Are Liberals Patriotic?

maybe you should explain what you mean by "self-loathing." I think I get the idea, but it just comes across as a buzz word, especially when it's used 3 times on one page.

anyway, I know it isnt hip to give sunday school answers, but I dont care: I think the solution is to live a life of thankfulness and humility. I suppose this would be somewhat possible if you didnt know and love Jesus, but I would think the well would run dry pretty quickly.

man, if spidey 2 is ten times better than the first one i'm gonna pee my pants in the theater and then have a heart attack.

this is why you have to be patriotic, folks: communist russia and islamic dictatorships are not gonna produce movies like this. that alone is a reason to get out there and dye yourself red-white-and-blue. There are other good reasons also, like long island iced tea.

Spidey is 10 times better than the first, even though it is entirely predictable. I ended up joining my brother and sister at the midnight showing, and it was pretty funny because half of the audience looked like Comic Book Guy.

I think that there are liberals who love this country, there are some who support the war (Phil Hendrie is one...Syndicated radio host nationwide...you can hear him on 102.3 FM @ 10 PM). Anyway, my history teacher in high school is a big liberal...I'm on the other side of the political spectrum. I got along with him, I ask him for advice, and we can talk about almost anything. He was one of my favorite teachers in high school.

Best Movie Ever?

I'd definitely categorize myself as a post-college, self-loathing weird mix of conservative/liberal thinking. And I think you raise some great questions, J.

I know this is going to sound like blame shifting, but I find that it is hard to be passionate about something like patriotism without an ample rolemodel. You look at Bush or Kerry, Rush Limbaugh or Michael Moore and I don't see anyone I want to get behind. But then I think of Karl Epperson and the local political scene, and how cool of a guy he is and how I may not agree with everything he might be running for Mayor under, but at least he's someone I feel like I can support...

Oh well, enough rambling I suppose.

I like the way that Al Franken puts it when he says that conservatives love America like a child loves mommy, and when someone criticizes mommy, then they must be bad and wrong. Liberals love America in a more mature relationship.

That being said, there are plenty of liberals who actually do despise American ideals and culture.

And it's pretty easy for people our age to, say, visit Rome their junior year or something and proclaim that America has no culture and is a wasteland of Nascar. We all know a few people like this.

That being said, there are plenty of conservatives who think that they love America, but they actually love what they think America should be. Don't ask me what I mean by this. I need to sort out my thoughts.

I think I fit in the the "weird mix of conservative/liberal thinking," although some folks would probably call me a "liberal," but that is just because they don't know my point-of-view on some topics, and I'm quite vocal on some issues where I take a liberal stance.

I think it is very possible to be patriotic and be a liberal.

pa·tri·ot·ic ( P ) Pronunciation Key (ptr-tk)
adj.
Feeling, expressing, or inspired by love for one's country.

There are liberal thinkers who take great pride in our country, and who love this land we live in, yet, feel like it is almost tainted by the current day government officials and what is felt to be their agenda.

Not supporting a war does not make one unpatriotic; sometimes I feel like my non-support for this war comes from my basic belief system of what is right and wrong. How can I support something that my Bible clearly tells me, in the most basic sense, is wrong? And when it comes to something like that, then yes, I'll look to the Word and my beliefs, rather than look to the actions of one individual who is clearly ordering the breakage of one of our most sacred commandments. Even if I wasn't a Christian, I still know the difference between right and wrong, and I think there is absolutely something wrong with killing people - much less 11,000+ innocent people.

As far as dying your hair red, white, and blue, well, I think it'd be a great gesture to show support for your country. However, I can also understand where your friends are coming from, in that when other folks see things like that, they assume that you support the President, his actions, etc., when that may not be the case. I think I'd be opposed to doing something like that as well, because I don't want folks to be confused about where my support lies, since people generally dump the attitudes of the American public in two different categories - unpatriotic and patriotic, and patriotic is almost always associated with supporting our President and this War effort. When people start getting the idea that you CAN be Patriotic, and NOT support our President's actions, then maybe something like that would be possible, and you may see more of an outright love for our country from some of the more leftist thinkers.

Rawr, I hope all of that makes sense, and sorry for the rambling.