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Thread: Thank a Liberal

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    The Greatest Americans are from the left side of life for who else could imagine a better world. "Much of what we now take for granted as common sense was once espoused by people who were widely considered left-wing radicals."

    The greatest Americans are on the left side of the political spectrum, why is that? Liberals, lefties, and other left leaning radicals need to take a bow. I've often asked my conservative friends to list conservative accomplishments. What you get is an invasion of liberal ideas starting with Humanism in the middle ages, the Renaissance, and finally the Enlightenment. As I have noted often, no nation was founded by conservative ideas as conservative ideas require a foundation and foundations do not exist on their own, they must be imagined and pushed forward against a wall of let's keep things as they are.

    "The 20Th century is a remarkable story of progressive accomplishments against overwhelming odds. But it is not a tale of steady progress. At best, it is a chronicle of taking two steps forward, then one step backward, then two more steps forward. The successful battles and social improvements came about in fits and starts. When path breaking laws are passed -- such as the Nineteenth Amendment (which granted women suffrage in 1920), the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (which created the minimum wage), the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (which outlawed many forms of racial discrimination), and the Clean Air Act of 1970 -- we often forget that those milestones took decades of work by thinkers, activists, and politicians. The people I profile in the book were not sprinters; they were long-distance runners for justice."

    The book outlines Americans who got things done. Listing Left | Dissent Magazine

    But a question remains why is it that change comes so slowly, eventually to be accepted as just the way things are by all? And there are those who claim greatness for people, who while being successful at some endeavor fought against the kind of world that our Preamble imagines.

    "You won't find Henry Ford, John Rockefeller, Thomas Edison, Charles Lindbergh, Walt Disney, Louis B. Mayer, Sam Walton, Ronald Reagan, Elvis Presley, Babe Ruth, or Billy Graham in my book. They may have been great in their specific fields of endeavor but they did not contribute to making America a more just, equal, or democratic society. Most of them, in fact, actively opposed movements for social justice." Peter Dreier: The 15 Greatest Americans Of The 20th Century (PHOTOS)

    'The 100 Greatest Americans of the 20th Century' The 100 Greatest Americans of the 20th Century: A Social Justice Hall of Fame - Peter Dreier - Google Books


    "President Eisenhower describes his administration's political philosophy as 'dynamic conservatism,' then as 'progressive, dynamic conservatism,' then as 'progressive moderation,' then as 'moderate progressivism,' and then as 'positive progressivism.'" William Manchester
    Wanna make America great, buy American owned, made in the USA, we do. AF Veteran, INFJ-A, I am not PC.

    "I have never made but one prayer to God, a very short one: 'O Lord make my enemies ridiculous.' And God granted it." Voltaire

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    i agree with much of what you say, but the inventive are necessary

    true conservatives either do not want change of any kind or want to retreat from changes already accomplished
    I pledge allegiance to the constitution of the United States of America as amended by the legislative and executive branches and interpreted by the Supreme Court

    We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America

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    Wow, no brilliant counter arguments, that is interesting, a few pertinent quotes and books noted below.

    "Poor countries are poor not because they lack resources, but because they lack effective political institutions." Francis Fukuyama

    "President Eisenhower describes his administration's political philosophy as 'dynamic conservatism,' then as 'progressive, dynamic conservatism,' then as 'progressive moderation,' then as 'moderate progressivism,' and then as 'positive progressivism.'" William Manchester

    In the mid fifties, "generosity was voted the most conspicuous American characteristic, followed by friendliness, understanding, piety, love of freedom, and progressivism. The American faults listed were petty: shallowness, egotism, extravagance, preoccupation with money, and selfishness." William Manchester in "The Glory and the Dream" quoting George Gallup's Institute of public opinion.

    Reading List:

    'The Rhetoric of Reaction: Perversity, Futility, Jeopardy' Albert O. Hirschman - understand the roots of conservatism
    'Ill Fares the Land' Tony Judt
    The Culture of Contentment' John Kenneth Galbraith
    Wanna make America great, buy American owned, made in the USA, we do. AF Veteran, INFJ-A, I am not PC.

    "I have never made but one prayer to God, a very short one: 'O Lord make my enemies ridiculous.' And God granted it." Voltaire

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    How can you expect a counter argument when you just made their heads explode?
    You're Never Alone With A Schizophrenic!

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    It is curious how the right wing can whine and whine and whine, but given the opportunity to counter the liberal accomplishments in America, quiet is the only sound. But money and especially corporate money has so transformed our democracy that even the liberal element has died in America. While I praise some of Obama's attempts at restoring American principles, his efforts meet nothing but foot dragging from both sides of the aisle. You'd think in a sane society background checks would be a no brainer but no, slippery slope nonsense controls the minds of too many. Especially the lunatic fringe which votes in primaries. Anyway a few excellent book recommendations follow. I was watching Jeb Bush on morning Joe this morning and he mentioned how important education was for America. But the grand irony was his comments were those of a smacked ass - He surely must be running in 2016 for his opinions stretch reality to the breaking point. Education! he needs to check a nearby mirror.

    http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/30/bo...-b-steele.html

    A deeper view of these ideas is found here: http://www.amazon.com/Unruly-Voices-...=books&ie=UTF8

    And a bit of reality.

