Mr Right0313 Mr Right0313

The Death of Liberalism

The Death of Liberalism

Why The Left is Losing

To All:

As a premier article for this wonderful, and I assume diverse community I thought I would write about something that seems so obvious to me, but perhaps not to all. That is of course the dominance of the Right, and the fading of the liberal left.

Now the upcoming presidential election is reigniting those leftist views that they can take down one of the greatest presidents of the last fifty years, and that is of course George W. Bush. Instead of simply stating what I see is the obvious, lets break it down.

Leadership: George W. Bush. Simply said he is a leader. This president has garnered some of the highest approval ratings in recent history. Now lets look at why this is of significance. First of all is 9/11. One of the worst acts in U.S. history comparable to Pearl Harbor. Nothing short of admirable was his leadership in these most difficult of times. Another very clear example: the War in Iraq. Now I will be the first to admit that this was not one of the most popular moves, and we have not quite found out what we fully expected in the aftermath of Saddam Hussein's fall; but let me tell you this. It takes true leadership to follow your beliefs. I have no doubt that President Bush fully believed Hussein and Iraq to be deserving of Operation Iraqi Freedom. After seeing the horrors that that country endured for twenty plus years, how can anyone doubt the world is better off without him? We still have not found all that Hussein was up to, and you can believe that the Iraqi people will remember Bush with admiration. It takes guts and courage to follow through with what you believe in, and not cave to public and media pressure. George Bush is the unquestioned leader of not only the Republican Party, but of the Free World. When you look at the other side, where is their leadership? Who is it? John Kerry? Hillary Clinton? Bill? It's unclear not only who are their leaders, but where they stand.

Election 2004. George Bush vs. John Kerry. I am well aware that there have been some polls which show Kerry being able to win. But let me assure you this will not happen. Not only will John Kerry not be sworn in as President in 2005, he will not be close in the election in November. The biggest knock against Bush is an issue that the Democrats play to the public. Of course I'm speaking of the Economy. The democrats tell you that the economy is in a slump due to the President's actions. This is quite simply NOT THE CASE. The economy, as most people do not realize runs in cycles. It flows like water, sometimes it goes up, then others down. Clinton was very fortunate in having a high tide, and as the cycle runs, it began to slump during the early 2000s. This is not George Bush's fault, and it was equally not Clinton's brilliance. The economy flows, no President has that much control. Kerry is being painted (quite succesfully) as a flip-flopper who is distanced from the American people. This election is just beginning for the President who still has a treasure chest in fund raising, while John Kerry has emerged from a difficult Democratic Primary season worn. President Bush will win re-election.

Movement: Think of the past. There were certain places and people who were democratic, no questions asked. Look at the present. Republicans have made solid, and even extreme gains in nearly all of these areas. Think of California and Florida. Previous Democratic strongholds. Now both have Republican governors. Take my home state of Minnesota has a perfect example. For much of its history Minnesota was as democratic as could be. This is the home state of Hubert Humphrey, Walter Mondale, and Paul Wellstone. Now the current political all stars is Senator Norm Coleman (one of the highest profile freshmen senators in history), and our governor Tim Pawlenty. This is a state that the democrats won by just a few percentage points in 2000. Most indications point to this being a swing state, and a probable Bush state. The democrats are falling back in nearly all areas, with few promising points to brighten the way.

The State of the Union. Economy. Jobs. Taxes. Crime. Housing. Etc. There are numerous issues of concern in this nation. I will sum up the viewpoints quite quickly. Democrats feel that Americans are unreliable, but trustworthy. Its a little backwards. They create high taxes to implement their large amounts of social programs, but encourage early prison release, and easy social welfare programs. Yes I know a lot of this depends on the state, but democratic dogma is everywhere. Republicans on the other hand feel you need to be responsible for yourself. We'll give you tax breaks and see what you do with it. Welfare is mostly unneccesary; see who is on it and how responsible they are. Punishments should be severe. There are to many cases of repeate offenders to trust violent criminals. It seems pretty clear to me.

