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Questions to Determine Whether a Friend or Relative Is a Liberal or a Leftist
Townhall.com ^ | March 2, 2021 | Dennis Prager

Posted on 03/02/2021 3:45:00 AM PST by Kaslin

The great tragedy of our time is that liberals vote left.

Virtually every value liberals have held for a century is now held by conservatives and scorned by leftists. Therefore, America, in serious jeopardy of being lost, will be saved when people convince the liberals in their life that the left, not the conservative, is their enemy.

This process begins by establishing whether a friend or relative is a liberal or a leftist. If it turns out that he or she is a liberal, it is worth engaging in respectful dialogue on the issues of the day. If the friend or relative is a leftist, you can probably only talk about innocuous subjects such as the weather (though not about global warming) or sports (though not about players taking a knee during the national anthem). If you talk about the great issues of the day with a left-wing friend or relative, that could be the last time you talk to each other. He or she is likely to unfriend you not only on social media but also in life. Leftists generally do not dialogue; they dismiss.

Here are questions you might want to pose to friends/relatives to determine -- as much for them as for you -- whether they are liberal or left.

Race

1. Many universities now have all-black dormitories, and some have all-black graduation exercises. Do you support these developments?

2. The University of California has declared this statement racist: "There is only one race -- the human race." Do you agree with the University of California, or do you agree with the statement?

3. Is the goal of being "colorblind" -- doing one's best to ignore a person's color and concentrating only on the person's character and personality -- a noble goal or a racist one?

4. Do you believe the color of a person's skin tells you anything of importance about that person?

5. Do you agree that all white Americans are racist?

6. If your answer is yes, would you tell the millions of blacks in Africa and the Caribbean who wish to emigrate to America that they would be making a poor decision? If not, why not?

7. Is it possible for a black person to be a racist?

8. Is it racist to claim that Johann Sebastian Bach, Ludwig van Beethoven and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart composed the greatest music ever composed?

9. Is the national anthem racist?

10. If your answer is yes, what would you like to put in its place?

11. The English Department at the University of Pennsylvania removed its painting of William Shakespeare because he was a white European male. Do you agree with that decision?

America

12. Do you agree with The New York Times' "1619 Project" that America was not founded in 1776 but in 1619 with the first arrival of black slaves in North America, and that the Revolutionary War was fought in order to preserve slavery?

13. Should statues of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln be taken down?

14. Has the United States, overall, made the world a better place?

15. Would America be better, worse, or the same as now if all Americans dropped their religion and became secular?

16. Has capitalism been a net-plus for America and the world?

17. Everyone would like to improve America. Some would like to, in their words, "fundamentally transform" it. Would you?

18. Could a good person have voted for Donald Trump in 2020?

19. Do you believe that CNN, The Washington Post, The New York Times and the rest of the mainstream media are biased toward the left or try to present the news as accurately as possible?

20. Should America have full control over its borders to prevent illegal immigration?

21. There are between 11 and 30 million people in America who entered the country illegally. Should they all be put on a path to citizenship?

22. Should those who enter America illegally be called "undocumented immigrants" or "illegal immigrants"?

23. Do you believe police departments should be defunded, or at least have their budgets severely cut?

24. Should the government provide vouchers to enable parents to choose what school their child attends?

25. Which school do you believe is more likely to be attacked by a gunman: one that has a sign in front that reads, "Gun-Free Zone" or one that reads, "This School Has Armed Personnel"?Men and Women

26. Should it be legal for a teenage girl to have her breasts surgically removed because she identifies as a male -- or should there be a minimum age of 18 or 21?

27. School teachers have been told to stop calling students "boys and girls" because a student might not identify as either male or female. Do you agree with this policy?

28. Should biological males who identify as females be allowed to compete against biological females in sports?

29. Is the statement, "Men give birth" science-based?

30. Do you agree with the practice of inviting a drag queen into public libraries and elementary school classrooms to conduct a "Drag Queen Story Hour"?

Speech

31. Do you believe that free speech allows for hate speech, or should hate speech be banned?

32. If you believe hate speech should be banned, who do you believe should determine what is hate speech?

You might want to send these questions to the people in your life whose views are to the left of your own. At best, you (and they) will realize that you have more in common than either of you previously thought. At the very least, their answers will bring you both clarity. And at worst, they will explain why there is a rift between you -- and why you might want to restrict communication to weather, sports, recipes and warm memories.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: leftist
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To: ronnie raygun

Not necessarily, considering that many Trump votes were switched.


41 posted on 03/02/2021 5:12:02 AM PST by bassmaner (Hey commies: I'm a white male, and guilty of NOTHING! Sell your 'white guilt' elsewhere!)
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To: Gratia

Dennis Prager is no idiot, that is certain.

