work, who are physically unable to work, or who suffer such mental incapacity as to be unfit for work. (The mentally ill, by the way, should be treated -- not allowed to become homeless, criminal, and/or dangerous.)

So yes, I am a liberal -- but that label doesn't mean what most "conservatives" seem to think it does. That's one of the problems with a two-party system... it tends to polarize, and all the truths that reside in the shades of grey get distorted.

Thank you, Nausicaa, for giving me a post that I absolutely had to respond to this morning. Last night, I was so upset about another exchange I'd had that I was going to just stop posting altogether and become a lurker... but this has shown me that if I'm going to be here on TCS at all, I'm going to have to participate.


I am liberal. No Birks (can't afford them), love trees (agree with RobSlut'sMommy), identify more with Seattle mentality than SF (never really been there).

I, too, often have evenings where I think I will never be able to respond to anything on this board again. Then threads like this pop up - thank you


Oh, I am a feminist
To me, being a feminist means believing that I have the right to say what happens with my body and I have the right to vote. Thanks to all the women (and some men) who went before me, I have these rights and will continue to fight to keep them for my neices and the other women I love.

I could go on but am at work and need to get to it


Have a sunshine day!
 

marie-p

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I guess I am a liberal, though I never really think of myself in those terms. I'd never vote for the liberal party (too right-wing for me still)

I'm an environmentalist and a humanist.

I am an idealist but purely for realistic reasons... I strongly believe that we need some radical change if humanity is to have a future (or a half-decent present). But I don't believe in being dogmatic either.

Mostly, I believe in reducing the amount of suffering in the world. Seems obvious, but people often seem to loose sight of this by focusing too much on ideology.
 

rubsluts'mommy

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Originally Posted by Zissou'sMom

People at my high school called me "everyone's favorite liberal" after my teacher threatened to send my essays to homeland security (come from an extremely traditionally republican place (read everyone wants to keep their taxes low)) I'd rather be told I have Seattle values than San Francisco though.
BAAHAAAA!!! Sorry... ya know i'm amazed no one I know has turned me in at times... my parents are Republican (and they probably wonder where they went wrong with me), my brother and sister are registered Independents... i.e. they are unable to stand up for anything. (I will quell the backlash now by saying that I'm SURE not EVERY registered Ind. is that way... but you've never met my siblings.)

A friend of mine in Chicago, when I told her about how i was doing here in Portland, she told me 'you always did seem like a tree-hugger type' Huh? See, I don't see the same person everyone else sees when I look in the mirror. I see a somewhat shy geeky girl who can't get a da** date with someone she likes to save her life (not to mention a decent paying job and all that other normal stuff). Some of my friends see me VERY differently... Apparently I have a very strong personality, outspoken (won't refute that... and I'm getting worse)... oh yeah... and they keep telling me I'm really pretty... yeah, whatever. I guess. I just don't see it... but then again, that's an issue for therapy... if I can ever afford it again.


Originally Posted by Bonnie1965

I am liberal. No Birks (can't afford them), love trees (agree with RubSlut'sMommy), identify more with Seattle mentality than SF (never really been there).

I, too, often have evenings where I think I will never be able to respond to anything on this board again. Then threads like this pop up - thank you


Oh, I am a feminist
To me, being a feminist means believing that I have the right to say what happens with my body and I have the right to vote. Thanks to all the women (and some men) who went before me, I have these rights and will continue to fight to keep them for my neices and the other women I love.
I've put my feet in Birks... can't stand them. and then there was the whole teacher thing I mentioned this morning...

Amen to your comment about being a feminist. No bunch of suits in Washington should be able to tell me what I can and cannot do with my own body. God gave me this body, not some twits in DC.

As for having nights where you feel like never posting again (someone else made a similar comment, but i couldn't find it again when I wanted to click on Multi-quote): Every so often I venture into IMO... I may read a few things... sometimes the whole thread... sometimes I've posted in there... and there have been plenty of times I've wanted to walk away from TCS (if only for a while) because of extremely STRONG opinions and the feeling like I'm personally being attacked in IMO. I know it's not really a personal thing... feelings get riled up, things get said/typed that are then posted while feelings are strong... and those they are replying to get hurt. It happens EVERYWHERE... not just here... we're actually pretty tame here, even in IMO. i recently had one of those days when I wanted to stop doing TCS because of the IMO forum... as you can see, I'm still here... I'm not going anywhere. Sure, I don't post AS much as some people (hence why I've been here longer than some who have more posts than me). I try to just walk away from IMO. I'll go back when I'm ready to brave the Conservatives again...


I have other things that need to get done in my life right now. I'll come to the lounge and play... but I'm not going anywhere. I'm sure many of us have those times when we need a break from TCS. even the Mods.

Amanda
 

neetanddave

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Originally Posted by silentNate

wiberal-hating anarchosyndaclist
I have NO idea where you got that last word, but I think that might mean we should get along better than we do.
 

theimp98

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Originally Posted by neetanddave

I have NO idea where you got that last word, but I think that might mean we should get along better than we do.
i think he is making up words
 

carolpetunia

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As this thread has continued, I see a couple more comments I need to make...