    'The War On Entitlements' By Thomas B. Edsall http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com...-entitlements/
    Wanna make America great, buy American owned, made in the USA, we do. AF Veteran, INFJ-A, I am not PC.

    "I have never made but one prayer to God, a very short one: 'O Lord make my enemies ridiculous.' And God granted it." Voltaire

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    That's because the political paradigm in this nation isn't really a Liberal vs. Conservative paradigm. It's really a rural vs urban paradigm. The major problem we have right now is that because rural folks own far more inexpensive land and due to that they are currently substantially over represented in our political system. Don't believe me? Look at an electoral map broken down by counties. At the State level, as I've pointed out in previous post, it has become problematic in many States where you have situations where a rural minority dominates the political process often to the detriment of those who live in urban areas. Considering urban areas tend to be far more productive than rural areas and that a substantial amount of the tax revenue generated in the more productive urban areas is syphoned off to support less productive rural regions the problem of gross over representation of rural regions is becoming very problematic.
    You're Never Alone With A Schizophrenic!

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    Is it a coincidence that the Democratic Party slowly became a party of entitlements after losing out on the slavery issue? It kept up the fight against market liberalization and industrial growth (actually became much more vocal and obstructionist), and evolved it's populist rhetoric into progressive and then leftist rhetoric.

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    no personal insults in APP please. Read the rules for those that haven't.


    ---

    Quote Originally Posted by Mott the Hoople View Post
    Grind is basically right
    Quote Originally Posted by Phantasmal View Post
    Grind’s got you beat by miles. He is very intelligent.

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    Default Thank a Liberal

    Quote Originally Posted by midcan5 View Post
    It is curious how the right wing can whine and whine and whine, but given the opportunity to counter the liberal accomplishments in America, quiet is the only sound. But money and especially corporate money has so transformed our democracy that even the liberal element has died in America. While I praise some of Obama's attempts at restoring American principles, his efforts meet nothing but foot dragging from both sides of the aisle. You'd think in a sane society background checks would be a no brainer but no, slippery slope nonsense controls the minds of too many. Especially the lunatic fringe which votes in primaries. Anyway a few excellent book recommendations follow. I was watching Jeb Bush on morning Joe this morning and he mentioned how important education was for America. But the grand irony was his comments were those of a smacked ass - He surely must be running in 2016 for his opinions stretch reality to the breaking point. Education! he needs to check a nearby mirror.

    http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/30/bo...-b-steele.html

    A deeper view of these ideas is found here: http://www.amazon.com/Unruly-Voices-...=books&ie=UTF8

    And a bit of reality.

    'The War On Entitlements' By Thomas B. Edsall http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com...-entitlements/
    You bring yp background checks. Here is a question for you.

    Would you accept the same reasonable restriction on any other amendment? Should the media have background checks before they can report?

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    For a few others:

    Rule 6, No thread de-railment. Please stay on topic.


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    Quote Originally Posted by Mott the Hoople View Post
    Grind is basically right
    Quote Originally Posted by Phantasmal View Post
    Grind’s got you beat by miles. He is very intelligent.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Threedee View Post
    Well, that would be more of an urban problem than a rural problem, and therefore the fault of some liberal...
    Not really. Because when they'res more of them than you.....welll that's a problem for you.
    You're Never Alone With A Schizophrenic!

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    Quote Originally Posted by Mott the Hoople View Post
    That's because the political paradigm in this nation isn't really a Liberal vs. Conservative paradigm. It's really a rural vs urban paradigm. The major problem we have right now is that because rural folks own far more inexpensive land and due to that they are currently substantially over represented in our political system. Don't believe me? Look at an electoral map broken down by counties. At the State level, as I've pointed out in previous post, it has become problematic in many States where you have situations where a rural minority dominates the political process often to the detriment of those who live in urban areas. Considering urban areas tend to be far more productive than rural areas and that a substantial amount of the tax revenue generated in the more productive urban areas is syphoned off to support less productive rural regions the problem of gross over representation of rural regions is becoming very problematic.
    this is not true at all and you know it.
    A sad commentary on we, as a people, and our viewpoint of our freedom can be summed up like this. We have liberals and conservatives, Democrats and Republicans, yet those very people look at Constitutionalists as radical and extreme.................so those liberals and conservatives, Democrats and Republicans must believe that the constitution is radical and extreme.

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    "When a nation's young men are conservative, its funeral-bell is already rung." Henry Ward Beecher, Proverbs from Plymouth Pulpit

    'What it means to be a liberal'

    http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2...ghts-amendment

    "Liberals demand that the social order should in principle be capable of explaining itself at the tribunal of each person's understanding." Jeremy Waldron
    Wanna make America great, buy American owned, made in the USA, we do. AF Veteran, INFJ-A, I am not PC.

    "I have never made but one prayer to God, a very short one: 'O Lord make my enemies ridiculous.' And God granted it." Voltaire

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    Should the good citizens of Connecticut and Illinois thank all liberals for their deteriorating finances?

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