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Why I Am a Liberal (Not trolling - Jist food for thought)
useless knowledge ^ | Warren C. Norwood

Posted on 02/18/2005 2:52:25 PM PST by loe joe

Some of my friends, family members, and co-workers wonder how I could be a political liberal in the midst of this new swell of conservatism the United States. The answers to that are all too simple.

I am a liberal because the system originated by liberals called Social Security has made my parents' retirement more possible and comfortable than it would otherwise have been.

I am a liberal because the system originated by liberals called Medicare paid for my mother to have two knees and a hip replaced at a cost that otherwise could not have been born by all of her children together.

I am a liberal because Medicare paid for my father's operation to remove a cancerous kidney at a cost that would otherwise certainly have forced my parents to liquidate their assets.

I am a liberal because that system originated by liberals called WIC gives my daughter food stamps for cheese and milk and other necessities she needs to feed her children.

I am a liberal because that system demanded by liberals called company-paid employee medical insurance helps pay doctor bills for me and my wife and my daughter and son-in-law and grandchildren and sister and most of my other close relatives.

I am a liberal because the idea of autonomy of the individual is a liberal idea.

I am a liberal because the idea of political liberty is a liberal idea.

I am a liberal because government by the consent of the governed is a liberal idea.

I am a liberal because the Bill of Rights is a set of liberal ideas which protect us all. Freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, freedom of worship, freedom of the press, due process of law, freedom from torture, the right to face our accusers, the writ of habeas corpus, and freedom from unreasonable search and seizure are all liberal ideas. Most people in the world do not have those rights.

I am a liberal because those liberal ideas in our Constitution give us control of our representatives from the school board to the Senate and President of the United States, give us the liberal idea of checks and balances, and the liberal idea of no taxation without representation.

I am a liberal because the idea of public education is a liberal idea.

I am a liberal because the idea of a five day work week is a liberal idea.

I am a liberal because the idea of a strong, well funded and disciplined military under civilian control is a liberal idea, as is the notion of Veteran's benefits and military retirement.

I am a liberal because the Geneva Conventions are a liberal idea. The conventions protect American prisoners and all prisoners of signees from torture and abuse.

I am a liberal because the idea of the public maintenance of roads is a liberal idea.

I am a liberal because civil rights, children's rights, women's rights, and labor rights, are all liberal ideas.

I am a liberal because almost all the progressive ideas of the last four centuries have been liberal ideas resisted by the conservatives of their times. Those liberal ideas make this a better place to live for me, my family, my friends, my community, my country, and my world.

I ask people who insist on repudiating liberalism to please check off the liberal ideas above they are ready to do without.


TOPICS: Philosophy
KEYWORDS: gimme; iloveche; inbeforethezot; kittychow; mentalillness; newbie; roadapples; troll; wantsfreestuff; whiner; willworkforjist; zot
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To: loe joe

Is this from the Onion?


21 posted on 02/18/2005 2:56:49 PM PST by Deb (Beat him, strip him and bring him to my tent!)
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To: loe joe

Family of losers huh?


22 posted on 02/18/2005 2:56:51 PM PST by listenhillary (My tagline died, memorials may be made to me via Paypal)
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To: loe joe

Well, at least this one is civil.


23 posted on 02/18/2005 2:57:13 PM PST by mnehring (cBS- Fourth Column, Fifth Estate, Disinformers)
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To: loe joe

He's a liberal because he obviously even needs the government to wipe his ass after he takes a crap.


24 posted on 02/18/2005 2:57:29 PM PST by mass55th ("If I were two faced, would I be wearing this one?"----Abe Lincoln (1809-1865))
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To: loe joe
Where
25 posted on 02/18/2005 2:57:39 PM PST by Knitting A Conundrum (Act Justly, Love Mercy, and Walk Humbly With God Micah 6:8)
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To: loe joe

People who think they are entitled to the taxpayers' money (yes, including folks on food stamps, SS & Medicare,) are the main problem in this country.


26 posted on 02/18/2005 2:57:49 PM PST by k2blader (It is neither compassionate nor conservative to support the expansion of socialism.)
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To: loe joe
I am a liberal because I can not take care of myself nor can any one related to me and thus I must force you to take care of me and my family.

I am a liberal because I am a leach on you.

I comfort myself by saying that it is "the government" but in my heart of hearts I know that it is actually you having to pay for the fact I am a incompetent boob.

