Confession: Liberal columnist says left lies, intimidates to silence right

[Rich]

I was directly commenting on a post in this thread. Feel free to chime in to SC if you have a problem with my post since it was a response to him. His comment started it 

My fault. It wasn't clear to me that you were responding to another post. I didn't even see that post until now. You know, that quote feature can come in handy to avoid confusion...

I had no idea everything we talk about has to be on that article which was beat to death last night on Fox news.

Sorry, I don't watch Fox News so I wouldn't know. And I didn't post a thread about a liberal journalist calling out liberals on their crap so that we could discuss something other than that...

That would seem like a silly thing to do.

[Phishfan]

I don't think you are ever going to get either side to step away from labels. The issue I see it has to do with sweeping generalizations. For example, I've never referred to anyone as an Uncle Tom or Oreo. Yet this discussion is a sweeping generalization that this is a typical response from the liberal viewpoint.

Is it worse to call a specific person a name based on their viewpoint or to widely characterize an entire group into something they haven't expressed?

[Rich]

I feel dirty linking to a site called Christianity Today given my agnostic proclivities. But here goes:

http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2015/may-web-only/kirsten-powers-rise-of-intolerant-left.html?visit_source=twitter&start=1

An interview with Kristen Powers in regards to her book and how the left is becoming more and more intolerant of differing points of views despite claiming to the the champions of tolerance.

And as if almost on que... here is an Editor's Note from the Detroit News about how the left has targetted Ben Carson's race.

Liberal pundits have called the noted brain surgeon and only African-American in the race a “front man” for the GOP, a “drooling idiot,” a “traitor” and, of course, an Uncle Tom, among other derisive descriptions.

Certainly, Carson, a Detroit native, is among the more socially conservative candidates in the race, and frequently cites his Christian faith to support his position — two things that make liberals pop their heads. But Mike Huckabee, Rick Santorum and Ted Cruz do the same things to varying degrees, and none have drawn the overt hostility rained on Carson.

The difference is that Carson is black, and in this country, blacks aren’t allowed to be conservative. Not falling in the Democratic line with the majority of African-Americans makes Carson a pariah.

Whites, Asians, and even Hispanics can choose the political party that best represents their personal views without risking shunning by their communities. But blacks don’t have that right.

So when someone like Carson tries to claim it, he’s subject to an outpouring of racial intimidation that would have made Jim Crow proud.

http://www.detroitnews.com/story/opinion/columnists/nolan-finley/2015/05/12/ednote-left-targets-carson-race/27136377/

[bsmooth]

You mean like the GOP and conservatives have and still say such things as "you are with us or against us", or "you are not being patriotic", or my personal favorite, "if you don't like it, go find another country to live in."
So when it comes to stifling and silencing disagreements or opposing discourse, both sides of the aisles and their ardent supporters are equally guilty of engaging in these tactics.
No side has the moral high ground to call out the other side.

[Cathal]

You mean like the GOP and conservatives have and still say such things as "you are with us or against us", or "you are not being patriotic", or my personal favorite, "if you don't like it, go find another country to live in."
So when it comes to stifling and silencing disagreements or opposing discourse, both sides of the aisles and their ardent supporters are equally guilty of engaging in these tactics.
No side has the moral high ground to call out the other side.

Politics as usual. Such a broken system with horrible people involved. :/

[Spider-Dan]

Kirsten Powers is a liberal, you guys!
On Fox News, I mean.  Kind of like Bob Beckel or Juan Williams; a "liberal" that's busy telling conservatives that they are actually correct the majority of the time.

While I am hypothetically open to a liberal making claims of liberal intolerance, here is who I am not open to it from: token "liberals" employed by Fox News.  These people profit directly from advancing the narrative that "liberal media" silences views.  Try asking them if Fox News advances a conservative viewpoint and they will protest vigorously.

This is no different than S.E. Cupp, self-proclaimed atheist (and Fox News employee), publishing a book saying that Christians are the downtrodden minority in America.  It's hard to take your words as cutting self-criticism of your own tribe when you are directly profiting from said criticism.

When longtime Republican Colin Powell accuses the GOP of racism, Team Red laughs and waves him off as another one of the blacks in the tank for his own race.  And Powell is not even in politics any more.

tl;dr: Powers is not an actual liberal, as the positions she advocates are not those of a liberal.  She is paid by Fox News to play a "liberal" on TV, come on their shows, and agree with conservatives to provide cover.  And guess what this book does?

[Rich]

You mean like the GOP and conservatives have and still say such things as "you are with us or against us", or "you are not being patriotic", or my personal favorite, "if you don't like it, go find another country to live in."
So when it comes to stifling and silencing disagreements or opposing discourse, both sides of the aisles and their ardent supporters are equally guilty of engaging in these tactics.
No side has the moral high ground to call out the other side.

