Posted on 07/04/2006 4:50:08 AM PDT by HansGygi
I used to be a liberal.
I was in one of the first “open” classrooms growing up in very progressive Great Neck, New York, in the 1960s. In 1971, when I was 11, I wrote vitriolic letters to President Nixon demanding an end to the Vietnam War.
My first vote, in 1980, was for Independent John Anderson, followed by Mondale, Dukakis, and Clinton-Gore. I read Thomas Friedman in the NY Times and tried to “understand” the “root causes” of the “despair” he said the Palestinians felt that drove them to blow up innocent Israelis.
I wasn’t an overtly political person – I just never veered from the liberal zeitgeist of the community in which I was raised.
But when I was about 27, in the late 1980s, cracks in my liberal worldview began to appear. It started with an uproar from the Left when Tipper Gore had the audacity to suggest a label on certain CDs to warn parents of lyrics that were clearly inappropriate for young people. Her suggestion was simple common sense and I was surprised by the furor it caused from the likes of Frank Zappa (and others) who felt their freedoms were being encroached upon. It was my first introduction into the entitled, selfish and irresponsible thinking I now associate with the Left.
In 1989, I remember questioning whether Democrat David Dinkins was the best choice for Mayor of New York City (where I lived) over Rudy Giuliani. After all, Dinkins hadn’t distinguished himself as Manhattan Borough President while Giuliani, as a United States District Attorney, had just de-fanged the mob.
But, racial “healing” was the issue of the day, Dinkins won, and the city went straight downhill. When Giuliani beat Dinkins in a rematch four years later – Surprise! – the crime rate plummeted, tourism boomed, Times Square came alive not with pimps but with commerce. Since 1993, the overwhelmingly liberal electorate in New York City has voted for Republicans for Mayor. Yet, to this day, many of my liberal friends refer to the decisive and effective Giuliani as a Nazi, even as they stroll their children through neighborhoods he cleaned up.
"What made me leave the Left for good and embrace the Right were their respective reactions to 9/11. While The New York Times doubted that we could succeed in Afghanistan because the Soviets in the ‘80s hadn’t, George W. Bush went directly after the Taliban and Al Qaeda seriously damaging and disrupting their networks."
After moving to Los Angeles in the early 90s, I watched from the roof of my apartment building as the city burned after the Rodney King verdicts were handed down. I thought what those four cops did to King was shameful. But I didn’t hear an uproar from my friends on the Left when rioters rampaged through the city’s streets, stealing, looting, and destroying property in the name of “no justice, no peace.” And it was impossible not to notice the hypocrisy when prominent Hollywood liberals, who had hosted anti-NRA fundraisers at their homes a week before the riots were standing in line at shooting ranges the week after it.
I watched carefully as Anita Hill testified during Clarence Thomas’s Supreme Court nomination hearing, claiming Thomas – once head of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission – sexually harassed her after she rebuffed his invitations to date him. At the time, I rooted, as did all my friends, for Miss Hill, hoping that her testimony would result in Thomas not getting confirmed. In retrospect, I’m ashamed that I was ever on the “side” of people who so viciously demonized a decent, qualified person like Judge Thomas, whether you agree with his judicial philosophy or not. Condoleezza Rice, during eligibility hearings for Secretary of State, also had to deal with rude people like Barbara Boxer, who seemed not to be able to fathom that a black American could embrace conservatism.
I voted for Al Gore in 2000. When he lost, I was disappointed, mostly in my fellow Democrats for thinking that the election had been “stolen” even though three other elections in the American history had been won by the candidate who had not won the popular vote (John Quincy Adams in 1824, Rutherford B. Hayes in 1876 and Benjamin Harrison in 1888). The rush to judgment by the now conspiracy consumed Left put me off. Where, I asked, were all the “disenfranchised” black voters who would have given Gore a victory in Florida? No one could produce a single name. And how exactly were the voting machines in Ohio “rigged” in 2004? I now refer to the Democrats as the Grassy Knoll party.