Media. Take a look at your average newspaper, newscast, or magazine. If you look close, and even more important listen close, you'll see (and yes, hear) how liberal they are. Their is such liberal spin on the media its ridiculous. It would require to much space to list here, but if you open your eyes and ears and listen to how things are worded, and how images are portrayed you'll notice the liberal spin on nearly everything. However when conservatives get a chance at the truth (or their truth if you wish) they thrive. Look at the current kings of the airwaves and bestseller lists. Guys like Bill O'Reilly, Sean Hannity, and the king Rush Limbaugh are undisputed in their arenas. They motivate and inform the faithful and the unsure alike. On the other side are literal goofballs Al Franken, and the king of make believe Michael Moorer. People like that simply make fun of the right, and dish out half-truths to the eager audiences.

America and the World. John Kerry says that several world leaders have privately told him that they want him to beat President Bush in the election. When asked to name them by someone no lower than the Secretary of State Colin Powell he refused. Democrats tell you that America is hurting, and we need to worry about ourselves first. They tell you that we cannot fight Iraq, Afghanistan, Al Qaeda, North Korea, etc and etc. They are wrong. This is not the world of the 1950's with your Cold War Dualism. This is an uprecedented era of a singular superiority: the U.S. And this is nothing to be ashamed of, we should be proud. We left the 20th century as the strongest political and military power the world has ever seen. We therefore have the duty to respond, we need to, if not be the world's police, monitor the actions of the world. I do not believe in this relativistic viewpoint greys, the world is often black and white. Wrong is wrong. President Bush understands the need for the U.S. to remain the world's superpower. The world is better off with a Republican in the White House. If we do not take action when we should (as opposed to when everybody thinks so, which is never) we run the risk of being to late. We must stop terror and despots when we can, not when everybody finally understands. War in the 21st century needs to be preemptive, lest we run the risk of another Pearl Harbor or 9/11.

The UN/World Allies. Why should we be so concerned with what France, Germany, and the United Nations thinks of our actions. Last I checked France and Germany are nearly socialist republics still to scarred from the horrors of World War II to understand the realities of the 21st century. There is a reason we stand dominant over them. Plus, believe me they have clear understanding of what they stand to gain and lose in every action of the U.S. They know they have no physical authority over the U.S., so they use their diplomatic means and the world stage to oppose us. For example, we all know France vehemently opposed the U.S. led invasion of Iraq, but did you know that France received over 70% of their oil from Iraq, and knew they would lose out on authority over the region. The Administration also has publicly stated they will consider leaving the UN if they continued to stand in our way. John Kerry and the democrats would have you believe this is a horrible, world-threatening, action. But President Bush, and I believe in fact quite the opposite. The world is better off with the U.S. in control. If you think about the early to mid 20th century when there were several world powers, there were two World Wars with dozens of millions killed. Ever since the U.S. took over in the late 20th century to today, there has been nothing even remarkably close. And do not try to convince me that the wars in Iraq can be compared.

In closing, I have gone on longer than I thought. But I felt that those people who most often called themselves democrats had few strong reasons for that. Most of those reasons being based on misconceptions and misunderstandings.

Please feel free to comment.

I will try to keep future commentaries more brief.

