I'm a liberal and I'm here to learn

[rogerv]

Hi, gang,

I was a regular contributor to the Kerry Online Forum and am now a regular contributor to the Common Ground Common Sense forum. I am a liberal, but I'll be the first to admit, I don't have all the answers. In fact, many of hte questions that matter to me probably matter to you too. I'm concerned with questions about how to tame power, whether governmental or corporate. I'm concern with the rule of law and how we can get the powerful to take it seriously. I'm concerned with the erosion of civil liberties. And yes, I am concerned about some things you may associate with liberalism--social safety nets and taking care of those who fall through the institutional cracks.

I'm here because I think agreement is overrated and that critics can be your best friends: they keep you from getting sloppy or careless. At any rate, I think there are things I can learn from you. I don't expect you are all agreed on anything--I expect there is a lot of diversity of opinion here. If you are interested in what I have said over at Common Ground Common Sense, I'm using the same handle both places, and you should feel free to come over and look around.

Anyway, I'm new here. Anybody care to give me a tour?

[leadpenny]

Liberal, eh?

Your thoughts on:

- Abortion
- Minimum Wage
- Universal Health Care
- Corporate Taxation
- Social Security Privatization
- Affirmative Action
- Hillary Clinton

[boofus]

Which of your civil liberties have been eroded?

What about McCain-Feingold preventing you from criticizing the policies of any candidate 60 days before an election?

What about the money that is involuntarily taken out of your paycheck every week for Social Security?

What about the fact that machineguns are completely legal to own if registered. Oh by the way you can not register them any more.

Plenty more I can come up with but I'm at work right now.

[Squawk 8888]

Best way to tame corporate power is to eliminating the government's ability to dole out favours. Taxes, regulations and subsidies are a recipe for corruption.

[Dad was my hero]

I'm concerned with questions about how to tame power, whether governmental or corporate. I'm concern with the rule of law and how we can get the powerful to take it seriously. I'm concerned with the erosion of civil liberties. And yes, I am concerned about some things you may associate with liberalism--social safety nets and taking care of those who fall through the institutional cracks.

Being more specific as to your concerns would be helpful. Also, don't take a powder after posting, granted this post will attract a lot of posters and you'll be busy keeping up with their posts, but sticking around to answer them will prove you are willing to learn. BTW, there are enough on this forum that USED to be liberal but came to see the "light" and have learned that conservatism is the best route to prosperity for all.

[BigCinBigD]

Merry Christmas.

[Gingersnap]

"Anybody care to give me a tour?"

Sure!

Free Republic is a news posting board that is conservative in nature. As you know, conservatives can get "there" from a large number of paths. Some of us are Republicans, some of us are Independents and there's more than a couple Libertarians here. You also find people who belong to the smaller third parties.

Although we all share some conservative issues, we don't share all of them. We have a lot of mostly good natured bickering when ideas collide. Be prepared to back up assertions with facts (i.e., books, reports, economic data, etc.)

Hang back and read a bit to get a feel for the forums. I think you'll find us to be a literate and fun bunch.

[Revolting cat!]

I'm concerned with the erosion of civil liberties.

So are we. Like the freedom of association. Hello you evil Boy Scouts! Like the replacement of freedom of religion by freedom from religion promoted so successfully by the liberal ACLU. There is plenty more, just ask the 9th Circuit judges.

[appalachian_dweller]

Welcome to FR rogerv. I've been here a while. This is a great place to learn and I'm impressed that you are seeking views of others with differing opinions. Kudos for that.

While you can learn much here (and others can learn from you as well), this can be a brutal place so I hope you have think skin.

One way FR has changed my way of thinking is that when I first joined, I was pro-choice. After talking with other freepers and reading articles, I have come to the conclusion that abortion is murder, is weakening our country, but should be available for cases of incest and rape only.

I've learned too many other things here to go into in one post.

Again, you seem intelligent and open minded (something I'm not always) and I think we could learn much from each other.

A friend of mine one said:

Everyone knows something you don't so take the time to learn from them.

Hope to see you around.

A_D

[NeoCaveman]

welcome.

[Protagoras]

Which of your civil liberties have been eroded?

I don't know about him, but the list is a long one.

[mrsmith]

Look around, there are plenty of threads here with little "reply" buttons on all the comments. Participate all you want on them.

Why do new people write these vauous "Introduction" screeds?

It's just indicates they're too stupid or arrogant to participate in debates. Most people that start off like this eventually prove they are.

But enough about you, let's talk about me!

[elbucko]

Do you plan to respond to our replies or just pimping the other site?

Good question. When the Lefties post a vanity and not respond to replies, they should be DUmped.

[TChris]

Bump of curiosity.

[Howlin]

^5.

[Protagoras]

How do you recommend we go about taming corporate power while trying to remain competetive?

I can give you a few if ya like. I'm thinking He will be gone soon .