1. Political correctness is the creation of a profit-oriented news industry that just can't wait to leap on anything that could possibly be viewed as offensive and make a "story" out of it. When a public figure says something politically incorrect, it sells a lot of newspapers -- whether the comment was actually offensive or not.

I absolutely support sensitivity to the dignity of minorities... but to twist that sensitivity into a game of "Gotcha" in which your career can be destroyed by a slip of the tongue or an innocent comment that gets misconstrued... or even a simple lack of taste... that's unfair and counterproductive.

This is not to suggest that morally repugnant things don't get said -- they certainly do. But to apply some artificial PC code to the genuinely wrong only trivializes the issue.

2. For all my passionate rants, I have never set virtual foot in the "IMO" forum -- because I don't want to get caught up in a free-for-all where people really get hurt. Been there, done that, have the broken heart to prove it. The gentler forums here are plenty intense enough for me.
 

momofmany

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Tree hugger? I don't hug them, I plant them. We reforested our last property (10 acres) and have already planted about 50 trees at our new house (3 acres).

Birks? I'm either barefoot or flip flops when I can wear them. Wore heels and suits to work for years in the days that you had to but am glad when it's jeans day at work on Fridays.

Liberal? With the web site that my DH runs, we assume that our phone lines are tapped by homeland security (we hear clicks when we talk). I'm moderately so. You can't be raised in Chicago during the King Richard Daily era without voting democratic.

My nephew (early 20's hippy wanna-be) asked me recently if my DH and I were "old hippies", cause he assumed by the way we act, dress (we still do tie-dye) and carry on that we had to be right out of Woodstock. We giggled when he asked us if we still smoked pot (he assumed that we had), then realized he asked because he wanted the novelty of smoking with a couple of "old hippies". Sorry, dude, we gave that up years ago.

So I guess you can classify us as bare-foot tie-dyed old hippy liberals that believe in civil rights, animal rights and women's rights.
 

essayons89

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I have to admit that I don't what "political label" could be slapped on me. My dad is a republican and my mom votes democrat. Me? I try to vote for whichever sleazeball I think will screw us over the least.

Let me tell you some of things I believe or don't believe in and maybe the good people here can help me out.
- I don't believe in big government, it's already too big for its britches.
- I don't believe in a national health care system.
- I don't believe in handing out checks to people who have no desire to better their lot in life by getting a job.
- I'm not a tree hugger but I do respect and care about the environment.
- Political correctness makes me want to throw up.
- I believe in a strong, professional (no draft) military.
- I don't believe in amnesty for illegal aliens.
- If I were President I would do whatever it takes to repeal NAFTA.
- If I were President I would do my best to look after the people and interests of our own country, with foreign affairs coming second.

Those are just a few off of the top of my head.
 

catsarebetter

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I am. I have not actually clicked on the IMO forum, because I already get riled up enough just from clicking on new posts and stumbling across IMO threads...

I try to respect that everyone has a right to their opinion. I *really* try. I think sometimes I just find it hard to respect that opinion when I cannot understand that line of thought. There are just some concepts that I don't get, and can't comprehend no matter how hard I try, because I'm just not "built that way". Maybe part of my problem is I try to understand people and why they feel the way they do and sometimes I just cannot fathom it.

Anyway.. I'm definitely a liberal. I really don't understand how "bleeding heart liberal" is such an insult. What does P*SS me off is the snide, self-righteous, condescending tone in which it's delivered. That's going to get someone backhanded one day. Guess I'm not always peace loving.

Definitely an activist. Definitely a marcher, a rally attendee, and if they still did "sit-ins" I'd probably do it too. I work for an international union.. and am proud of the work we do.

You are definitely not alone.
 

carolpetunia

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Originally Posted by CatsAreBetter

I really don't understand how "bleeding heart liberal" is such an insult. What does P*SS me off is the snide, self-righteous, condescending tone in which it's delivered. That's going to get someone backhanded one day.
Heather, sweetheart -- no wonder I enjoy you so much!
 

theimp98

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Originally Posted by CatsAreBetter

Anyway.. I'm definitely a liberal. I really don't understand how "bleeding heart liberal" is such an insult. What does P*SS me off is the snide, self-righteous, condescending tone in which it's delivered. That's going to get someone backhanded one day. Guess I'm not always peace loving.

Definitely an activist. Definitely a marcher, a rally attendee, and if they still did "sit-ins" I'd probably do it too. I work for an international union.. and am proud of the work we do.

You are definitely not alone.
sound like your not as much as a liberal as you think
 

momofmany

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Originally Posted by CarolPetunia

Heather, sweetheart -- no wonder I enjoy you so much!
And Heather, just noticed your siggie: “For myself, I hold no preference among flowers, so long as they are wild, free, spontaneous. –Edward Abbey, in Desert Solitaire (1968)

I love Edward Abbey and own all of his books. Didn't he also say "Once you've seen one Grand Canyon, you've seen them all?" My DH and I have tried to retrace some of his steps out in the canyon country he so loved.

Oops.....my tree loving spirit is showing. And I will add "bleeding-heart liberal" to my list of attributes.
 
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