Am I progressive?

[Boosterman]

I try to keep an open mind. I want to learn about the beliefs of the progressive left. I believe in all abortion rights except for parental notification. I believe in equal rights for everyone regardless of race, creed , etc. I tend to be moderate in my views. For instance on the gay marriage issue I believed we should push for partnership laws. Mainly to include insurance. I believe in health care for everyone. I however disagree on the priority of the democratic issues.

Now heres what will probably get me flamed if not banned. I think that our focus is too much on racial/sexual orientation issues and not on issues that concern the majority of the public. Yes that means whites too. Education, tax relief, and help for anyone that is struggling regardless of race, creed etc. I want to become the party of the lower/middle class regardless of what color their skin is.

On these boards theres plenty of bigotry. Lord (thats irony btw) help ya if you are southern white liberal.

Anyway JMO and I am asking for yours. Am I a liberal progressive?

[cheezus]

1. nope, you're a populist

if you need a label.

[Boosterman]

5. nah I don't need a label

Heck my opinions change frequently. Depends on the info I get. I also don't blame everything on the corporations. They do plenty of evil crap but it depends on the corp. Just like I blame a lot of our government. Dem or repub. Basically I am tired of little snide comments that I am a freeper so I am stating what I believe. I am always open to changing my opinion.

[alittlelark]

2. With a little work you could aspire to be one!

;-)

[amerikat]

3. You are a progressive.

You have the courage to speak your mind.

[Deja Q]

6. Doesn't mean he'll be well liked in the end.

:evilgrin:

(Don't take that the wrong way. Either he's misinformed or I am or we both are.)

He's a free thinker. And while it's obvious we've got our differences, I can respect him a great deal FOR being a free thinker.

[Boosterman]

8. No IMO you are both prob well informed

Unfortunately you are probably right. Different people take the same info and turn it into different results. The question is what do the people do w/ the info? I promise i will always try to learn and be polite.

[Deja Q]

4. Who've you been listening to? I'm GAY and I've heard little pro-GLBT noise

Or is it the fact the Dems (well, most of them from my experience...) generally supportive of us that makes us pro-gay extremists? :eyes:

Youa re what you are: An individual. As am I. Labels are for canned foods. Nothing more. (edit-> So please don't take me the wrong way. You're not on my ignore list and won't be. The fact you took a chance takes guts. Chutzpah. Character. Guts. Et cetera. I tend to be a bit melodramatic in my responses, so don't take my tone too personally. :hug: )

[Boosterman]

7. Well I work in a bar that has

quite a few gay guys in it. I am far from homo phobic. That was their main topic. IMO the dems should have said so.... and then passed the partnership thing. My main thing in this issue is insurance rights. thats extremely important.

[Boosterman]

17. Love your edit

Hugs

[Boosterman]

9. So is it ok if I refer people to here as far as my beliefs?

I am tired of being called a freeper.

[amerikat]

10. My tent is very big........it covers anyone

that seeks to care for their fellow human for the sheer joy of the caring. Do you think you are a freeper? I don't, I think you have something to contribute the the preservation of our country.

[yardwork]

11. It sounds like you are kind of mad at us, not vice-versa

Why do you feel that the Democrats don't care about white people? I feel that the Democrats care about everybody, regardless of their attributes. The Republicans care about nobody but themselves imo.

I didn't hear Kerry make a priority of gay rights or racial equality issues. I heard the right-wing dominated media tell everybody that Kerry was "too liberal." But when I actually read the transcripts or heard his speeches, it seemed to me that Kerry was talking about exactly what you are talking about.

The fight over parental notification is a good example. What is that Democrats want? They want a girl to have the right to talk to a judge and get his permission to have an abortion if her father was the one who raped her and got her pregnant. We Democrats don't think that a girl who was raped by her father should have to get his permission to have an abortion - she should have the right to talk to a judge in that special instance.

Do you agree with that? If so, you're probably a Democrat. Do you think that the father who raped his daughter should be allowed to prevent her from having an abortion? If so, you're probably a Republican.

[Boosterman]

12. Well in that example i agree completely

And if the father was the guilty culprit he should suffer some horrible punishment.

[msgadget]

13. Where are you hearing all this talk about race and sexual orientation?

'Cause I wanna turn to that station. I agree that all peoples need to be lifted up but when I caught snatches of the DNC Chair candidates, what I heard was, "...we need to appeal to white southern males..." And, until the very end of the election I didn't hear very much about race at all from Democrats who weren't black themselves. It wasn't until near the end that Jesse and Al had to make up in order to sit in the same room and Hillary found her way to a black church.

