FORMER LIBERAL FReepers...I have a theory.

bigjoesaddle

[bigjoesaddle]

I am a former Liberal that voted for Clinton the first time (head droopong in shame), and I wonder how many other people like me there are out there.

Also, I have a theory to discuss. I have NEVER met a person who grew up a Conservative, then switched to the Democrat Party AFTER COLLEGE! Many switch during college, because of the rebellion aspect of going against their "Dads politics", etc, but after entering the real world, a person NEVER switches to Liberal. The theory basicly is that many Liberals, no matter how old they are, are STILL rebelling, and basicly can't see that their ways never succeed.

There is also the belief that "I am a good person, and all I want to do is good for the world and the people in the world, THEREFORE EVERYTHING I BELIEVE IS RIGHT, BECAUSE IT IS BASSED ON "GOODNESS". They don't realise that, just because you are "good", doesn't mean you're "right".

[Dog]

Sam I also voted for Jimmy Carter.... I come from a family of liberals....

Then I heard Reagan speak......and have been a Republican ever since.

[Dog]

Can I ask why you switched to Bush.....just asking..... no offense meant..

[who knows what evil?]

...I had a road-to-Damascus moment...

ROTFLMAO!

[SamAdams76]

Reagan brought me into the conservative camp as well. I'm sure it would have happened anyway but he sped the process up a bit!

[PLK]

Sam I also voted for Jimmy Carter.... I come from a family of liberals....

Then I heard Reagan speak......and have been a Republican ever since.

Ditto me (and probably MANY others).

[Bikers4Bush]

I'm guessing that's a story that one doesn't hear unless XL has had a few beers.

[Steve0113]

the majority of "progressives" believe that humanity is evolving toward a higher spiritual consciousness, and that through sheer will and good intentions mankind ---excuse me, "humanity"-- can acheive world peace, equality, goodness, and end hunger and suffering, etc.

Yep. Liberals believe that man's inclination toward evil can be eliminated, while conservatives believe that man has a fallen human nature that isn't going away.

Liberals are trying to create utopia (no matter how many people they have to kill to achieve it), while conservative recognize that it cannot happen. Call it reality-based.

[TexasRepublic]

As a young man my grandfather was asked by his horrified Democrat family and relatives, "Since when did you become a Republican?", to which he replied, "When I learned to read".

[Dog]

Why did we all fall for Carter.......CARTER?

[SunStar]

I voted for Clinton as well by mistake. Seeing our military secrets wholesaled to China by the Democrats was the turning point for me, and I vowed never again to vote Democrat.

Then, in 2000, the USS Cole was bombed. Bill Clinton did NOTHING WHATSOEVER in response to that act of war, DIRECTLY PREDICATING the attacks of 9/11. I walked around with seething anger for weeks after the Cole bombing.

We won't get fooled again.

[Grit]

Well, it is Friday.

And I'm buying...

[w_over_w]

It explains why some things work, why some things don't, and why politicians support things that (they know) don't work

I know this book and the answer to the latter is "what is politically feasible". Unfortunately, too many voters can be conned (a la Clinton) into believing that what is emotional for the economy is good for the economy. Yuck!

[SupplySider]

I would not vote for McGovern. He was too far to the right for me. lol

[Xenalyte]

So... what you are saying is, you were a Liberal -- but you did not have entirely bad taste?

With the fire from the fireworks up above me
With a gun for a lover and a shot for the pain at hand....

I wasn't a good goth; I was more like a Death Squad member. White makeup, black clothes, dark red lipstick, lots of black eyeliner . . . I wasn't even cool enough for Sisters of Mercy.

[w_over_w]

That's why I find it so hard to understand how a college econ. or history Prof. can be a liberal!!!

There was one distinguishing characteristic with the many econ. Profs. I studied under . . . some were actually employed outside of campus in the real world. One Prof. was an investment banker . . . on the first day of class he opened with "When you complete this course (Banking Economics) you will possess more of an understanding of the economy that 90% of the U.S. Congress".

These liberal Profs. are simply blinded by emotional goo!

[Bikers4Bush]

In that case I'll have a Miller Lite.

[IoCaster]

"I felt the same way as a kid. I despised hippies because they hated my country. I knew that already as a 6 or 7 year old."

Exactly. I was reading advanced level literature and contemporary subject matter at a very early age. My thought processes at the time were developing along a strict and very logical progression. The commie bastards and their self-indulgent idiocy were repellent to me. Their disdain for the rule of law and their contempt for the sound principles of the established ideals of constitutional liberty were profoundly illogical. They truly are so clueless that it's depressing to contemplate what the future portends for this country.

Having said all that, I'm still an eternal optimist and my glass is always half full. This is the point at which logic fails me or I fail to percieve logic. I'm generally a good natured fellow and generous in spirit. I hope and pray that we as a society will succeed beyond all expectations.

Best regards and best wishes to all.

[Freedom4US]

Which resulted in a joke during the 60's/70's "The non-conformists are beginning to look so alike I can't tell them apart.."

Here in the hinterlands, flyover country, the counter-culture really didn't get spooled up until the 70's, not the 60's. Yearbooks from that time period showed everyone looking like Chip from My Three Sons.

The "drug scene" didn't get spooled up here till then, and never really went away.

[wideawake]

I disagree. I work on Wall Street and am continually appalled by the number of wealthy cryptoCommunists here.

By all rational criteria, people who have made a substantial fortune DIRECTLY from the workings of a free market and who have substantial property holdings and adult responsibilities should have a fairly conservative outlook on life. Yet they continually badmouth the President, bitch and moan about the Attorney General, whine about "what a racist country this is" (they're mostly white) and oppose tax cuts, estate tax elimination and our "primitive justice system".

Basically, being a leftist is still chic, and they will say or do anything against their own natural self-interest (except quitting their job and working in a government homeless shelter) in order to keep up with the fashion.

[CaptainK]

Voted Democrat starting with Jimmy Carter up till Clinton's first election. I wasn't a typical brainwashed Democrat, in that I hated the Kennedy's, and could never understand the sycophantic followers who overlooked their appalling personal behavior. But I did support the party up until '92. What can I tell you. I was a big gaping bleeding heart and the only thing that snapped me out of it was Bill and Hill.
At the time I was hoping that the party would nominate Paul Tsongas who I thought was a decent guy.
However there was a moral bell in me that went off like a 5 alarm fire when Clinton was nominated. I gagged and laughed during the 60 Minutes interview. Anyone who can read body language could see ample evidence that these two despised each other but their love of power kept them together. Add to that, all the stories of Bill's hedonistic behavior in Arkansas and Hill's love of every miscreant that crossed her path and I was left with no alternative. I became a Republican and never looked back.
I'm not gloating when I say history has proven that my intuition was right on the money. The Clinton years are over but the unfortunate repercussions will be with us for untold years.