This is true. Both sides do it. In fact, the Democrats use the "patriotic" line when it benefits them as well.

However, this is different. We're talking about bigotry towards minorities that don't follow minority group think. We're talking about referring to a black man as an Uncle Tom if they aren't liberal or Democrat. We're talking about demeaning a Republican/conservative woman because she doesn't tow the standard feminist line.

It's the subversion of a difference of opinion by the so called ideology of tolerance.

[Rich]

Kirsten Powers is a liberal, you guys!

She supports Obamacare and believes in Universal Healthcare, supports comprehensive immigration reform, she favors gun control, supports closing Guantanamo, opposed the Iraq War, opposed a constitutional amendment to ban flag burning, opposes the death penalty.

On almost every political position on the checklist, she takes the liberal stance.

I think her position on gay marriage is a bit muddy.

She worked on the Clinton Gore campaign and in the Clinton Administration. She has also written articles for Salon, a liberal publication. Has worked for the New York Democrat party, was press secretary for Andrew Cuomo, and she has consulted for various left leaning non-profit organizations.

About the only "conservative position" she has is opposing abortions in the 3rd trimester.

Is that the only thing that distinguishes a liberal from everyone else? Supporting the abortion of a human that is a couple of months away from being born?

Your post is another example of how liberals are intolerant of any form of dissent. The minute they deviate on one minor position, they are no longer a true liberal.

[Dave Gray]

If you don't support same sex rights, I consider you a bigot and I won't apologize for it.

[Rich]

If you don't support same sex rights, I consider you a bigot and I won't apologize for it.

So if someone supports a civil union so that gays can have all the same rights as a married couple, they just don't support the use of the word marriage, you consider them a bigot?

[Dave Gray]

Uh, I'm less concerned about that, since I'm primarily concerned with the right, but the need to call it marriage is a way to make it "lesser" in their mind, so yes, I supposed it's rooted in bigotry.

What if we make mixed-race couples get "interracial unions" but they're the same rights as marriage?  Would that be bigoted?  Because I feel it's the same.

[Sunstroke]

*Both liberals and conservatives are guilty of lying, name-calling and intimidation.

*Kirsten Powers was a liberal, until she agreed to sell out, for big bucks, to be the Fox News token liberal who could be easily bullied by conservatives to push their agenda.

*Not supporting same-sex marriages either means A) You're homophobic, or B) You care far more about blindly adhering to an antique and outdated work of fiction than you care about treating other human beings fairly.

[Rich]

Uh, I'm less concerned about that, since I'm primarily concerned with the right, but the need to call it marriage is a way to make it "lesser" in their mind, so yes, I supposed it's rooted in bigotry.

What if we make mixed-race couples get "interracial unions" but they're the same rights as marriage?  Would that be bigoted?  Because I feel it's the same.

I'm not aware of a major religion that defines marriage as the union between a man of the same race and a woman of the same race.

As for your point on making it lesser, I definitely see your point there.

I'd be careful about using the word bigotry as the definition of bigotry (I know you like to change the meaning of words) is intolerance towards those who hold a different opinion from them.

Hmm does that make the left a bunch of bigots?

[Rich]

*Kirsten Powers was a liberal, until she agreed to sell out, for big bucks, to be the Fox News token liberal who could be easily bullied by conservatives to push their agenda.

Or she isn't intolerant of different view points, isn't dogmatic and can have listen to different ideas and consider them before deciding what her viewpoint is. I think that is called being open minded.

[Spider-Dan]

She supports Obamacare and believes in Universal Healthcare, supports comprehensive immigration reform, she favors gun control, supports closing Guantanamo, opposed the Iraq War, opposed a constitutional amendment to ban flag burning, opposes the death penalty.

I am quite aware that she claims these things as her "position."  Then she punches her timecard, gets on a Fox News camera, and provides cover to those who oppose them.

Like I said, her current job is to play a liberal on TV, then validate conservative claims that liberals are mean and unfair.  Her book does exactly that.

I'm not aware of a major religion that defines marriage as the union between a man of the same race and a woman of the same race.

Funny that you say that, because the Christians who opposed interracial marriage in the 1950s were fervently claiming that God made different races for different reasons and that the Bible specifically prohibits miscegenation... exactly like anti-gay bigots use the Bible as cover today.

This video covers it perfectly:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8JsRx2lois

I'd be careful about using the word bigotry as the definition of bigotry (I know you like to change the meaning of words) is intolerance towards those who hold a different opinion from them.

The standard battle cry of the 21st-century conservative:

"Why are you liberals being so intolerant of my deeply-held beliefs of discrimination against gays?"