Still, I approached the 2004 primaries with an open mind. I was still a Democrat, still hoping that leaders like Sam Nunn and Scoop Jackson would emerge, still fantasizing that Democrats could constitute a party of truly progressive social thinkers with tough backbones who would reappear after 9/11.
I was wrong. The Left got nuttier, more extreme, less contributory to the public debate, more obsessed with their nemesis Bush – and it drove me further away. What Democrat could support Al Gore’s ‘04 choice for President, Howard Dean, when Dean didn’t dismiss the suggestion that George W. Bush had something to do with the 9/11 attacks? Or when the second most powerful Senate Democrat, Dick Durbin, thought our behavior at the detention center in Guantanamo was equivalent to Bergen Belsen and the Soviet gulags? Or when Senator Kennedy equated the unfortunate but small incident at Abu Ghraib with Saddam’s 40-year record of mass murder, rape rooms, and mass graves saying, “Saddam's torture chambers have reopened under new management, U.S. management"? What Democrat could not applaud the fact that the President had, in fact, kept us safe for what’s going on 5 years? What Democrat – even those who opposed the decision to go into Iraq – wouldn’t applaud the fact that tens of millions of previously brutalized people had the hope of freedom before them?
What made me leave the Left for good and embrace the Right were their respective reactions to 9/11. While The New York Times doubted that we could succeed in Afghanistan because the Soviets in the ‘80s hadn’t, George W. Bush went directly after the Taliban and Al Qaeda seriously damaging and disrupting their networks. Although many on the Left claim to have backed the President's actions, the self-doubt leading up to it, crystallized my view of the Left as weak and terminally lacking in confidence.
I supported President Bush’s hard line against the father of modern terrorism, Yasir Arafat, remembering that Bush’s predecessor hosted Arafat at the White House 13 times, more often than any other world leader. I applauded Bush’s unequivocal support for Israel, which every day faced (and faces) suicide attacks against its people. But I was most disappointed with liberal Jews who don’t understand that their very existence is rooted in Israel’s existence and that George W. Bush has been the best friend that Israel has ever had. But because they are less Jewish than they are liberal, they didn’t reward Bush with their vote in 2004.
Finally, I supported President Bush’s decision to oust Saddam and make possible the only democracy (other than Israel) in this crucial region of the Middle East. Post 9/11, we had to figure out a way to lessen the chances of more 9/11s. Democracy is a weapon in that war. If people are free to build businesses, buy homes, send their children to schools, pursue upward mobility, live their lives without fear, read newspapers of every opinion, vote for their leaders, resolve differences with debate and not bombs, they will have no reason to want to harm us.
In response, the Left offered bumper-sticker-type arguments like, Bush lied and thousands died. But Bush never lied. He, like Clinton and Gore and Kerry and the U.N. and the British and French and Israeli intelligence services affirmed that Saddam’s WMD were a vital threat – a threat, that post- 9/11, could not stand. An overwhelming number of Democrats voted for the war – but now the Left says they were “scared” into their votes by Bush. What does it say about Democrats if the “dummy” they think Bush is can scare them so easily?
Iraq is the “Normandy” of the War on Terror. The hope, once Iraq and Afghanistan are more stable, is that the nearly 70 million people in Iran will look at those countires (on it's left and right borders) and say: “Why do these people get to enjoy the fruits of freedom and we don’t?” – and then topple their Mullah’s dictatorial regime. The President understands the big picture -- that if the U.S. doesn’t help to remake that volatile region, we will face a nuclear version of 9/11 within the next two or five or 10 years. He is simply being realistic in his outlook and responsible in his actions. Iraq is succeeding, slowly but surely, but that’s not a sexy enough story to lead the news with: the relatively small amount of casualities are. Don’t forget, we occupied Germany and Japan for seven years and we still have troops there, more than 60 years after World War II ended.
