do liberal extremists give liberals a bad rep?

Question

some liberals I know are so liberal I feel that they make liberal agendas seem ridiculous. I am a liberal, but not an extremist, meaning I try not to eat meat, I care about my environment and recycling and I think the government should take care of the sick and "teach a man to fish" policy toward helping the poor. However, I don't save every napkin I use and I don't throw a fit when things aren't recycled, I'm not a vegan and I'm not making any attention grabbing environmentalist "statements" and I don't believe in a welfare state. I've always felt that many liberals will never be satisfied and I have always felt that they are ruining the liberal movement in America. Do you agree with me or do you think extreme policy and social changes are more beneficial to society?

to beachbum: by the way, I don't have any definitions confused. the definition of a liberal is somebody who is open to new ideas. womens rights, de-segregation, animal rights, environmentalism, public medical, etc...these are all new ideas that are beneficial to society and the world we live in. as for your definition of "constitutionalism", those are not liberal ideas (but liberals don't exclude all non-liberal ideas).

To: d3p3ch3mod3, my point is that the conservative extremists are alot more dangerous and that liberals need to set achievable goals that are beneficial o society rather than complain about problems we can never solve.

To: alwaysright, extremists are in control of both parties.

Answer 1

I think that extremists in any group gives that group a bad name. Too much of a good (or bad) thing is just not right. You know, salt is a good thing, too much salt is bad. Same with sugar, sugar.

Answer 2

Do liberal extremists give liberals a bad rep?

I'd say it is liberal extremists that give Democrats a bad rep. The far left Liberals are the best weapon that the Republicans have in their arsenal. I am a registered Democrat. The far left has driven me to side with the Republicans. I have to. I can not in good conscience support a party that allows the far left to drive the party into the dirt as the Democrats seem to be doing. I can not in good conscience support a party that winning at *any* cost is acceptable. I find Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid repulsive. *If* there were an award handed out by the terrorists for who would be considered most "user friendly" to the terrorists inside this country, these two would be in a dead heat for the award. These two people strive everyday to divide our country at a time where our country needs more than anything to stand together.

I've seen flag burning mentioned in this thread. I find it hard to comprehend how a person who publicly burns the American Flag in protest can turn around and say that they love their country. Don't they understand what the flag stands for? It has very little to do with the government itself. It has to do with what makes the United States so glorious. It's people and most importantly those people who are willing to pay he ultimate price to defend the flag. How many lives have been lost defending that flag? As a Democrat I would always support the right to burn the flag. As a citizen I feel that it is disrepectful to all Americans to burn one to make a statement, any statement. Having the right does not mean that performing the act should be celebrated or even condoned.

I am also a Christian. I want to keep God in our schools. I want to keep God in our Pledge of Allegiance. I don't want an organization that is very closely affiliated with the Democrat Party, the ACLU to represent my interests where God is an issue. I don't understand how any person who is Democrat and a Christian can support a party that supports the ACLU.

I could go on and on but all that would happen is I would be verbally attacked for not towing the party line. There are some things bigger than giving support to a political party and the left wing Liberals taught me that.

Answer 3

As a liberal, I have to agree with you. I'm not a vegetarian (tried it several times, didn't work), I don't drive a hybrid, I'm not a recycling nut, and I still have unhappy memories of early nineties social and environmental movements. Plus I wish that our educational system weren't so afraid to actually TEACH SOMETHING, instead of try to be everybody's friend. However, since liberalism is the lesser of two evils, and because our current (endless profanity) idiot-in-chief is what made me become a Democrat in the first place, I'm not ready to put on the elephant ears just yet.

Answer 4

I'm a "conservative" with nearly identical views. My guess is that we'd be better off talking between ourselves, you and I, and the hundreds of millions who are like us rather than being inundated with the media criticizing extremist right wing politicians form an extremists left wing point of view (or vice versa). Let's form our own non extremist party. I'll vote for you.

Beach Bum is misleading. The civil liberties outlined in the Costitution have always been interpretted by judges with unavoidable preconceptions. As a judge, you can either try to interpret the Constitution as you, personally, think it should apply today, based on precedent, or you can try to figure out, yourself, based on precedent, what the original authors intended. Strict Constructionism is no more or less American than Loose Construcitonism. We should be honest aobut that or the dialogue quickly falls apart into name-calling.

Answer 5

It seems that Liberal Extremists go too far. When a liberal gets violent, aggressive, and insistent, they need help. When Liberal Extremists make laws go through that are against the majority of Americana's wants, that is extreme. When Extremest attempt to push their beliefs on others and make their voices be made to the point where they make us sick, That Is Too Extreme.
We have our beliefs. We should be able to think as we want, believe as we want, and think as we want, without some extremest threatening our lives. We should have extremists desires put on ballot and let all vote for what they believe is correct. We should not have laws changed because a few individuals cry discrimination. I am sick of extremest and want them to live their lives and let us live our lives.

Answer 6

I am more of a conservative, but am often embarassed by the extremism I see that gets the bulk of the media attention, etc. My own politics, I feel, would be somewhere in the middle, but don't feel like ANYONE represents the middle and feel dissolusioned by politics and the political process in general.
Your view of liberal extremism expresses the same concerns I often feel in a mirror image...and I personally feel that those extremes (liberal ones) are very socialistic in nature (which is what makes me continue to label myself a conservative ;) ). The extremists often present a very "Utopian" picture of policies, etc but Marxism looked good in theory too--PLEASE-not to say it is an apples to apples comparison at all, just to say that our theories rarely work the way we think and current "world views" presented by both parties rarely represent what most of us experience on a daily basis anywhere! (I'm sortof sleepy so I am hoping this even makes sense)

Answer 7

Let's look at the Liberal extremists: Burns flags as an anti-war statement, Animal Liberation Front, compares Bush to Hitler, favors Communistic wealth distribution, is pro choice, maybe atheist.

Right Wing Extremists: Blows up innocent people to make an anti-abortion statement, Says we should use nuclear bombs on "those sand *******", compares Feminism to Naziism, thinks that all poor people are lazy pieces of ****, ...And don't forget White Supremecy.

I'll take a flag burning Commie over a racist, warmongering, mysogonistic, unsympathetic, and ironically terrorist murderer any day of the week...

Answer 8

In your experience apparently a person demonstrating a social conscience is "liberal". I never really thought much about this aspect, but I guess it is true. As for me, I too am quite liberal, but what bothers me is not people trying to recycle and take care of the environment, but when "liberals" use foul and angry language, and even threaten violence. This kind of behavior is, in my opinion, illiberal. As a liberal myself, I see how liberals then come to be so reviled by so many millions of American Fox News enthusiasts.

Answer 9

Seems to me you have the definition of liberal confused with pro-activists persons.

I consider myself a FAR LEFT liberal because I am a constitutionalists. It is that simple.

If you go by the constitution, you would be pro-gay marriage, pro-choice, pro-gun, pro-free speech, pro-flag burning, anti-prayer in public schools, etc... all of which have been settled in the courts based on the constitution.

Always gets me when rightwingers say us liberals hate America when they are the ones that don't love the civil liberties within the constitution.

Answer 10

Liberal extremists are in control of your party. Believe it or not, it's the truth. These liberals believe in a welfare state, peace at any price, a one world government with no borders, and population control.

If you don't agree with them, get off the boat.

Tiko,
I'm interested in what you think "conservative extremism" is.
Do you mean believing in the wisdom of our forefathers?
Or maybe you think believing in the original intent of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights is "extreme"?
Is defending our country "extreme"?
How about minority rights? Is that "extreme"?
I bet you think supporting the rights of unborn children is extreme too, huh?