27 posted on 02/18/2005 2:58:08 PM PST by Harmless Teddy Bear (Apparently, this is the only job for which I am suited. I am beset by the ironies of my life)
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To: mnehrling

Civil? Wait'll Joe gets vaporized.


28 posted on 02/18/2005 2:58:26 PM PST by leadpenny
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To: loe joe
I am a liberal because the Geneva Conventions are a liberal idea. The conventions protect American prisoners and all prisoners of signees from torture and abuse.

Yeah right. Saddam was firm believer in the Geneva Convention (lol)

29 posted on 02/18/2005 2:58:35 PM PST by silent_jonny (I'm fringier than you)
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To: loe joe
In short: you are a liberal because you get a lot of stuff for "free."

I am a conservative because I know there ain't no such thing.

30 posted on 02/18/2005 2:58:59 PM PST by IronJack
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To: loe joe
PS:
Your daughter's on welfare?

Dude, you and your family are losers.

31 posted on 02/18/2005 2:59:05 PM PST by Deb (Beat him, strip him and bring him to my tent!)
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To: silent_jonny

The Geneva conventions are designed to protect soldiers...not terrorists, btw...


32 posted on 02/18/2005 2:59:38 PM PST by Knitting A Conundrum (Act Justly, Love Mercy, and Walk Humbly With God Micah 6:8)
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To: loe joe

Ack, Ack Ack!!

33 posted on 02/18/2005 2:59:54 PM PST by big'ol_freeper (World Series Champion Boston Red Sox!! Has a nice ring to it.)
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To: loe joe
Current-day Liberalism is nothing to be proud of.

Social Security was meant to be a safety net for 10% of the population at its inception. Liberals expanded it far beyond that mission.

Medicare and Medicaid are social welfare programs as was Social Security. They have no accountability with the funds they give, unlike volitional personal giving. So I am against them in principle in all ways.

They also enormously grow the power of government. Another terrible idea for those who espouse "liberty".

In fact, every reason you are for the programs amounts to a lack of personal responsibility on your part and of your friends and family. You espouse others paying for your desires, and that is wrong. It is doubly wrong because you use the tax code to do this by fiat.

It appears, as I reread the rest of your post, that you are fundamentally inconsistent in your "reasoning."

This is indicative of why liberalism cannot be sustained for long. It falls apart under the weight of its own idiocy.
34 posted on 02/18/2005 2:59:55 PM PST by ConservativeMind
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To: loe joe

Let me just go through this point by point

""I am a liberal because the system originated by liberals called Medicare paid for my mother to have two knees and a hip replaced at a cost that otherwise could not have been born by all of her children together.""

You know that you are paying for it anyway right? Nothing is free. It's called TAXES


35 posted on 02/18/2005 3:00:06 PM PST by LauraleeBraswell ( CONSERVATIVE FIRST-Republican second.)
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To: k2blader
Come on yall, lets just take this one apart and not start insulting like the DUs.

I see so many flaws in this argument (I love the so called autonomy of the individual argument when liberals want to put everyone in a box(category) based on race, financial status, etc.. )

Contest time, how many flaws can you find in their argument?
36 posted on 02/18/2005 3:00:13 PM PST by mnehring (cBS- Fourth Column, Fifth Estate, Disinformers)
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To: loe joe

You could have just asked instead of using the Govt. to extort money from me. Your Mama stole the contribution to I was going to give to the Make a Wish Foundation.


37 posted on 02/18/2005 3:00:16 PM PST by Archon of the East (The Constitution is a terrible thing to waste)
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To: loe joe
I am a liberal because civil rights, children's rights, women's rights, and labor rights, are all liberal ideas.

Then why did the Southern Democrats (including Al Gore Sr.) vote against the Civil Rights Act of 1964?

38 posted on 02/18/2005 3:00:16 PM PST by bootless (Never Forget - And Never Again)
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To: loe joe

Let me guess: Are you by any chance a public school teacher?


39 posted on 02/18/2005 3:00:19 PM PST by Another Thought
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To: loe joe
I am a liberal because the idea of autonomy of the individual is a liberal idea.

This item was about 6th or 7th on your list... Yet the 5 or 6 items above it refer to state-sponsored initiatives that compel people to pay for something for someone else... I hardly call this autonomy of the individual

40 posted on 02/18/2005 3:00:30 PM PST by So Cal Rocket (Proud Member: Internet Pajama Wearers for Truth)
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