And what have the Democrats contributed to the war effort since 9/11? Democrat Sen. Russ Feingold has suggested censuring our president; Former President and Vice President Bill Clinton and Al Gore, while visiting foreign countries, have blasted President Bush – acts of unconscionable irresponsibility; Democrat Sen. John Murtha, has invoked a cut-and-run policy in Iraq, supported by Democrat Senate Minority leader Harry Reid and Democrat House Minority leader Nancy Pelosi. Do they think the Middle East and the World would be safer if we had cut and run, as Murtha’s plan wanted us to do? Under that plan, our troops would have been out of Iraq by May 18th and al-Zarqawi wouldn’t be dead, but pulling the strings in an Iraqi civil war. With these kinds of ideas and behaviors, I just don’t trust Democrats when it comes to our national security.
And so, as any reader of this article can well understand, it became impossible for me to relate to the modern Democrat Party which has tacked way too far to the left and is dominated by elites that don’t like or trust the real people that make up most of the country.
Although I haven’t always agreed with President Bush, I proudly voted for him in 2004 (the only one of the four presidents not elected by the popular vote to win re-election). And I now fully understand Ronald Reagan’s statement, when he described why he switched from being a liberal to a conservative: “I didn’t leave the party – It left me!” ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (Seth Swirsky is a songwriter, author, recording artist and memorabilia collector. His hits include "Love Is A Beautiful Thing" for Al Green, "Tell It To My Heart" and "Prove Your Love" for Taylor Dayne, "Instant Pleasure" for Rufus Wainwright amongst others. His trilogy of bestselling books consisting of his correspondence with baseball players are called "Baseball Letters" (Crown, 1996), "Every Pitcher Tells A Story" (Times Books, 1999) and "Something to Write Home About" (Random House, 2003). His personal collection consists of the ball that went through Bill Buckner’s legs in the 1986 World Series and the letter banning “Shoeless” Joe Jackson from Baseball. His own CD, "Instant Pleasure", won Best Pop Album at the 2005 L.A. Music Awards. Currently, he is making a bookumentary called Beatles Stories. His eclectic world can be seen and heard at his site, Seth.com.)
Many ex-Dems, like me, woke up one day to find out that they were Republicans. For me, Clinton was the last straw. I come from a family of strong Democrats and it had become ingrained in me to be one. It's like being a member of a sports team. Your team might be making foolish trades or using the wrong game strategy, but it's still your team. And you hope your team will right (no pun intended) itself one day.
But over the years I found myself disagreeing more and more with what the Dems stood for. I never did vote for McGovern (too leftist), but I voted for all the other clowns after him. Luckily Clinton came along, and I had no problem finally divorcing myself from my old "team".
You're a great thinker and a good man, Pilipo!!!
Yes, Kennedy and Johnson got us into it, but the fact that it ended while Nixon was in the White House allowed the Nixon hating press to cover for Kennedy and Johnson, and made it "Nixon's War." I was 10 years old in 1972, and I remember thinking that it was "Nixon's War" myself. But then, I was only 10. I managed to learn to think when I grew up. I've still got liberal friends and family memebers (all adults) who still think that it was "Nixon's War."
Mark
["I was surprised by the furor it caused from the likes of Frank Zappa"
"Why are we outlawing words - they are only WORDS".]
"Ah, another of the things they just don't get - no one was outlawing anything, just warning us of its existence."
Actually, I agreed with Frank - Gore would have virtually eliminated the distribution of lots of stuff I liked - as it was, Zappa had to resort to direct market and the world waws denied free access to such great commentary as "Disco Boy" and "Illinois Enema Bandit"
Great post. I used to be a liberal-democrat, too.
Thanks to my husband (scan59) and Free Republic (during the Elian Gonzales tragedy), I finally came out of it.
Thank you for your kindness. Have a great Independence Day!
Don't worry so much. I was in high school on the first earth day. The left was giving it everything they had back then, and lots of young people bought into it... for a while.
Brainwashing doesn't work, at least not in America. Rebellion is too much a part of us. There are too many alternate sources of information.