Yours Truly,

Mr. Right
23,426 views 42 replies
Reply #26 Top
To All:

For one I greatly appreciate all those that took time to read my article. This being the first time I have had a chance to get back on the net, I was amazed at some of the controversy and discussions it has brought up. I hope that future discussions can be addressed with the same level of intensity. Now I never assumed that everyone would agree with me, but I'll do my best to respond to some general comments:

Black and White: This comment it appeared seemed to anger the most. I never meant to imply that the entire world, and all it contained was black and white. What I intended was that there are certain situations where right is right and wrong is wrong. The 60s/70s era of relativism has created a society in this country where there is no wrong, and everybody should respect other peoples/socieites/feelings/opinions, etc. However there is evil and wrongdoing in this world. It is my opinion that this feeling is the time of attitude that lets criminals out of jail early because they had a bad childhood, or acted proper in prison for a while. And this is the attitude that says "who are we?" If we do not get involved in certain situations, who will. It was Europe (and yes the U.S. to some extent) that refused to open their eyes to the holocaust. That if nothing else proves that world powers need to get involved when they can. It is my belief that the Democrats are children of 60's/70's relativistic era. Bush and most of the Republicans believe they have the duty to involve the U.S. and use their power justly.

-Of course all media is skewed one way or the other, you will never get the STRAIGHT facts

-I never meant to disrespect Paul Wellstone. Although I didn't agree with him politically, he was one of the few politicians who I truly respected because of his hardwork and dedication. His loss is a tragedy.

-I still am not convinced we need to concern ourselves with France and Germany. I am not saying we need to completely disregard them at any issue, but we need to do what we think is best, not was Europe thinks.

-I concede a few points: 1) I used Liberalism in connection with the Democratic party, I understand/stood that there is more than one meaning. 2)The bulk of my article did lean more towards the positives of the Republic party then why the Left is losing, my apologies

-Yes the War on Terror will be difficult, however not impossible. Should we stop or runaway from things that are difficult?

Once again thank you for your feedback. Most of the responses were intelligent and coherent.

Yours Truly,

Mr. Right
Reply #28 Top
:: sighs::

Another insightful comment from Nazgul... Sorry, just taking a lesson from Ronald Reagan and his debates with Jimmy Carter. The U.S. likes to believe that we are upholders of liberty and justice. However, in brief, I will provide some examples as to why that is an incorrect view.

Cuba, we supported a morally corrupt psuedo-dictatorship up until the people rose up during the Cuban Revolution.
Nicarauga, we supported both sides at various points, neither of which were terribly "democratic"
Iran, we supported the Shah, a brutal monarchy, we also sold weapons to the Ayatollah
The Philippines, we kept in no less than three different corrupt and non-democratic governments
South Korea, not a democracy until long after the Korean War
Vietnam, we supported a number of corrupt governments in the south during the war
Iraq, we helped install Suddam Hussein
Afghanistan, we helped install the Taliban
China, we supported the Nationalists, a non-democratic, dictatorial regime
Taiwan, also not a democracy until fairly recently
Most of Africa
Most of Central and South America
Nearly all the pacific Islands
Nearly all the Carribean Islands
Etc.

If you want specfics dig up any history text on the country in question and you'll find examples.

Cheers
Reply #29 Top
"Your correct, the world is a very dangerous place, but how can you leave the responsibility of keeping it safe to just one nation?"

Good point, but who else is going to do it? France, Germany?

"I don't like to think that the US would make terrorist like decisions, but in other countries eyes, their actions can be viewed in those terms. It's important that world decisions are made by a group of representatives that all have a say so that no one nations mistakes and agenda get in the way of world progress and peace. "

The people viewing it in those terms are the terrorists and the terrorist supporters. People dislike the U.S. because we are fighting terrorism....other countries would rather appease them and "try no to make the terrorists mad". I guess the closest thing to "world decisions" would be made by the U.N. The U.N. is a failed organization that has anti-American bias and can clearly be corrupt by programs like oil-for-food.

"As for Mr. O'Reilly, and his attack on the rap culture, I don't believe he has any figures or facts to suffeciently back up his claim."

I understand what you are saying, but I don't think you understand the point that O'Reilly try to makes. I never heard him say rap is the cause of violence. His problem with rap is that it glorifies violence. Which that is a fact. He also points out how rap is marketed towards kids, and that is where the problem is.

