Posted on 11/26/2006 12:49:20 PM PST by Lorianne
I started blogging in June of 2004. In July of 2005, I was invited to co-blog here at The Moderate Voice, an invitation followed a short stint co-blogging at Centerfield (I still technically can post there, but I haven't in over a year). The site being called "The Moderate Voice," I've always felt a vague compunction to be a "moderate," even though I admittedly lean liberal.
So, how do I justify calling myself "moderate"? Well, a couple things. A general abhorrence of partisanship and power politics would be one. A vague preference for free trade would be another. But the big issue was foreign policy. I strongly, truly believed in the moral obligation of the US to use its global power for good in the world--to fight tyranny, end genocide, and battle human rights obligations wherever, whenever, on behalf of whomever.
It was always exaggerated how that viewpoint was considered unwelcome in Democratic circles, but it certainly was a break with the party orthodoxy, and Democratic hawks were considered to be "moderates" in the popular parlance. And since that was the biggest issue of the past few years, that was enough for me to comfortably call myself a bona fide "moderate liberal."
But what about today? I am not ashamed to admit that the Iraq debacle has seriously shaken my belief in traditionally liberal (Wilsonian) foreign policy. Obviously, there are plenty of intellectual defenses I could run to if I wanted to preserve that perspective, not the least of which is the appalling incompetence of the Bush administration in prosecuting this conflict. But while I'm not ready to abandon my idealistic foreign policy beliefs quite yet, I believe it would be quite hubristic to not at least recognize that the past few years have complicated them significantly. And until I get it all sorted out, I imagine I'll look with a bit more humility at how America should be behaving on the global stage.
All well and good. But now the question comes back: Am I a moderate? While I suspect I'm still more hawkish than the average Democrat, I'm no longer noticiably outside the Party mainstream I feel. On several social issues I'm not just liberal but flagrantly so (pro-gay marriage, pro-immigration amnesty and removal of immigration quotas (or at least raising them significantly), pro-Affirmative Action and reparations, anti-"under God" in the pledge). Even on abortion, an issue I'd been floating into the pro-life camp for a few years, I find that I'm coming back to a rather strong pro-choice position. I could cherry-pick issues, of course, but by and large I'm not just liberal, I'm very liberal (Carleton skews my perception of course, because even in my most liberal persona I'm on the right side of things, but I think on a national scale I certainly qualify as a hardcore liberal). So where do I get off blogging at TMV?
I think in terms of temperment, I might qualify as moderate, in that I prefer consensus to division and try to accomodate opposing beliefs instead of demonizing them. But I'm not sure if that makes me a moderate or just a significantly uglier, less talented, and Whiter Barack Obama. In other words, a liberal who genuinely wants to engage in dialogue with the rest of the country. That's noble, perhaps, but distinct from "moderate." Ditto with any of the other nice, non-partisan adjectives I could potentially tag myself with ("free-thinker" or "engaging" or "sharp" or whatever).
I want to stress that this post does not come due to any questioning or prodding from Joe or any of the other co-bloggers. And it's not really a crisis of confidence either: I'm quite happy with where I am politically, and very much enjoy the conversations I have here and elsewhere. But in keeping with that tradition, I feel I should ask the readership: Do I still belong here?
"I strive to have no strong opinions about anything, and don't want to say anything that might cause somebody to not like me."
Grow a set, nancy.
Then you should consider taking a bath with a toaster.
You seem like a left wing commie whack job.... JUST KIDDING!
If you surf the web looking for polls so you can click the "I Don't Know" button....you might be a "moderate."
Anyone who claims they're a 'moderate' is a liberal too chickens**t to admit it.
I prefer consensus to division and try to accomodate opposing beliefs instead of demonizing them.
--
sounds like he'd gladly jump into a hot tub with damn near anyone or anything,, and an awful lot like a choice few here at FR. ;-)
play in the middle of the road, get run over by traffic coming from both ways. Don't be a TWirP!
-PJ
This sounds unequivocally flaming liberal to me..but then, I consider myself a moderate.
any extreme moderates out there?
"pro-immigration amnesty"
There you have it ... flagrantly liberal.
Moderate is an attempt to capture tepid conservatives uncomfortable with the GOP into voting with the lefists. It is an attempt to define the left as the middle ground so as claim the GOP is out of the mainstream. So naturally this "moderate" is really a leftist.
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." -Manuel II Paleologus
LOL
Gotta watch those "extreme moderates." They always take indecisiveness over the top. That's how you can easily spot them. LOL!
"any extreme moderates out there?"
John McCain.
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." -Manuel II Paleologus
There you have it ... flagrantly liberal.
Yes.
Actually, this person is yanking our crank.
No way he could even remotely consider himself moderate.
I would upgrade my evaluation to flaming, rabid dog, fire breathing liberal.
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