WHY I LEFT THE LEFT

[Rainscents]

I used to be a liberal. I was in one of the first "open" classrooms growing up in very progressive Great Neck, New York, in the 1960s. In 1971, when I was 11, I wrote vitriolic letters to President Nixon demanding an end to the Vietnam War. My first vote, in 1980, was for Independent John Anderson, followed by Mondale, Dukakis, and Clinton-Gore.
I read Thomas Friedman in the NY Times and tried to "understand" the "root causes" of the "despair" he said the Palestinians felt that drove them to blow up innocent Israelis. I wasn't an overtly political person -- I just never veered from the liberal zeitgeist of the community in which I was raised.

But when I was about 27, in the late 1980s, cracks in my liberal worldview began to appear. More...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/seth-swirsky/why-i-left-the-left_b_22666.html

This guy sounds like... CRAZY LYING FUCKER! :banghead: :banghead: :banghead:

[ComerPerro]

1. If he was 27 in the late 80s, hes in his early 40s now. He could enlist

[ComerPerro]

2. The guy was never left, but sounds like he was always a moron

[trixie]

3. He is a follower

Always was and always will be. I hate followers.

[JHB]

12. Yup, a follower.

He was "liberal" because everyone around him was, but he never learned why.

Now the MSM is certifiably more conservative than it was back then, and he's still just following the cues.

[Mr_Spock]

28. Conservatives /republicans /converts are more likely to be followers IMHO

Can't prove it, but independant thinking surely is NOT promoted by these RW folks...

[LisaM]

4. If he voted for John Anderson, thus helping elect Reagan

He was NOT on the left. Period.

[Minnesota Libra]

5. That's a bunch of bull crap!!! nt

[Misskittycat]

6. His logic is full of holes, among other things. n/t

[colorado thinker]

7. I doubt

he was ever a liberal. It strikes me as a poor attempt to sow the seeds of doubt on a liberal website. Didn't work for this liberal!

[neoblues]

8. Sick and Pathetic.

Wrong on so many points, simply dead wrong and on so very many points--this guy was never able to comprehend the left--it was so far above his intellectual capacity, that it would be an effort in pointlessness to bother rebutting his shallow notions.

Discerning is the antithesis of this man's perceptions.

Now, excuse me, I have to go vomit and recover from wasting my time and energy considering this tripe.

[WI_DEM]

9. Anderson was not the left wing candidate in '80

he ran as a republican and didn't win a single primary so he ran as an independent--he was a moderate to left wing republican but no more liberal than President Carter was. While he didn't cost Carter the election he did cost him several states which made the Reagan "Landslide" much bigger than it actually was--he certainly cost Carter New York, Maine, Massachusetts, and Wisconsin among some other states. In the popular vote Reagan got just over 50%, Carter had 41% and Anderson had nearly 7%.

[1620rock]

11. Such trite tripe. n/t

[JHB]

10. What he sounds like is someone who never grew up

He sounds like he's spent most of his life just going along with his peer group, never really getting to the roots of why liberals hold the views we do -- and the nuances between each other and between ourselves and other groups. And note how he doesn't distinguish between "liberals" and "left" (nor between any particular left views and any others).

Everything he recounts is very superficial and (my, does it apply here) politically correct, but with no roots or moral center. And now, after never having learned critical thinking, he's simply traded in for a different peer group with a much tastier set of superficialities.

If this guy had been born 20 years earlier, he's have been "against Vietnam" (until he was past the draft) and "for peace and love" (as long as that meant good pot and easy sex), only to become a "Reagan Democrat" because "he wasn't afraid to wave the flag".

[muntrv]

13. Iraq is the Normandy of the war on terror?

Sounds like "they'll throw flowers at our feet and greet us as liberators."

[Yollam]

14. liberal does not equal left.

Socialists and democratic socialists are the left. Greens are the left. Liberals have always been ever so slightly left of center.

And since when does the left use the despair of the Palestinians to justify terror bombings? We don't. We just don't think it justifies Israel's wanton retaliatory attacks.

This guy is a right-wing zionist idiot, judging from his focus on I/P issues.

"I applauded Bush's unequivocal support for Israel, which every day faced (and faces) suicide attacks against its people."

Since when does ANY government deserve UNEQUIVOCAL support? Does that mean he believes Israel has NEVER done ANYTHING wrong in its dealing with the Palestinians? Get real.

"Finally, I supported President Bush's decision to oust Saddam and make possible the only democracy (other than Israel) in this crucial region of the Middle East."

Why on earth would you support an illegal murderous war, unless you don't consider the thousands of innocent Iraqis killed in the bombings to be human?

And just because the US has installed a puppet government in Iraq doesn't mean democracy is possible there. That is yet to be seen.

