31 March 2008
Addressing Liberals
Posted by Joy Bischoff under: General .
I have many friends and relatives who are liberals. It is so important not only to heal the Republican Party, but also to reach out to our liberal American friends and try to find what common ground we can. This is my attempt to find our common ground and to have an open and respectful dialogue.
If one studies socialism and compares their doctrines to many of the liberal positions, a direct correlation is obvious. But this does not mean that all liberals are socialists. I do not believe that and I know many Democrats who are opposed to socialism. So when I refer to the liberal socialists, I am talking about those leaders in the party who are trying to deliberately tug the country into socialism.
Many prominent Mormons have been Democrats. I’m sure our Protestant, Catholic and Jewish readers also have friends and relatives of that political persuasion. So do we want to disenfranchise them and accept a permanent divide? I hear conservative talk show hosts saying we won’t give up until we convince everyone to be conservatives. Until then we will consider the other side to be enemies. I do not agree with that attitude. It is unrealistic. Those who believe in freedom must also uphold the freedoms of liberals.
It so often comes down to a matter of the pendulum swinging too far one way or another and this is what we should be careful of. The only real answer is for us to encourage respect and tolerance for people even if we disagree with their positions. Tolerating people does not mean we tolerate their positions that we feel are wrong.
There are actually a few areas where I have sympathies to what are considered liberal views now but I consider them age old wisdom, some of what were held by our Founding Fathers. Free Trade is one of these.
Instead of making sure we are staying with every single point of our party’s platform, hopefully we can use our own brains and make personal decisions about which issues most closely conform to an inspired Constitution. On issues such as free trade, there are compromises that can be reached that will even the playing field, and also allow free trade that will not hurt American jobs by encouraging through tax breaks and incentives, the flood of companies moving factories off-shore. This does not come under the rubric of a personal value and should not be seen as sacred, so therefore, compromise is possible.
Another area where I agree with liberalism is environmentalism. I don’t believe man made global warming is the problem that some scientists and many politicians say it is. I believe the environmental pendulum has swung so far that it makes most conservatives recoil at the extremism of the issue and thus pull back to hard the other way. I also believe that most farmers and ranchers are better environmentalists than anyone in government. Honest dialogue that isn’t reactionary can help bridge some of these gaps.
We cannot heal America until we stop looking at our neighbors as enemies. Let’s love liberals, not in a condescending way but with real kindness. The Lord has asked us to love our neighbor as ourself. He didn’t say only the neighbor who is a Christian or a Republican.
22 Comments so far...
jobob911 Says:
31 March 2008 at 10:25 am.
I agree with you Joy, we need to keep a balance about our attitude toward liberals.
Angela Rogin Says:
31 March 2008 at 11:02 am.
I agree to a degree but it is so obvious that democrats are leaning so far into socialism that everyone must know that to a certain degree. We shouldn’t let them off the hook too much. I think they have some responsibility to be aware of what their party is doing.
E.E. Says:
31 March 2008 at 11:12 am.
Angela, what is obvious to us and what we think should be obvious to others really isn’t always so. I know people who are liberals and they have no idea their ideas are socialist. They focus on their issues all based on so called compassion and they don’t step back and see the bigger picture. Lots of them also focus on all the negative things that are said about conservatives and they recoil at the thought of being like us and they entrench more deeply into their party.
SGS Says:
31 March 2008 at 12:00 pm.
Angela, unfortunately, I came from New England region, where they have quite a liberal education system. I was taught the importance of environment, of taking care for others, of how our society must change with the time, among many. It was a long road for me to have come to this point where I saw the errors of the liberals’ way. It was not an easy thing. For example, with gun rights, as George Washington once said was the singular most important right in that we could defend the rest of our rights, it was not until last year when I finally understand why it is important. And I am now 38 years old. I have read many great books, but it was not until I read “The 5,000 Years Leap” by W. Cleon Skousen where he came at our unalienable rights principle by principle, step by step. It was then that I understood that there will always be men with bad intentions trying to seek the power over us all, and the ONLY way to stop them from having an absolutely power is the fear that we could revolt against them. This is why the gun right is often the first line of attack for them, trying to making it illegal for anyone to ever own a gun. I am glad they did not success — much, due to the fervent feelings of the MSM-so-called hillybillies and rednecks, or rather, the correct version of truth, of the rural folks who understood well their right to defend themselves. I have been anxious since then to get some guns, but I am in middle of trying to start a business. I am not exactly overflowing with cash at the moment 
Anyway, my point is that it is the matter of educating, and it is very difficult to accept that what you have been taught is only one side of the simple truths.
