Confessions of a Libtard

In 1997 I switched from being a conservative to a liberal. The War on Gays, War on the Environment, and the Right's obsession with religion swung me to the other side.

Embarrassingly, even after making the switch I still called myself a Republican for another five years — perhaps I liked the novelty of it and the attention I got. I even worked in the political campaigns of several GOP candidates. But as the political divide got wider I realized that there was no hope for the Party of Lincoln.

What Makes Me Liberal

I really don't think of myself as a liberal because I am just being me. I simply analyze every issue and make my own decisions. I don't accept any party platform or trendy issue without questioning. When I study a position I just usually fall on the side of the left.

The other thing that makes me a so-called liberal is that I question EVERYTHING. This comes from my days as a newspaper reporter. I remember someone once saying that Hollywood stars are usually liberal because they are exposed to many different ideas and people. The same can be said for journalists. And if you think we journalists have a liberal bias, it's true. We see a lot of crap firsthand that most people don't, and it changes us.

Hypocrisy

To me, the conservative agenda is full of hypocrisy and contradictions. You have right-wing Christians who want to cut off free school breakfasts for poor children. Christians support unbridled capitalism, which works on the principles of Darwinian evolution -- something that most conservatives don't believe in. Many evangelical Christians embrace guns, although Jesus was clearly nonviolent. Republican Christians have little interest in the environment and support candidates who, in turn, support the rape and plunder of the natural world, all the while calling themselves "pro-life." I could go on and on, but I will say that the Republican Party and evangelical Christians seem to be intertwined in some sort of a macabre and perverse marriage. The complete hypocrisy of such a relationship is mind-boggling.

So, when I get into debates the first thing I bring up is how the Right wants to cut programs for the poor but then provides tax breaks and incentives for Big Business and the military industrial complex. I find that repulsive.

True Liberalism

I don't mind being called a liberal because in Latin the word means "free," as in freethinking. A liberal is openminded and tolerant of change. I try to aspire to those goals even though I'm becoming a crotchety old man.

I think what makes most of liberals liberal is that we have a heightened sense of justice. When I see the ongoing attacks on immigrants, Muslims, gays, and women I get furious. To me, those who are doing the attacking are the majority culture, who are arrogant and hateful. They depict the very worst of America.

I like to see myself as Robin Hood, helping the downtrodden whenever and wherever I can. I have a special desire to protect the environment from the Robber Barons because the natural world can't defend itself. Animals and trees are at the complete mercy of greedy, short-sighted people who only care about making their rich asses richer.

Liberalism means tolerance, which includes accepting people with different political ideas. I've always had right wing friends and I welcome them with open arms. The right wingers provide a balance to the excesses of liberalism, and most of them are really good people. They just don't usually think outside the box, probably because they don't have that capacity. I accept and love them.

A Proud Libtard

I was given the name "Libtard" when I was defending Democratic candidates on social media. The idea is that we liberals are retarded. Well, that's okay because I am still astounded that anyone could vote for Donald Trump. I call these people "Trumpanzies," so, haha, we're even.

It amazes me that someone will take the time and energy to visit Democratic Facebook pages and start attacking. When righties launch personal attacks against honorable people like Michelle Nunn and Jason Carter, I defend them.

The political debates with right-wingers are always predictable and always go back to Hillary, Obama, and George Soros.  In their minds, this trio is responsible for all the evil in our country. I usually rebut with the 4,000 servicemen who needlessly died in Iraq, and things digress from there. Overall, left-right political debates are pointless.

The Future

I long for the day when our Congress becomes more nonpartisan and works for the common good. Supporting something the other side is doing should not be the kiss of death. We Libtards and Trumpanzies need to cross the aisle and work as a team, and never give up on compromise. Getting rid of gerrymandering would be a great help, since the system tends to send more extremist politicians to Washington.

I defended Jon Ossoff and now when people go after my beloved Beto O'Rourke, I will defend him too. I'm a bad ass liberal; I smoke weed and I'm covered with tattoos. Oh wait, neither of those things are true, but I want to be that overeducated commie left-winger that Ward and June Cleaver envision.

Photo: Javardh