"You keep hammering us Europeans being big appeasers of dictators, however you fail to recognize that America has a very full history of dealing with dictators as friends and installing a couple of them as well. Pakistan is a prime example at the moment, one you are conveniently ignoring"

We can go back into history and find all kids of things that the U.S. has done that wasn't right. I'm not saying that never happened. Some of those things were mistakes, some were necessary. I am talking about the euro appeasement right now. The latest case is with the terrorist Yassin. The EU wasted no time condeming the killing of a terrorist and remains silent about terrorists blowing up buses. Pakistan is a good example. The U.S. has pushed Pakistan into becoming an ally and will continue to help Pakistan hopefully turn into a democratic society.

"As for your claim we have always been appeasing terrorists, I would love to see you cite some examples."

The kiling of the terrorist Yassin.......the EU would rather "not make hamas mad".
The bombings in Madrid........another case of appeasement after the bombing.

That's just in the past couple of weeks. The fact is that if the war on terror were left up to the euro's, there would be no war on terror. Of course you want to go into the "blame America" for everything in the middle east, so it's obvious where you stand. I

I don't know what would be happening if a Sept. 11 type event happened in another coutntry. I do know there will be more if we follow the course of appeasement.





Reply #30 Top
Back to the original post: which I have just re-read, as I think we are getting a little off track here. Its easy to keep on about terrorism.

"America and the World. John Kerry says that several world leaders have privately told him that they want him to beat President Bush in the election. When asked to name them by someone no lower than the Secretary of State Colin Powell he refused."

It seems obvious to me why a nation might say something like this in confidence to John Kerry. Perhaps after the election, if Kerry wins, we will find out which countries they were. America is big business for many countries, and we all know what happened to French businesses in the states recently. Those were normal people, who lost out big time. The ethics behind boycotting French produce was complete madness, and to blame ordinary french people for not wanting to go to war... Crazy and totally wrong.

Also, and this is related... Your points about the media - I would really like to know more about the media in the states. I read in a Michael Moore book, something along the lines of most US states only having one or two media companies printing all of their newspapers. Most news TV channels are owned by the same companies, and it would be easy for them to push certain opinions on to the public.

I know a lot of republicans (and NRA members) don’t like Mike, but he does a good job of making people think about things... even if some of the things he says are untrue / biased. Is this really the case?

We are very lucky in the UK to have a rich, and diverse press, particularly in London. People complain about our "tabloid" press interfering in peoples lives, but when it comes to politicians and other "important" people, its great that practically all the press are trying to prove them wrong, or make them look bad. I suppose it’s very negative, but at least you get a picture of a worst-case scenario, rather than a pretty picture of how things might be.

It seems that America works slightly differently, and that they don’t want to read / know / hear anything negative - and as that’s what people want, that’s what the press give them. If this is how things are, then that is a big part of liberalism (and in a way, democracy) down the drain. Being open to change, and being open to criticism is part of that change. Remember media companies are out to make money, and boy, do they make a lot of it.
Reply #31 Top
The "Is this really the case?" question, was aimed at the media monopoly thing..... (not about Moore)
Reply #32 Top
Island dog...

There is a big difference between terrorist groups such as the IRA and ETA, and Al Qaeda. The IRA are now (at long last) in open discussions with the UK government, and the attrocities seem to have stopped. There are ways of "appeasing" these kinds of terrorists, successfully... as they want something which in theory is possible. We in the UK have grown to realise that we really can not fight organisations like the IRA, and that the only way to ever really get peace, is through open and honest debate... followed up by actions.

With Al Qaeda, I dont see any way of pleasing them, unless we all convert to Islam... which, lets face it, unless we all read the Koran and decide they have all got it right (and most Christians have never even read the bible!) we are never going to do.

Practically no one in Europe supports these groups, and appeasment is not the same thing as approval. It sounds as though you are trying to get people to think we are pro-terrorism, which is rediculous.
Reply #33 Top
"Practically no one in Europe supports these groups, and appeasment is not the same thing as approval. It sounds as though you are trying to get people to think we are pro-terrorism, which is rediculous."

