10 Myths conservatives believe about progressives

"For the record: Liberals love America. In fact, what makes us liberals is that we actually read and believed all those pretty words in the Declaration of Independence about "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness," and in the Bill of Rights about freedom of speech, religion, assembly, privacy, and all the rest of it.

We're idealists that way. We want to live in the country the Founders described. We believe that the nation's founding documents expressed a uniquely powerful moral contract between the people and their government, and an audaciously positive vision of people's ability and competence to shape their own future. When we get annoying and whiny, it's usually because we believe so much in America's astonishing promise—and our own responsibility for realizing it—that we're sorely disappointed when the country falls short of that standard. We really want to believe we can do better.

Conservatism, by contrast, tends to take a dim view of human nature, prefers hierarchy to liberty, and isn't completely convinced people can or should be trying to contravene the will of God or their betters by trying to arrange their own futures. This tends to lead to a selective reading of the Constitution (as well as the Bible), and—as we've seen in the Bush years—a far more flexible attitude toward its interpretation..."

"It's going to be a stranger season than most, in no small part because the changing political winds are going to put some fresh twists and turns into the same old holiday discussions. But holiday arguments over religion and politics are a tradition that's as old as the republic. For most of us, wouldn't be an American family holiday without a little hot conversation served up over a freshly roasted bird."

Oddly enough, while some of my Republican relatives are still leery of Obama, they seem pretty unanimous in the view that Bush has been a colossal nimrod. But these 10 myths are certainly alive and well in Western Iowa where I live. Myth #11 is that we hate Western Iowa because it's so staunchly Republican- and I love it here so much, I can't imagine living anywhere else. It's one of the things I'm most thankful for today. What's hard about it is that most of the right wingers who live here honestly swallow these 10 myths hook, line and sinker!

Maybe I'd still have a weekly column in the local paper if fewer people weren't so painfully prejudiced against us "Lefties."

If you're a lifelong, dyed in the wool Republican, please give this article a read and maybe you won't be so offended by me all the time.

Moderates, Independents and Democrats- (Blue Dog and Yellow) read this, print off a copy, study it and do your best to educate and enlighten our friends and family in the "Red" parallel universe, perhaps someday we can heal the tensions that have been straining America so severely for the last decade and a half or so.

Read the whole article at http://www.ourfuture.org/blog-entry/2008114825/talking-turkey-ten-myths-conservative-believe-about-progressives