Hi Tamar,

>>What is it with liberals stridently defending their patriotism all over the place, even when not attacked? To me, it indicates a deep-rooted insecurity on the validity of their positions ... but I could be wrong.
>
>How about a lifetime of being accused of being unpatriotic? I'm a liberal, born and bred. My parents were there when MLK said "I have a dream." I have many childhood memories of attending rallies and demonstrations for civil rights and against the Vietnam War.
>
>Go back and look and you'll see that people doing those things were treated to "American. Love it or leave it;" and accused of being Communists.
>
>For the last 10-20 years, claiming that liberals are anti-American and that "liberal" is a bad word has been a strategy of the right.


Well, I'm sorry if you've been treated that way. There's nothing intrinsically wrong with liberalism nor is it an automatic badge of being unpatriotic. Perhaps the perception comes from the loudmouth idiots who are liberals who make a lot of noise going on about how much they hate this place and, therefore, paints the bunch with broad strokes. Imagine how conservatives would be viewed if the majority of the press on them came from neo-Nazis.

>>
>>Liberalism, in small doses, is a good thing. I think Churchill was right when he said that liberals are the heart of a nation while conservatives are the brains.
>>
>>Frankly, I don't want a liberal President because liberals have no guts. The world is not a touchy-feely place and I don't believe our interests are best served by preachy whiners in ultimate power.
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>>It's funny when you look at history - it was Republicans who freed the slaves, who championed civil rights, and sparked most of the anti-trust and conservation legislation that we have now. Now it's the liberal Democrats who claim heir to these things; I guess it's because it's now politically safe and expedient.
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>In those days, Republicans _were_ the liberals, but somewhere along the way, the party stagnated. Buckley had a lot to do with making Republicans more conservative. Democrats picked up the torch and the liberal causes. That's how the Democrats lost the South--by supporting civil rights.

Yup, the Radical Republicans (that's not a label, it's what they really were called in the late 1800's). And you are also right about losing the South.


>>It's not that I dislike liberals; it's just that collectively they have nothing to show for me to respect. Not one thing that wasn't someone else's idea.
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>It's not who originated an idea. It's whether the idea is any good and who runs with it.
>

Or pays lip service to it for political expediency.