I'm a leftist who is, in the big picture, strongly "Pro-American" & "Anti-Russian"

[Tom Rinaldo]

9. Exactly. Here in America I'm sure our President considers folks like me dissidents

And I am not in the slightest bit deterred from or fearful of being one, either here on the internet or physically on the streets. It's an uphill battle to be a dissident here, and to defend those liberties that we are blessed with while fighting for greater justice. But it's hard to appreciate, sitting here at home safely venting my opinions, the struggle faced to do so in places like Franco's Spain or Putin's Russia. Or in Saudi Arabia, or much of Asia and Africa. We can not and should not try to forcefully convert the world, but we can and should defend the best of our values, both here and abroad, in concert with those who share them.

We are so far from perfect. I am well aware of, for example, what happened to the Black Panthers, including the assassinations. On the other hand BP co-founder Bobby Seale is still with us and going strong. If our democracy were less robust I am sure he too would long ago have been killed. Humanity needs to move forward out of the dark ages of hate. That is very hard to fight for under any full blown autocracy.