Jesse Says:
31 March 2008 at 12:05 pm.
Wow SGS, when I read Angela’s comment I started thinking about what I wanted to say to her but I don’t need to now. You gave a personal account that explained it so well. That shows how smart you are to be able to look past the teachings of your youth that become so engrained. Maybe we should start with 5,000 Year Leap with our book club.
It seems that if we think the liberals are just anti-American or stupid or evil then we are judging a lot of innocent people who may not have had the chance to really understand what the founding fathers learned. So instead of treating them like enemies, like Joy said, we need to show them love and respect. In the old days people had different political views but they didn’t treat each other like enemies.
Chuck C Says:
31 March 2008 at 12:36 pm.
Last night Karl Rove was televised on C-SPAN speaking to Young America’s Foundation. It was a rerun from Friday, March 28 at George Washington University. His has been so maligned by the press, that it was a breath of fresh air to hear him address so many issues and to answer pointed questions so brilliantly. See if you can watch it. Very well done and gives some very reasonable answers to address liberal questions.
T. Fan Says:
31 March 2008 at 12:41 pm.
Chuck do you have any idea how we can get ahold of footage?
Chuck C Says:
31 March 2008 at 12:45 pm.
I’ve been looking, and no success yet. Man, was it good!
Matt Says:
31 March 2008 at 1:18 pm.
Chuck you could just give us your impressions of it and anything you can remember. We won’t hold you to perfect quotes.
Chuck C Says:
31 March 2008 at 4:12 pm.
One thing that touched me was a meeting Mr. Rove was at in Reno with the president. Following the speech the president met with families who had lost sons or husbands in the war.
One family had a 1st Lieutenant killed and a younger 2nd Lieutenant preparing to be deployed. The mother spoke quite splendidly about their sons, their faith, and patriotism. The father was silent. Concerned that the father was very upset and mad about losing his son, the president asked what they could do for him, never expecting his answer.
This father, 61, was the top orthopedic surgeon in the area. He said that he wanted to offer his skills to the military in Iraq, but he had been refused due to his age and asked for a waiver so he could serve his country with his remaining son. He left his practice, his wife, his beautiful home and is now serving as a Lt. Colonel… Talk about sacrifice!
He also talked about the McCain’s adopted daughter named Bridget. Cindy found Bridget at Mother Theresa’s orphanage in Bangladesh, brought her to the United States for medical treatment, and the family ultimately adopted her. Bridget has dark skin.
Anonymous opponents used “push polling” to suggest that McCain’s Bangladeshi born daughter was his own, illegitimate black child. In push polling, a voter gets a call, ostensibly from a polling company, asking which candidate the voter supports. In this case, if the “pollster” determined that the person was a McCain supporter, he made statements designed to create doubt about the senator. Thus, the “pollsters” asked McCain supporters if they would be more or less likely to vote for McCain if they knew he had fathered an illegitimate child who was black. In the conservative, race-conscious South, that’s not a minor charge.
Mr. Rove was asked if he would use that kind of tactic for McCain that he used against him. He stated clearly that it was a low level instructor from Bob Jones University (I think) who did the dirty trick on the internet and there was no connection to the Bush campaign. He said that kind of politics comes back to bite you and he condemns it. The truth? I don’t know.
I loved his quotes from Hillary, Gore, and others about Saddam Hussein’s need to be removed. Well stated all, but denied or forgotten now. Obama was quoting as saying Iraq is not the front for the war on terror a day before Bin Laden called it the front of the holy war against the west and invited all Jihadists to converge on Iraq.
Mac Says:
31 March 2008 at 4:21 pm.
Carl Rove got a bad rap. I’m sure he did things wrong but he is a true patriot. Thanks for sharing that. I missed it.
Jesse Says:
31 March 2008 at 4:27 pm.
Involvement with the Tobacco Industry
Karl Rove was a paid consultant to Philip Morris from 1991 to 1996, earning $3,000 a month from the relationship. His contact for payment at Philip Morris was Hartina Fluornoy. Rove continued his relationship with Philip Morris while he was an advisor to then Texas Governor George W. Bush. [8][9] at Page 5[10]
A February 15, 2000 article from the New York Times revealed that Rove, helped draft a 1996 push poll against then-Texas Attorney General Dan Morales in an attempt to pressure Morales out of filing a lawsuit against the major American Tobacco companies. The push poll was financed by tobacco companies. According to the article, George W. Bush, then Governor of Texas, threatened to fire any campaign staffer found to be involved with push polls. Bush’s spokesman, Ari Fleisher, denied that Mr. Rove was involved in drafting the poll questions, saying Rove only reviewed a fifth draft of the survey. But in a deposition given in 1997, Rove admitted he had offered suggestions about the poll’s questions.[11]
Despite this, Karl Rove was never fired.
Cameron Says:
31 March 2008 at 4:32 pm.
Touching story about the doctor. Patriotism is always honorable and we need more of it. I love the way the president has always been approachable and warm towards soldiers. I don’t consider Rove a very honest person but he isn’t all bad.
Chuck C Says:
31 March 2008 at 4:36 pm.
Neither have I. But when I heard his entire speech, my opinion changed somewhat. Much of my opinion was created by the media.
Matt Says:
31 March 2008 at 4:40 pm.
Thanks Chuck. The press is terrible about reporting the good things Bush does with the military. He seems to genuinely care about them and they know it.
E.E. Says:
31 March 2008 at 4:54 pm.
Rove being a lobbyist for Phillip Morris does not recommend him for me. He is a mixture of good and bad like all of us.
Here is part of an article I thought was interesting:
McCain’s greatest strength is that he’s the Republican candidate least associated with the Bushies - the faction of the GOP that America now loathes. He wants Americans to be proud again, even if that means telling the Republican base to take a hike. While he may be giving Rush Limbaugh a headache, McCain has carefully courted moderates, much to his success.
No matter what happens between now and the conventions, McCain and Obama have put their parties in a tough spot. Both parties need their nominees more than the nominees need their parties. If either party wavers in their support for their nominee, voters will flee in droves.
Each of the candidates’ kryptonite - the one thing despised by the party - is exactly why each is winning. With McCain, it’s the laundry list of aisle-crossing alliances: McCain-Feingold, McCain-Kennedy and McCain-Lieberman. For Obama, it’s his unabashed and consistent resistance to the Iraq mess - Democratic elites think he’ll paint the party as a dissident.
However, everyone should cross their fingers that these are the two candidates America will choose from in November. Then, the election would be a showdown between the politics of hope and the politics of leadership - not smear politics. The alternative is an election in which Clinton picks up the Democratic nomination because of superdelegates and she launches her patented brand of vitriol politics against. Then we’re right back where we started.
M.G. Says:
31 March 2008 at 4:58 pm.
Romney’s staff said they had proof of McCain push-polling against Romney more than once. Plus they sent out pamphlets filled with absolute lies. I don’t feel bad for McCain when he gets bitten by his own poison. The man is a snake.
M.G. Says:
31 March 2008 at 4:59 pm.
I wish Bush wasn’t for globalism but at least I think the man has a heart. I would love to sit down and have dinner with him. I wouldn’t want to be in the same room with McCain.
SGS Says:
31 March 2008 at 5:41 pm.
I am not sure how Bush approach the soliders and their families are enough to overcome the total loss of respect I have for him after his hunchman, Paulson, released the financial proposal today. He is for MORE REGULATIONS!!!! We are in this meltdown because of the guarantee programs the Federal Government offered to the mortgage industry (FHA programs and such). President Bush is now in the category of the worst presidents ever, along with James Carter and Bill Clinton!
Jeezer Says:
31 March 2008 at 5:49 pm.
Finally someone around here has to guts to call a spade a spade and Bush is a spade. Sometimes some of you are to namby pamby because I know a lot of you know what’s really going on. You don’t just listen to what they say, you watch what they do.
CindyL. Says:
31 March 2008 at 6:30 pm.
I can’t judge whether or not Pres Bush is evil or good. All I know is what he has been doing with the Patriot Act, SPP North American Treaty and a lot of the other international treaties is destroying our constitution. It is very wrong and it is treason. He swore to uphold the laws of this country and he is not doing that. There is ample evidence of that and I don’t really think we should make this site the place to force that issue but I did feel like I needed to make it clear that I know there is no excuse for what is going on.
Roy Bischoff Says:
31 March 2008 at 11:34 pm.
I think what we must all remember is that there are very few people who are 100% evil or 100% good. People will always believe different things given the same factual scenario. Often we have to first pick which “facts” we will believe. I think if we avoid applying labels and try to understand why someone believes the way they do we will realize that we have more in common than we thought.
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