"But Bush never lied. He, like Clinton and Gore and Kerry and the U.N. and the British and French and Israeli intelligence services affirmed that Saddam's WMD were a vital threat -- a threat, that post- 9/11, could not stand. An overwhelming number of Democrats voted for the war"

Yes, it's a disgrace that any democrat voted for the war. But Bush clearly lied. All the intel services affirmed that Saddam's NON-EXISTENT WMD were NOT a threat. Hans Blix, Scott Ritter, the CIA all said the same thing.

"And what have the Democrats contributed to the war effort since 9/11? Democrat Sen. Russ Feingold has suggested censuring our president; Former President and Vice President Bill Clinton and Al Gore, while visiting foreign countries, have blasted President Bush -- acts of unconscionable irresponsibility; "

Yes, He has suggested censure. Bush deserves impeachment, but that can't be done with a minority. And all of the former presidents' criticisms of Bush have been mild in comparison to Bush's astonishing crimes against humanity and wanton disregard for the Constitution.

"Although I haven't always agreed with President Bush, I proudly voted for him in 2004 (the only one of the 4-winning Electoral College -- elected Presidents to win re-election). And I now fully understand Ronald Reagan's statement, when he described why he switched from being a liberal to a conservative: "I didn't leave the party -- It left me!"

The party didn't leave you. The democratic party has slid further and further to the right on most issues for 30 years now. So much so that it occupies the ideological position of the GOP 30 years ago. Don't blame the democratic party for failing to move as far to the ultra-right as you have.

[flaminbats]

29. neocons still associate Communism with liberalism..

but they refuse to accept Al Qaeda, Jaish Ansar al-Sunna, the KKK, and the IRA as terrorists of the right.

Liberty is the heart of liberalism, but what is the heart of being conservative? It isn't conserving natural resources, fiscal restrains on spending, the values embraced by the lord's prayer, putting local needs above those of globalism, or reducing the power and size of government. I once called myself a conservative because I thought they wanted to stop the endless growth of parking lots, shopping malls, selfishness and egotism, and loathing to sacrifice for others.

Once I thought welfare was only abused by the lazy and well fed, now I know it is needed by the disabled and chronically ill, unable to afford their most basic needs. Once I thought the national debt would decline after the cold war ended, now I know it will continue to climb as Republicans continue to promote supply-side Neanderthalism. Finally, how can terrorism be destroyed by war?

Right or left..who cares? I only want a government that serves its citizens.

[originalpckelly]

15. Why I wish I left my foot in this author's ass.

Nothin', just thought it was a funny one liner. It wasn't funny, eh? Bite me.

[neebob]

26. Well, it made me laugh

and helped to offset the waste of time I spent reading Seth Swirsky until I couldn't take it anymore - which wasn't much, but really, thanks for the laff.

[charlie]

16. Cartoon liberal

is now a cartoon conservative. Big surprise. Reminds me of Ronald Reagan when he began his slide into dementia. His minders used to zealously guard access to the Oval Office, because Ronnie would be swayed on any issue by the last guy who visited.

[Marr]

17. Anybody who thinks Thomas Friedman is a liberal is either

stupid or lying. Since he's an avowed conservative, it's most likely both.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

18. Pretty hard to "leave" somewhere you never were.

"Leftist" hoping for the likes of Scoop Jackson to head the Dems? Kind of like a "Rightist" hoping for the likes of Jeffords to head the Repugs.

[smokey nj]

19. What an idiot?..........

The reasoning for his shift in ideology is absolutely insane. He's a true REGRESSIVE. I'll give someone the 2000 Bush vote, I voted for Nader, so I'm not one to judge there. But to vote for him in 2004 based on his stellar performance - are you fucking kidding me. :mad:

[Swamp Rat]

20. David Horowitz, is that you?

It sure reads like David Horowitz! :eyes:

[madmusic]

21. Most of left the who left...

were duped by Operation Enduring Propaganda. Ever since Gingrich's "Language: A Key Mechanism of Control," the word "liberal" has repeatedly been bashed until today it is actually a bad word.

The guy probably doesn't even realize he was sucker punched.

[Downtown Hound]

22. Either this guy is a completel moron

or this is a pathetic attempt to instill doubt in liberals by posting on a liberal blog. Yep, there's that grassy knoll party for you asshole. But I learned from experience and research. Something which you apparently have little of.

[zulchzulu]

23. File under: Who Fucking Gives A Shit

What a waste of bandwidth...

[tjwash]

24. What a tweaker. Dude needs to get his nose out of the bag.

:rofl:George Bush crushed the Taliban and Al Qaeda:rofl:

[benburch]

25. I call bullshit too. nt

[OzarkDem]

27. Freepers on Huffpo

[upi402]

30. Well *I* voted for Anderson too. The radio said Raygun won on my way to

The polls.
:banghead: :banghead: :banghead: