Am I a liberal?
I was a republican in High School, active in local politics, campaigned, knocked on doors, stuffed leters, the whole bit. I was against abortion, against gay marriage, against social welfare programs, etc. I felt that government was too big and should be limited, and the republicans were the ones best equipped for that at that time.
Everything changed with the WTC Massacre, not because of what happened that day, but what happened after.
The abortion question and the gay marriage had already been slipping, actually. I revised my opinion on abortion when I made a determination that while I personally found abortion repugnant, the right to do it was not something that should be legislated by the federal gov, as it reaches far beyond the powers vested by the constitution. Gay marriage also slipped, as I actually became exposed to the realities of gay life in america. wasn't nearly as nice and free as I had assumed. So, gay marriage, as a step towards culturally legitimizing non-typical sexual relationships, was a good thing.
But it wasn't until the republicans decalred war on "terror" that I finally abandoned my old party.
Overnight, the republicans went from the preservers of liberty to the ones willing to sacrifice it all for security.
USA Patriot Act
John Ashcroft
Terror alert levels
Conquering and occupation of Afghanistan
Conquering and occupation of Iraq
Indefinite detention of unindicted citizens.
Officials saying that we were at war with Islamic Fundamentalism
Destruction of many many personal liberties.
Add to that the fact that WE AREN'T EVEN ANY SAFER TODAY THAN THREE YEARS AGO!
argh.
I think I must be a liberal.
I was a republican in High School, active in local politics, campaigned, knocked on doors, stuffed leters, the whole bit. I was against abortion, against gay marriage, against social welfare programs, etc. I felt that government was too big and should be limited, and the republicans were the ones best equipped for that at that time.
Everything changed with the WTC Massacre, not because of what happened that day, but what happened after.
The abortion question and the gay marriage had already been slipping, actually. I revised my opinion on abortion when I made a determination that while I personally found abortion repugnant, the right to do it was not something that should be legislated by the federal gov, as it reaches far beyond the powers vested by the constitution. Gay marriage also slipped, as I actually became exposed to the realities of gay life in america. wasn't nearly as nice and free as I had assumed. So, gay marriage, as a step towards culturally legitimizing non-typical sexual relationships, was a good thing.
But it wasn't until the republicans decalred war on "terror" that I finally abandoned my old party.
Overnight, the republicans went from the preservers of liberty to the ones willing to sacrifice it all for security.
USA Patriot Act
John Ashcroft
Terror alert levels
Conquering and occupation of Afghanistan
Conquering and occupation of Iraq
Indefinite detention of unindicted citizens.
Officials saying that we were at war with Islamic Fundamentalism
Destruction of many many personal liberties.
Add to that the fact that WE AREN'T EVEN ANY SAFER TODAY THAN THREE YEARS AGO!
argh.
I think I must be a liberal.
VIEW 3 of 3 COMMENTS
2ifbyland:
benign conservative is the trendy political stance
greyshadow:
Add to that the fact that the Republicans are now by far the more financially irresponsible of the two parties and any reason to respect them is gone. Of course I'm a bitter ex-Democrat. For the last presidential election you had a choice of two corporate-ass-licking first-amendment-hating sacks of shit as far as I could see. I guess I'm a liberal too, but I get into plenty of arguements with my fellow liberals!