Is DU a Liberal Message Board?

[OmahaBlueDog]

169. After due consideration, I vote "Yes"

A liberal believes that government should have a role in protecting the weak against the strong. I believe the vast majority at DU believe that.

Things liberals tend to support

The rights of the poor to be protected from the rights of the wealthy
The rights of racial minorities to be protected from the tyranny of racial majorities
The rights of religious minorities to be protected from the tyranny of religious majorities
The equality of the genders
Equality of sexual orientation

Things conservatives tend to support

Conservatives tend to admire and support strength and conformity. In this context, strength is used broadly. The strength of large landowners, or large corporations, and of wealthy individuals. Conservatives tend to value these people. They admire guns in the context that they represent strength. They value defense spending because it is important that America "maintain a leadership position in the world." Conservatives tend to value conformity and appearances, and tend too dislike and distrust people who think, look, or worship in ways different than their own.

Why we don't get along

Conservatives see the protection of the weak to be at the expense of the strong, and question why it is fair to protect the weak. A good demonstration of this line of thought can be seen in a discussion of bullying: a liberal will tend to immediately sympathize with the bullied, and criticize the lack of protections against bullying in workplaces or schools. A conservative will see the creation of a "victim mentality" and offer the criticism that the response to bullying is not to seek protection from authorities, but to simply fight back.

Odd exceptions

From the conservative viewpoint, abortion rights represent hypocrisy on the part of liberals. Given the view that life begins at conception, rather than birth, conservatives assert that abortion represents the ultimate tyranny of the strong over the defenseless. The liberal counter criticism is two-fold; a) the right of the woman to carry or not carry a baby is absolute and b) that conservatives seem obsessed with the rights of the pre-born, but seem (relatively) unconcerned with the rights of the born -- especially if the "born" happen to be the offspring of persons not conforming to their ideals.

The right to bear arms is, at its core, a liberal concept. It is, in fact, the rights of states and individuals to protect themselves not only against predators, but against tyrannical governments. However, today's liberals tend to see firearms as a tool of the bully, while conservatives admire firearms as a symbol of power.

Where DU unity tends to break down

"For just one reason": In the 70s, there was a joke that a conservative "...was a liberal who'd been mugged." Starting in the 90s, a similar axiom developed; a liberal was a conservative who had a loved one get sick. Many people are Democrats or Republicans not because they buy into a whole slate of party viewpoints, but they agree with one issue that is critical or crucial to them. Hence those who support gun rights or wish to end legal abortion vote Republican, even if they disagree with Republican views on issues such as marriage equality or tax policy. Those who support unions, want a national health plan, or who favor marriage equality tend to support the Democrats -- even if they disagree with the Democrats on fiscal policies.

..except for many DUers tend to agree with the things most other DUers ostensibly believe "except for". "I agree with the Democrats on everything except for the death penalty except for abortion rights; except for gun ownership; except for ...you get the idea.

Conformity and intolerance In what can only be described as irony, two of the values most often associated with liberals have begun to permeate DU. Conformity and intolerance. In this context, I'm speaking of "tolerance" in the sense that the founding fathers spoke of "religious tolerance." There was a notion that even if an Anglican didn't agree with a Catholic, there should be a tolerance of their differing belief. Increasingly, a vocal segment of DU is becoming intolerant of any faith based belief system. Those who express a religions belief are often shamed and ridiculed here.

Conformity is another growing trend here on DU. I'll point to post 24 & 29 in this thread:http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024444708#post24

Increasingly, posters who don't buy into every single position of another poster are accused of being Freepers, DLCers, or Dick Cheney. There is a decrease in tolerance for the variances of opinion among what is, at it's heart, a community of Liberals.

The primaries Do I have to explain this? "Hillary" "Elizabeth" "Hillary!" "ELIZABETH"