Many (hah! Many?....maybe all four of you who read my blog) know that I spent some time dissecting the "soul of the conservative". My stated purpose was to discover what, exactly, do conservatives believe and, consequently, what underlies their mystical (e.g. bizarre) policies. (okay...a little snarky graphic at the right....)I don't think I came to a conclusion, in fact, I think I pondered that there wasn't any real single, simple conclusion to be drawn but I will return to the subject eventually.
In the meantime, here's an attempt to define what LIBERALS believe. Bill in Portland, Maine reprints Dan Kurtzman, who keeps the political snark fires burning over at About.com, wrote a terrific piece for his recent book, How to Win a Fight with a Conservative. It was reprinted in Dailykos with Dan Kurtzman's gracious permission and we offer it here as a starting point for discussion.
Liberal Manifesto
Liberals believe in clean air, diplomacy, stem cells, living wages, body armor for our troops, government accountability, and that exercising the right to dissent is the highest form of patriotism.
Liberals believe in reading actual books, going to war as a last resort, separating church and hate, and doing what Jesus would actually do, instead of lobbying for upper-class tax cuts and fantasizing about the apocalypse.
Liberals believe in civil rights, the right to privacy, and that evolution and global warming aren’t just theories but incontrovertible scientific facts.
Liberals believe there ought to be a constitutional amendment that (1) prohibits another Bush from ever occupying the White House, and (2) prevents George W. Bush from ever becoming baseball commissioner before he does to our national pastime what he did for America.
Liberals believe in rescuing people from flooded streets and rooftops, even if they’re too poor to vote Republican.
Liberals believe that supporting our troops means treating our wounded vets like the heroes they are, and not leaving them to languish in rat-infested military hospitals under the outsourced management of incompetent cronies who think they’re running a Taco Bell franchise.
Liberals believe in pheromones, sex ed, solar panels, voting paper trails, the common good, and that, no matter how fascinating a story it may be, a president should never sit around in a state of total paralysis reading "My Pet Goat" while America is under attack.
And above all, liberals believe that it’s time to come together as a country and put a collective boot in the ass of shameless conservative fearmongers, hate merchants, and scapegoaters who are sucking the freedom out of all our souls.
I'll be writing more about the primaries later today perhaps. (Hint: the results w
ere somewhat disappointing) but I've had meetings up the ying-yang since Monday and life has been a train-wreck for the past three days....I've been sitting down to dinner (usually with the telephone's "hands free" device stuck in my ear) around 9:30 or 10 o'clock every night so far.....and it continues today...three meetings on the schedule and all of them in direct conflict with family needs and goals....(groceries? what groceries?....dinner tonight?..."Hello Dominoes?")
ere somewhat disappointing) but I've had meetings up the ying-yang since Monday and life has been a train-wreck for the past three days....I've been sitting down to dinner (usually with the telephone's "hands free" device stuck in my ear) around 9:30 or 10 o'clock every night so far.....and it continues today...three meetings on the schedule and all of them in direct conflict with family needs and goals....(groceries? what groceries?....dinner tonight?..."Hello Dominoes?")