I never said euro's are pro-terrorism. My point is they would rather not fight terrorism with the military, rather just take the "leave them alone and they won't hurt us" attitude. That is a dangerous way of thinking.
Reply #34 Top
Agreed, but so is fighting fire with fire. Sometimes, more thought and less firepower is needed. It is so difficult to fight terrorism with the military. Can I have some examples where it has been proven to work?
Reply #35 Top
Nowhere in any reports of the F.C.C.'s actions do I see it doing anything that will hinder anybody's freedom of speech.


Once again I will reiterate or repeat, that I was being extreme on purpose. They are trying to control what we watch on t.v. what we hear on the radio and how we communicate, that is what I do no agree with. It's funny to me how you have taken it out of context when that was the only part of my reply that was being a little cynical. I wasn't being totally serious with that statement (the freedom of speech comment) but apparently that's what you disagree on.
Reply #36 Top
" Agreed, but so is fighting fire with fire. Sometimes, more thought and less firepower is needed. It is so difficult to fight terrorism with the military. Can I have some examples where it has been proven to work?"

Clinton tried fitghting terrorism through appeasement and law enforcement and we see how it didn't work.

This is a small list of the mid to high level al qaeda and taliban terrorists who have been killed or captured by the U.S. military.

Mohammed Atef
Abu Hafs
Abu Jafar al-Jaziri
Abu Salah al-Yemeni
Tariq Anwar al-Sayyid Ahmad
Muhammad Salah
Qari Ahmadullah
Ibn Al-Shaykh al-Libi
Abd al-Hadi al-Iraqi
Mullah Fazel M. Mazloom
Abu Zubaydah

The terrorist regime of the Taliban has been dismantled, not to mention the terrorist regime of saddam hussein. The remaining leaders of these terrorist organizations are constantly on the run from the U.S.

The point is that if we followed the plan of appeasement, all these people would still be freely walking around planning and carrying out terrorist attacks around the world.
Reply #37 Top
I do see your point, and sorry everyone... I wanted to try and stay away from the terrorism thing...

Less terrorists on the streets is a good thing. But, does the military action have bad consequences... that actively encourage terrorism too? A sort of "its okay if they attack us, so it must be okay for us to attack them" revenge attitude in the minds of potential terrorists.

Perhaps some terrorists are different to others..?

"Whoah... hold on just one minute!! " I hear you say "Aren't all terrorists, terrorists??"

Yes, but some are much more open to discussion than others. Now, there is absolutely no way that Al Qaeda will join talks with the US / UN or who-ever, but George wouldn’t want to talk to them anyway. In that particular case, it probably wouldn’t help anyhow. This kind of thing could go on FOREVER, unless people are actually SHOWN that the US is not a bad country. If civilians in countries such as Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq only see the US bombing, and literally raping their countries (though the latter stems from some US over-seas businesses who do a very good job of tarring the US name, rather than the government) they are never going to see that westerners are on the whole peaceful, considerate and thoughtful.

Perhaps we need to actively show the world as a whole that we are the nice guys, and not just go around telling them we are... because I just don’t think everyone gets it.
Reply #38 Top
To All:

Once again I think we have gotten a little off track for the original post, not that I entirely mind.

But as one of the focuses of the responses, the War on Terrorism goes, I think many people have a skewed world vision. We have got to get away from the 20th century belief of global relativism, and understand we are in a new era. There is no possible way to say that what we (the U.S.) is doing is either wrong or perfect. History will determine that. However we must act when we can, as the 21st century must be about preemption than reaction.

As far as the media goes, I suppose I am not sure how diverse it is in other nations, but it is quite true that its rather limited in the U.S. Certain viewpoints are very easily portrayed in various mediums.

The U.S. should strive to maintain its power and prestige in the world, as I doubt most of you appreciate what that has brought us. This world is often about competition, perhaps that is not ideal but that is reality.

