Why I Left The Left

New Media Journal ^ | 7/3/2006 | Seth Swirsky

[HansGygi]

Yet, to this day, many of my liberal friends refer to the decisive and effective Giuliani as a Nazi, even as they stroll their children through neighborhoods he cleaned up.

A true liberal today is a combination of socialist, fascist, and hypocrite. They are also rabidly anti-America!

[edpc]

My first vote, in 1980, was for Independent John Anderson, followed by Mondale, Dukakis, and Clinton-Gore.

I guess he tired of hovering around the political Mendoza line.

[kjo]

I left the Left after the 1992 Democratic Convention when Bob Casey, former Governor of Penna was not allowed to address the platform committee because he wanted to bring up the issue of abortion.

HE WAS NOT ALLOWED TO SPEAK! I began to understand that these people were not interested in ideas, only in control.

[b4its2late]

Welcome Home.

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

Similar to my "pilgrimage".

Democrats' criticism of Bush strikes me as blatantly opportune rather than principled. I don't know how those people can stand themselves.

[b4its2late]

And welcome to FR BTW!!!!!

[mware]

Welcome aboard.

[b4its2late]

Great post. Copied, pasted and circulated to some liberals, not that they'll pay attention, but you never know what might bring them from the dark side.......

[George - the Other]

"Since 1993, the overwhelmingly liberal electorate in New York City has voted for Republicans for Mayor. Yet, to this day, many of my liberal friends refer to the decisive and effective Giuliani as a Nazi, even as they stroll their children through neighborhoods he cleaned up."

Good piece :)

I used to be a 60's hippie liberal.

I was always a moderate though I tended to support Democrat issues. That started to change in the 1990's as I noticed what was supposed to be the party of fairness and tolerence getting increasingly intolerant ... and hateful.

As we moved to 2000, Anti-Americanism, filled with blatant lies, started to appear more and more on the liberal listserv I used to frequent. When I pointed out the errors, I was often the target of character assassination.

In spite of all I had done to support liberal causes, especially in the field of the arts, I was suddenly the "enemy" because I dared to question the validity of the ever increasingly hateful comments directed against "rich, greedy, evil" Republicans.

Unintentionally, I found myself in the conservative camp, whose attitudes now more resemble what I feel. As for modern libs, like people say, it's now a disease, a mental disorder that in fact, George Orwell wrote about in a number of essays, calling it "Intellectual Dishonesty."

George

[Northern Yankee]

A true liberal today is a combination of socialist, fascist, and hypocrite.

Exactly... I watched this on display by a rabid liberal, during our 4th of July celebration at one of our local parks.

We had a boat parade by the river, and as we watched, a boat, decorated in red, white, and blue passed by with a sign that said, "We support our troops and President Bush".

This flaming liberal started flipping them off. If his ailing mother wasn't present I would have pushed the sob into the water.

Their hatred of this country is stunning.

[antivenom]

Control yes...leadership no.

[libertylover]

I love to read about these "eureka" moments.

[Northern Yankee]

Welcome to Free Republic!

[jsh3180]

I used to be a hippie liberal as well. My first vote for President was in 1972 at the tender age of 19, I voted McGovern. I voted for Jimmah the peanut man...in fact I voted a straight dem ticket until the second term election of Ronald Reagan.
I never have really figured out the exact turning point that steered me in the "right" direction. Perhaps it was raising a family of three children and starting my own business in 1981 that did it.
Happy Fourth of July!!!!!!!!!!

[roaddog727]

Welcome to FR.

Good post.

Happy 4th of July, Our Independence day.

[Jackknife]

I just read this last month. A good quick read, and it tells the story of the hard left turn the democrat party took. I recommend picking it up.

[Psycho_Bunny]

I read The Federalist in my early 20s but, apparently didn't understand it because I kept voting Democrat.

When I re-read it in my 30s, I understood it but kept voting Democrat out of habit, even though I was basically thinking opposite of the party.

In '96, I voted for Clinton and would have probably voted for Gore in 2000 if Clinton had stood up and said, "Ya, I cheated on my wife and got a blowjob in the Oval Office so STFU."  The fact that he lied about something so incredibly stupid pissed me off.  Had he been honest I would have shrugged it off thinking, "Well, your wife's a hag so....whatever."

Although, even if he had told the truth and I stayed with the Democrat vote through 2000, 9-11 would have done it for me.

[tje]

Great article to read over my morning coffee.. Thanks.. And welcome.

[Archon of the East]

I wrote vitriolic letters to President Nixon demanding an end to the Vietnam War.

A bit off subject I wasn't really old enough to understand first hand the actual political dynamics of that era. But why in the hell does Nixon's name get associated with Vietnam? I mean wasn't it exclusively Democrats, Kennedy and Johnson that got us involved and escalated it?

[summer]

RE your post #12 - My feeling, too. A very interesting essay. Glad I read it.