As I stated in my post above, I use the term “Liberal” to differentiate from Leftists, who are hardened ideologues.

People I classify as “Liberals” are for the most part, ignorant, mal-informed, or both. Granted, most of these people cannot be reached and will have to transition to sanity on their own, but...some can.

We see it all the time. I know many people who were “liberal” as young people, and as they gained experience in life, became conservative.

I simply find it a useful tool for differentiation.


42 posted on 03/02/2021 5:12:08 AM PST by rlmorel ("I’d rather enjoy a risky freedom than a safe servitude." Robby Dinero, USMC Veteran, Gym Owner)
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To: carriage_hill

Ping.

“Fundamentally transform America?”

Absolutely—back to the 50’s minus Jim Crow.


43 posted on 03/02/2021 5:19:22 AM PST by lightman (I am a binary Trinitarian. Deal with it!)
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To: Susquehanna Patriot

True. The difference is: They are wrong. We have history, precedence, and facts on our side.

When Libs and Lefties say Socialism is the only way to go, we can rightly say “Show me where it has worked. Are you paying attention? Do you know your history?”

When they say that Tax Cuts are counterproductive, we can show plenty of instances in which tax cuts result in revenue increases through a variety of mechanisms, where they can show no support for their view.

And so on. You get the idea.

We, as conservatives, MUST engage in this exercise of constant introspection and re-examination of our viewpoints, which is not only necessary, it is healthy.

Granted, we do it because we are subjected on a daily basis to a firehose of people telling us how wrong and evil we are, and it is a positive sign that we take the time to evaluate our positions on things.

The Left, in their echo chamber, engages in no such activity.

In summary, I don’t agree that we have a mirror view of each other, Left and Right. To say they view us that way is absolutely true, but...that does not make it rational or correct.

Only one side can really be right, and that happens to be us...the Right...:)


44 posted on 03/02/2021 5:19:48 AM PST by rlmorel ("I’d rather enjoy a risky freedom than a safe servitude." Robby Dinero, USMC Veteran, Gym Owner)
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To: nonliberal

LOL...

“If they run, they’re VC. If they don’t run, they’re well-disciplined VC!”


45 posted on 03/02/2021 5:21:41 AM PST by rlmorel ("I’d rather enjoy a risky freedom than a safe servitude." Robby Dinero, USMC Veteran, Gym Owner)
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To: bramps

I actually find it hilarious, because I have some history with it...:)

I was invited to tailgate at a football game some years ago, and these guys were all lifelong season ticket holders, a bunch of blue collar, hard partying guys who really knew how to tailgate.

When I drove up in my Subaru, as soon as I exited the car, they all started viciously ragging on me (in a ‘good natured way’) about driving a Lesbian car which surprised me, but I immediately fired back:

“What? What’s wrong with that? Are you telling me you wouldn’t like to see a couple of hot lesbians going at it...”

Along those lines.

I caught the leader of the attack off-guard, and he began to stutter, and didn’t really know how to respond, and the entire group descended into laughter.

I wouldn’t have revealed the truth that people often allude to on FR, that the vast majority of the lesbians you might see are not only not “hot”, you definitely wouldn’t want to see them “going at it”...

But as a tool to knock the ring leader off, it was the closest one at hand...:)


46 posted on 03/02/2021 5:34:18 AM PST by rlmorel ("I’d rather enjoy a risky freedom than a safe servitude." Robby Dinero, USMC Veteran, Gym Owner)
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To: lightman

There was a degree of freedom for Americans back in the Fifites that is nearly unheard of today.

For example, back then, you could carry your long rifle or pistol in your car, to the parking lot at work or school, show it to your buddies, stop at a dense grove of deserted woods on the way home to fire it, and nobody would give it a second thought.

Now, you might appear on national news if you did that.


47 posted on 03/02/2021 5:39:28 AM PST by rlmorel ("I’d rather enjoy a risky freedom than a safe servitude." Robby Dinero, USMC Veteran, Gym Owner)
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To: Kaslin

THE question to ask...What is America’s form of government?


48 posted on 03/02/2021 5:40:08 AM PST by philman_36 (Pride breakfasted with plenty, dined with poverty and supped with infamy. Benjamin Franklin)
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To: NTHockey
Exactly, Liberals have never grown up past high school. Gossip, back biting, lying are their tools.

True story, the day after Trump was elected a radical leftist walked into my office, which was the office of 3 radical deplorables, and said "Well you SOB's got that racist rapist elected, I hope you're happy". We all grinned at him and said that we were. He then threw both middle fingers in the air and backed out of my office and slammed the door. That is their idea of dialogue.