It's hard for people who didn't grow up in the '60s and early '70s (much of what is called "the sixties" actually happened in the period from 1970 till about 1974, when Nixon was driven from office) to realize how totally pervasive the counterculture became during those times. In movies, on TV, on the radio... even the commercials, even the public faces of the biggest consumer products corporations in the world... from every direction, came the message: you are a new generation... your parents are phonies... everything you've been taught about America is a lie... tear it all down and start again, we at the Coca-Cola company are pulling for you!
Guess what? It didn't work. A lot of the kids who went through that went on to pull the lever for Ronald Reagan, if not in 1980, then in 1984.
I have total confidence that the kids today are no different. Even the ones with the piercings and the tattoos... don't conclude too much from appearances.
As I've said here before, America is the greatest teaching machine, the greatest tool for discovering the truth, in human history. Every day, the lessons of human nature are revealed to millions through the functioning of democracy and freedom here in America.
Our success results from the degree to which our founding fathers understood human nature, which will never change. Kids today are no different from kids 35 years ago, or from kids who will be born in 2026.
(steely)
I'm fortunate...I've always believed in keeping the $$$$ I earn...screw Dems...
I voted for Nixon.
In 1976 I still had some liberal leanings in me. But, I voted for Ford. When Carter got elected, I predicted just about every move he would make, especially in the middle east. Having been a liberal I know very well how they behave and act. When Carter proved me right, I got shoved completely into the right, into conservatism. I knew after Carter that I could never again be a liberal or democrat.
"A true liberal today is a combination of socialist, fascist, and hypocrite. They are also rabidly anti-America!"
That is excellent tagline material. See-- -- -- -- -- -- -- ->
Fantastic piece. Thanks for posting it.
RE:Dems,"I don't know how these people can stand themselves."A combination of arrogance and ignorance.
What concerns me is knowing millions of public school kids are being brainwashed into becoming good little socialists....uh, excuse me....liberals.....and I'm wondering what kind of voting block they're going to present in a decade or two.
85% of the Christian kids attending public schools are losing their faith by high school graduation. We fool ourselves if we believe conservative principles will continue to prosper once the majority of voters become politically correct robots.
Wow, great post, USA Girl. Of course, the fact that my wife and I have homeschooled our daughter through 12 years - she just graduated - might have something to do with my enthusiasm for your post. It vindicates our efforts. It has really been a tough 12 years, but it is worth every bit of the toil and committment.
Behold the power of the lapdog media. At the time, there were no other news outlets than the 3 major networks. They HATED Nixon, mainly because he dared to fight back against the North Vietnamese, and Communism in SouthEast Asia, and they couldn't have that! They generated negativity toward the war with their nightly body bag counts, and almost NEVER said anything positive about the war. They presented the Tet Offensive as a DEFEAT for America rather than the victory it actually was.
I guess Nixon got tired of dealing with the defeatist politicians and tried to broker a peace deal. Even THAT was undermined by the likes of John Kerry and Ted Kennedy with their behind the backs negotiations with the North Vitnamese Communists at the Paris Peace talks.
Then with Watergate, Nixon became the boogey-man par excellence, and that has stuck.
I speak from experience.
Over the years I have taken precarious positions in equities and often I had taken enormous hits on my investmens.
Today, however: the IRS takes proud psssession of the gains that we have "collectively" made!
Taking away the gains of investors truthfully is communistic!
What the ^*&( is that about? Hey! President -- I want an investigation on why the sun sets in the west!
The lunatics would run the asylum.
The only democrat I could ever see myself voting for in the history would be perhaps John Kennedy. I was not even born yet, but everyone loved him and he was Catholic and seemed to be a great president. However, I have not voted for a democrat in my life (beginning to vote in 1988) because their has not been an even close Kennedy. All the dems are into this abortion thing and that turns me off right away.
bttt
I was never a leftist, but I used to be a "middle of the road" Republican.
It was primarily the economic transformations accomplished by Reagan and Thatcher, and their success against "the evil empire," that got my attention. At least these things redirected my attention, and stimulating my reading and other studies, to the point that I eventually became a convinced conservative.
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