To understand the reality of this world is to be prepared for it.

Mr. Right
Reply #39 Top
Global relativism is only going to increase with the advancement of technology. In this era we should depart from the "history will determine the outcome" philosophy and plan ahead and take steps that will solve problems. Considering history is in the past how could it determine the future, which contradicts your later statement
To understand the reality of this world is to be prepared for it.
This has ended my ambition to discuss this any further. I find it disconcerting how some people have become completely inflexible. They stick to a party (president) whether it be democratic or republican with such fidelity regardless of the mistakes they make. People tend to stick to their ideals and as of late feverently argue even if cold hard facts are hitting them in the face. I mean I am leaning towards a democrat this election but if I see that a republican is what I feel would be better for the country and how I want to live then I would vote for them. That is something that some people can't even contemplate. Peace
Reply #40 Top
Mr. Right... "However we must act when we can, as the 21st century must be about pre-emption than reaction."

What makes you think that? It’s not true in many cases. Everything needs to be treated differently, with thought and more importantly, caution. We will end up as a world constantly living in fear of each other’s actions.

Pre-emption.... is a very dangerous topic. When in the context of missile strikes its definitely not a good thing. Particularly as in hindsight, it requires no proof to ever be shown as cause for said action. Lets hope other countries don’t follow our lead in that manner. How about in the context of Guantanamo...? I hope no one ever thinks I am a potential terrorist!

Back to liberalism:

Maybe you are Right (by name, political stance and nature). The left is loosing; but its really only about perception, particularly in the US. People have grown up hearing how liberalism (and socialism) is the enemy. Many people don’t understand the concept of liberalism. It really isn’t bad to be liberal... YOU PROBABLY ARE LIBERAL!!! Read my definition posted earlier:

1. Not limited to or by established, traditional, orthodox, or authoritarian attitudes, views, or dogmas; free from bigotry.
2. Favouring proposals for reform, open to new ideas for progress, and tolerant of the ideas and behaviour of others; broad-minded.

Who doesn’t want to be like that?

If your political party does not have those views, they don’t deserve to run your country, therefore, DONT VOTE FOR THEM! It's so important to be open to change, when in this day and age, so much around us changes every second.
Reply #41 Top
God alone knows how I ended up reading this..... But you say ALL the same things that I as a Canadian have been telling my friends for months. I recently lived in Kissimmee Fl. for 5 years and was in Fla during Bush's election.

Does this mean I can also call myself publicly "Mr. Right"?

Anyway - congrats. And well said.....
Reply #42 Top
Reply #1 By: russellmz2 - 3/25/2004 1:33:50 AM
Guys like Bill O'Reilly, Sean Hannity, and the king Rush Limbaugh are undisputed in their arenas. They motivate and inform the faithful and the unsure alike. On the other side are literal goofballs Al Franken, and the king of make believe Michael Moorer. People like that simply make fun of the right, and dish out half-truths to the eager audiences.



i can't believe you wrote that with a straight face. franken and moore may not be better but to say that those right wing guys don't make fun of the left and dish out half-truths is unbelievable. why do you think rush fans are called "dittoheads"? for their willingness to confront their hero and hold him to high accuracy standards? and you curiously left out ann coulter, a best seller author, for some odd reason.

i recommend you take a look at this site: spinsanity.org

it has good articles calling people out who spout out unfair bs as fact. here's the article on hannity

and to show you it's a fairly balanced website: one from the same site on moore

if you think that rush and hannity are informative and don't dish out half truths, you need to look for some better news sources. if you read that article and have your opinion uchanged the slightest bit then i don't know what to tell you.


Oh but "I" know what to tell you!!!! Do not even try to put Rush and Hannity in the same camp! Sean has no followers called "dittoheads" or anything else of the sort. And just maybe you should listen to Sean's show. He is always making fun of Rush!