49 posted on 03/02/2021 5:48:30 AM PST by Bearshouse
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To: KobraKai

This is true. The only hope for conversion for many of these people is to have their own ox get gored, to have an injustice perpetrated against them by the left.

People can’t be brought to this by dragging or prodding them. Human nature simply resists it.

But people do see the light. One of the best and most profound examples of this is David Horowitz. He was a dedicated Marxist, a lawyer for the Black Panthers, and he made his conversion to conservatism when a woman who worked for them as well, a secretary, was found murdered.

The Black Panthers simply murdered her because they thought she knew too much.

So, that caused his break with Leftism...and look at what became of him.


50 posted on 03/02/2021 5:59:35 AM PST by rlmorel ("I’d rather enjoy a risky freedom than a safe servitude." Robby Dinero, USMC Veteran, Gym Owner)
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To: Kaslin

Prager does a disservice to his readers by not defining his terms up front. “Leftist” and “liberal” are not the same thing, although they are (unfortunately) generally accepted as synonymous. When he speaks of “liberal” he is obviously meaning “Classic Liberal” which is synonymous with “Conservative”, not the current commonly accepted denotation of someone on the ideological left.

Leftists hijacked the term liberal when they convinced themselves that they were the ones doing all the free thinking. But they were only fooling themselves (and lying to us) when they claimed the free thinking mantle. They live their entire miserable lives denying reality and rational thought. Instead, they insist upon compartmentalizing, button-holing, and segregating every aspect of life.

Ironically, they also appropriated the term “Progressive” when in truth they are anything but progressive.


51 posted on 03/02/2021 6:34:26 AM PST by rockrr ( Everything is different now...)
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To: Kaslin

In my own home a cousin and her husband challenged and insulted me in a discussion about unions.

They are both long-standing pro-union people. Never mind that they both lost their jobs because their union priced them out of the work force... and jobs went to Mexico

That’s bad enough.... but like true Liberals, they shouted me down in my OWN HOME.

Needless to say they don’t get invited any more.


52 posted on 03/02/2021 6:34:43 AM PST by SMARTY ( "Force always attracts men of low morality. " Albert Einstein)
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To: metmom

Good one, but for many it prompts an emotional reaction. The deception at such an obvious challenge is likewise goes hand in hand.

Or just pass them an article on the virus ‘vaccines’ &
masking and ask for a comment.

Seems to work real well here at FR :)


53 posted on 03/02/2021 6:53:48 AM PST by logi_cal869 (-cynicus the "concern troll" a/o 10/03/2018 /!i!! &@$%&*(@ -)
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Comment #54 Removed by Moderator

To: bramps

I’ve learned they are Republicans in many instances


55 posted on 03/02/2021 7:01:51 AM PST by Vendome (I've Gotta Be Me https://youtu.be/wH-pk2vZG2M)
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To: Gratia

So erudite and superior you are

We should grab a cup of coffee so I can learn more from your treasured heart...


56 posted on 03/02/2021 7:05:51 AM PST by Vendome (I've Gotta Be Me https://youtu.be/wH-pk2vZG2M)
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To: rlmorel

Orange is my favorite effing color!

I was like you.

I admired him but thought, because I take American politics seriously “this guy is a clown and getting ready to hawk another book”

“Eff it” the bass tard won and immediately went to work on issue after issue I never thought anyone would tackle

He is amazing

I love him

I will do anything for him

He called and acholedged me and my friends at two rallies.

Whatever he does in future times I will be there and I was already tired from everything I did in 2020.

I will do 10 times more “walk and knocks”, “phone banking”, “Door Hangers “ WHAT EVER, if he runs


57 posted on 03/02/2021 7:13:44 AM PST by Vendome (I've Gotta Be Me https://youtu.be/wH-pk2vZG2M)
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To: Vendome

You, FRiend, are a “Broken Glass Supporter”.

As am I.

As am I.

Which makes their unconstitutional and illegal persecution of him over the past five years and ongoing, all the more egregious and anger-inducing.


58 posted on 03/02/2021 7:22:47 AM PST by rlmorel ("I’d rather enjoy a risky freedom than a safe servitude." Robby Dinero, USMC Veteran, Gym Owner)
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To: Kaslin

Wear a MAGA hat and you’ll find out instantly!


59 posted on 03/02/2021 11:38:20 AM PST by Harpotoo (Being a socialist is a lot easier than having to WORK like the rest of US:-))
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To: Kaslin

Looks too. Search on: crazy liberal
Click on images.


60 posted on 03/02/2021 1:35:09 PM PST by minnesota_bound (I need more money. )
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