I'm from the south.

[Tigress DEM]

364. I never thought there were "hard and fast rules" about being a liberal.

To me being Liberal is to be generous and tolerant, to stand up for others and seek justice. You did mention herding cats and that does do justice to the challenge. I also believe in common sense, but what is common sense to one group of people isn't readily understood by another group.

I still don't think that examples of what you find awful either here or in your community out there are a problem. Because it matters to you, it matters. HOW you see things is your unique contribution here. Again, people might not like to hear it, but our DEMs down south are in a hostile environment and you standing up her for them and representing them is a big deal.

I've told my family if I am ever stranded in Texas, I will try to get to Austin because from what I hear it's the Liberal equivalent of the Alamo. I know I'm not as strong as people who are liberal down south. I'd never survive. I'd open my mouth and get it shot off.

I don't think we tell others what they "should do" but maybe the real cure is having a vision of what things COULD be and work from there. We do have an advantage. We know things like a living wage, social safety net and good commonwealth services lift everyone up. We know that being involved in the political process brings an ownership to being "governed" that changes a person.

IF you can't or prefer not to continue to wade into this can of worms here, find a friend that can be objective, preferably someone whose world view is canted differently than yours and run some real life scenarios by that friend and see what it looks like to him or her.

My best friend does some objective screening for me because there are things I just have a hard time seeing because of how much I want the world to be a certain way. A lot of days the world obliges and behaves the way I bless it and expect it to - other times it's my day in the blender. But on those days when I look at the people in my life who I'd normally consider good and kind - or MY relatives down south, hard core Obama haters or my BIL here in MN who is a strident Libertarian. When my world is beating the slop out of me, I look for a second opinion and somehow that other perspective gives me more options and ways to keep changing the world a little tiny space at a time. Usually where my own feet are planted.