[kylaka]

Once upon a time, long long ago, I thought the liberals might just be right about one or two things. I don't think that anymore. I have come to know that liberals are 100% wrong about everything.

[Sprite518]

Welcome.... I will listen to what you have to say, but I hope you can do the same. It just seems to me many times when Liberals make their point they cannot stay focused on what they are saying. They bounce all over the political board with a bunch sophomoric one liners. If you stay focus, believe in facts and logic, then I believe you will no longer be a liberal. It may feel good to say the things liberals say, and it may sound good. However, in reality it does not work. I find Liberals wrong on every issue about 99% of the time.

[rogerv]

Thanks. BTW, I new to this--getting a bunch of replies all at once. This is going to take some getting used to!

[sneakers]

Welcome.

First read JimRobs letter on the home page of FreeRepublic. He if the founder of this website. We definitely do not agree on everything but we are, for the most part, all of a conservative mind in varying degrees and this IS a conservative website so argumentative liberals (usually liberals who "hit and run") are not tolerated.

If you stay, and if you behave yourself ;-), you may find that this is truly a great place to learn about the conservative mind.

Freepers are the friendliest, most down-to-earth people you will ever meet online. We are Christians, agnostics, atheists.
Americans, Canadians (see "Free Dominion"), Brits, Poles, etc).
Grandmas, grandpas, teenagers.
Stay-at-home moms, college professors, military, retired, authors, politicians, actors, truckdrivers, teachers, etc.

In otherwords - we ARE mainstream America!

Have fun!

[Earthdweller]

Love Letter to a Liberal

As a new member of the “hard right” I feel compelled to convey to you, my dear liberal, the journey that has brought me to this place. There is a bitter animosity among many liberals today toward those that would believe as I do. As many conservatives will tell you, there is no point in hating liberals. They are as much a part of us as they are a part of the American fabric. It was once said that most conservatives start out as liberals in their youth. So how do we get to the other side of such opposing views?

For this writer, it took many years of seeing the world outside my parent’s protection to arrive at my current beliefs. In my younger years as a lower middle class American, I believed in the total goodness of mankind. I knew nothing of hate, racism, wars or politics. I was taught at home and in my schools to love everyone regardless of nationality, gender or religion. Those days where full of hope and possibility. I was once certain in my heart that the world we live in is full of people that only want to live and let live. My thoughts were that those who did not take my views need only to be given a touch of that all-powerful love and they would see how things could really be. It was devastating to find out that there where those that truly hated beyond any reasoning and that no amount of kindness or love would dilute their way of thinking.

As if it wasn’t enough to learn of real hate and wars, I learned that there are political leaders that use those wars to bring themselves to power. I became keen to maneuver through this political trickery. I learned that the worst politicians where those that preyed on the innocents. They tell opponents of hate what they want to hear, that war is very seldom necessary and blame it on the greed of their political opponent. They defy the facts of struggle after struggle, war after war throughout our human history in order to find favor in the American heart. I learned about those amoral, power hungry brokers that seek to widen the divisions in our country, using well chosen words that “sound” eloquent and intelligent to pit race against race, gender against gender, rich against poor to increase their own support in their quest for power. My eyes where opened and I knew there must be others that thought as I did. So I sought them out and found that they were called Republicans. I joined the just cause to bring back those things that I valued most, the ideas of my youth, that where taken from me by the real nature of this world. There was still hope.

Then, on September 11th, just when I thought I had seen every species of hate that the world had to offer; I learned of the islamic extremists. Without any room for doubt, they made their goals be known. Their calling in life was to promote their higher power by erasing us from the face of the earth because we are what they call the “infidels”, the ones that dare to tell them that we do not agree with their spiritual beliefs. They teach their children in their so-called schools that we are less than dogs, sub human. Without remorse, they attack the innocents. They applaud the effort to deliberately murder women and children in the most gruesome way possible to further their cause of fear and intolerance.

There is only one party that can help us to survive in this newest world of hate and insanity. It should not be surprising that the US has taken a “hard right” Republican shift and I suspect that the rest of the free world will follow in the next few years as the newest threats gather.

I long for the liberal days of my youth when everything was brightness and light, before I learned about the hate, before that one bright morning when the reality of the madness of the world came crashing in.

Liberal, I support you in your journey to find the sad truth. The reality is that the world is not what any of us want it to be. Unless those that would kill the liberal-at-heart are removed from power, the world will not ever be what we all want it to be. I am one of those people who will forever dream of peace on earth, but dare to see things for what they are today For you that have not found it acceptable to face these unbearable truths, there will always be those of us on the right who are willing to protect you from the hate and madness of these killers, even if you despise us for doing so. For those who can see that the dreams of our youth are still so very far away and that more work needs to be done to bring back the hope, won’t you please join us in this fight for our freedom?

Sincerely, One Conservative