I'm not a liberal

Sunday, October 19, 2008 by Dave Winer.

I'm also not The Left. 

I have a mixture of values some which you'd label right, others left, and others don't fall on that spectrum at all.  

I don't think the Republicans are particularly conservative. 

I think it's funny that it's a virtue when they propose cutting taxes but when Democrats do it, they call it socialism. 

I don't know what Republicans stand for these days. I read Brooks, Kristol, the Weekly Standard, National Review, PowerLine, Hot Air, all are supposedly conservative people, but they don't really stand for anything. They're more like baseball fans. They like the color of the hat, or their parents were fans of the same team, that's why they root for the Republicans. 

Look, I'm a Mets fan because I was a Mets fan when I was a kid. I rooted for the Mets probably because my parents grew up in Brooklyn and Rockaway and therefore rooted for the Dodgers. I like to think I'm a Mets fan because they have better philosophy, but I know in my heart that it's really the color of the hat. Only recently did I learn that the Mets colors, orange on blue, were derived from the colors of the two NY teams that moved to California. So I'm a National League baseball fan. For that reason I don't think of the American League as a "real" league. I like orange because it's the Giants color, and blue because it's the Dodgers, and I didn't even know it!  

I mention all this baseball stuff because in politics I don't have the feeling of loyalty to a team that many do. I do not always vote for one party or the other. As I've said before, in national elections, I've voted Republican more often than I've voted Democratic.  

I also think that when people talk about The Left or The Right or conservative vs liberal, they'r really saying "I cling to the past when trying to understand the future." I also think, sorry to say, that people who do this are idiots who don't deserve a vote (but thankfully I don't get to decide who gets a vote). 

I also think that, in order to vote, you must prove that you've watched and understood Why We Fight and The Fog of War. If you're voting in California, I'd require reading Cadillac Desert. 

Me, I think the Constitution is pretty good. I tend to take a man at his word unless I'm given a reason not to. I have been pretty good with money, but like so many others, I've lost a lot this year. I'd like to think that when I need medical care it won't matter how much money I have. I really do care about other people, even though I'm not a Christian and don't practice any other religion. Sometimes I wonder how people who call themselves Christian can ignore the teachings of their faith when it comes to being generous with others. In this country, so often, it seems Christianity is a very close-minded hard-assed me-first fuck-you culture.  

What else? I don't think this is a Christian nation, emphatically, I think it's un-American to think that any religion owns us. I've read both of Obama's books, and I'm glad to see he not only agrees, but can explain why it's so important. I think abortion sucks, and I understand why some people want to outlaw it, but I don't support them. I think most of all we need to become a team, here in the USA, and start pulling together, or else we're really fucked. And I don't think being a team is something you just talk about, it's something you must act on.  

I think people who say Obama is liberal haven't bothered to find out anything about him. It's my conservative side that's voting for him.  

America's religion is the Constitution.  

I love this country. It saved the lives of my parents and grandparents, and without America, I would not be possible.  

Update: Cross-posted at Huffington.