Posted on 04/15/2002 1:54:23 PM PDT by PJ-Comix
It is easy to list conservatives that you like but now I have a tough assignment for you----list the LIBERALS that you like and why. I'll start it out by listing some of the liberals (alive and dead) that I like and why:
1. Steve Allen---Very liberal but a HELL of a nice guy. I met him at the airport years ago and talked to him for awhile. He didn't put on any airs such as many celebs do. Anyway, I told him a funny story about what it was like for "civilians" such as me to meet celebrities and also mentioned an article I wrote on this topic. He seemed quite amused by my observations and I also mentioned that I had recently had a history quiz published. Steve asked to take the quiz and he was the OHLY person to have answered ALL the questions on the quiz correctly so I was quite impressed by his intelligence. He carried a pocket tape recorder with him and asked for my name and address to write me a letter. I thought he was just being polite but a few weeks later I got a nice letter from him. We wrote back and forth for a few months after that so I have great memories of Steve.
2. Edwin Newman---I wrote him a letter once about one of his books and he replied and we sort of became pen pals for a couple of years. I never really mentioned politics to him since I found his observations on English quite interesting.
3. Al Sharpton---A complete fraud whose actions in the Tawana Brawley and other cases were quite despicable. However, Sharpton, unlike a lot of liberals, does speak his mind and he is quite funny in his outrageousness. Best of all he will make the 2004 Presidential primaries VERY EMBARRASSING for the other candidates. Just watching Al making the other candidates sweat makes me like the guy despite his many other drawbacks.
4. Adlai Stevenson---Okay, I'm going back in time but Stevenson, although he would have made a lousy president, had a great wit. Plus I like the fact that once he called his TV advisor up to his hotel room (after ignoring him previously) during a campaign to fix his TV set.
5. Hubert Humphrey---One of the last of the decent liberals. Although lionized by the Demmycrats today, he was once flamed by the far left. Little known fact about Humphrey is that although he championed the Civil Rights act he was strongly against quotas (what is now called affirmative action).
6. Hugh Hefner---Who even cares that he is a liberal? He has the Playboy Mansion filled with bunnies. I like that. So when do I get my invite, Hef? (p.s. Petra Verkaik was the best Playmate ever.)
7. Isaac Asimov---His political views were infuriating but he wrote some great books. Also his "Asimov's Guide To Shakespeare" is the absolute BEST reference book for understanding the bard. I also like the fact that Asimov figured out during WWII that the USA was working on a secret A-Bomb project because all the periodical guide references to Atomic Energy suddenly disappeared shortly after the war began.
8. Robert Caro---I'm not sure he is a liberal but some others on the FR have said he is. Makes no difference. Caro follows the facts where they lead him. His volumes on Lyndon B. Johnson are the absolute BEST biographies I have ever read. He also wrote a great book about Robert Moses.
9. Nat Hentoff---For obvious reasons but also because I know a lot of you will take the easy way out and name Henthoff on your list. However, I am making it tougher for you by taking Henthoff out of contention since almost every Freeper has mentioned that Henthoff is a liberal that they like. Remember, you can't mention Henthoff on your list because I already mentioned him.
But your comments about Sharpton tell me you don't like him but that he's a useful idiot. Therefore, he shaould be off the list.
Good one although I gave the Finger to Brown once when driving around L.A. late one night. He was in the back of the car just ahead of me and kept looking back towards me with those nutcase eyes of his. I found this amusing so I gave him the Finger just to see what would happen. Jerry then turned and said something to the driver and his car speeded up out of sight.
Juan Williams - anyone who NPR tries to get rid of can't be all bad!
Rowland Evans was the last liberal I could actually watch on TV without feeling the need to snarl at the screen like a rabid dog.
Other than that, they pretty much all give me a cramp.
Its hard for me to think of Tony Blair as anything other than another socialist third-wayer, but at least on the terrorism issue he has stepped up to the plate and taken a stand, something the Euro-weenies seem, as usual, to be waffling on.
He seems to be a good chap.
Actually I do LIKE Sharpton if I don't consider Tawany Brawley and a couple of other episodes. I definitely think it would be a lot more fun to talk man-to-man with Sharpton than any of the other Demmycrat candidates since I don't think the others would be very open and would remain in campaign mode. I've heard Sharpton interviewed on the Howard Stern show and he talks like a real person (although one whom I disagree with politically).
And then there's... ah....
And of course, who could forget... er... mmm...?
And there you have it.
Dan
A liberal and also very dislikeable. I ran across Ellison once late at night at a Hughes supermarket. He was walking up and down the cereal section taking notes and acting very indignant. Probably because he was mad about all the sugar and other lousy nutrients a lot of the cereals have. Hey, I say if someone wants to eat the sickeningly sweet Cocoa Puffs, let them. But Harlan acted like a madman about the cereal. There are also other stories about how annoying Ellison is. Not a likeable person so I can't say he is a liberal that I like.
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