My question is why you want to shift away from an issue that gave the Democratic party distinction for a time, especially considering how many people of color this administration is propping in place?

[Boosterman]

14. Not from the MSM

Its mainly from individuals. I mainly want to shift the emphasis to class as opposed to race. Which in a way makes me a populist. But in another I think we could win more elections and thus serve everyone better. JMO.

[msgadget]

15. Class...

I understand that.

But, it's not clear what you mean when you refer to individuals. Do you hear a lot of minorities and gays demanding more attention? Or, do you hear people complaining about gays and minorities asking for special (additional) consideration?

[Boosterman]

16. Bit of both actually

My bar has about 5 gay guys working there. Between that and the patrons....

[msgadget]

18. I can't remember the last time I went to a bar and

sometimes there are a lot of interesting conversations goin' on.

It's interesting that you feel this way because I've had a few animated discussions online with rightwingers who were really pissed that gays had parades and blacks had holidays. I wondered if their precarious acceptance of diversity was predicated on both keeping lower profiles.

Progressives are all inclusive, as you pointed out, but would you be willing to acknowledge sub-groups?

[Boosterman]

20. I have no problems with

anyone showing pride in themselves or history. I do think the more umm exotic apparral worn in some parades is a bit silly. But I understand why. My cousin (closest thing i had to a sister) is a lesbian. My uncle (a freakin hypocrit) was very "religious". I grew up with her and saw how she was treated.

[msgadget]

22. And, having seen how she was treated and how advances in

rights for gays are being retraced, do you ever feel there is a legitimate need for them to have more consideration than would be included in a class-based agenda?

[Boosterman]

23. Well it was her father that was horrible to her

She never had a problem finding a job or being accepted and she was openly gay. She ran across jerks who would give her grief but generally didnt have a problem. The difference for her imo was she wasnt openly combative about it. In the bar where I work we have never had any problems with discrimination (sexual harrassment is a dif topic but I digress). There was one guy who was very combative about it. He screamed discrimination probably 4 or 5 times. It wasnt that the management had a problem with him being gay they just wanted him to show up on time. Now I am not saying this happens all the time or maybe not even a significant portion of the time. However, that doesnt mean I am not supportive of actual issues.

As I said before I think that the Democrats would be better served by trying to broaden their appeal. To let everyone know that regardless of what color/orientation you are the democrats are your party. Equal protection under the law for everyone and help to those who need it. Heck like I like to point out MS had 40 % go for Kerry. Other southern states were even closer. The mid west looks very open for 2008 if we can sway just a few of those white voters.

ok I rambled enough. Ty very much for being so civil.

Edited to add-she wasnt openly combative. DOH

[msgadget]

24. ...

Ah, now I see where you're comin' from. Based on your personal experience, some people take advantage of their minority status to be weasels and it hurts the party to extend extra consideration to them without their being as responsible as every other taxpaying voter. Is that it? And, naturally these are the sort the right refers to when they disparage civil rights, entitlements and the like.

Well, big deal. They want to embarass the Democrats into turning away from a pursuit of equality and justice for ALL and, unfortunately, the Democratic leaders have already toned down their stance on issues of race and gender in an attempt to regain the majority. And, as long as they forget they're the big tent, all-inclusive party and aim to appeal to the more conservative sensibilities of the other side, they will remain weak.

IMO, a progressive is the conscience of the party and does not turn away.

(I'm always civil! :crazy:)

[Boosterman]

25. Yeah pretty much

Look I dont deny the problems. Its really more of a reframing of the issue to me. I am not advocating taking away anyones civil rights. Please try to understand that at least. I see prejudice growing though. I blame this on the republicans mind you.

Basically I think we need different topics. I saw the other day how consumer confidence in pharmaceutical companies had dropped from 79 to 44 %. I think political corruption and big business should be our primary topics. JMO though.

[msgadget]

26. That's a good one

to add (:)) in addition to how more people are taking prescriptions than ever before and are undergoing financial hardship because of them.

We have too many topics on which to base a platform, imo. It's hard to just pick a few to highlight.

:hi:

[kick-ass-bob]

19. I think the problem is that

some people are still "more equal" than others.
That's why the focus needs to remain on those who are still "less equal."

There is discrimination against those who are not white males that is rampant (I see it every day) and in order to achieve this equality we all are striving for, the repressed groups have to be released from their restraints.

What does that make me?

PS _ I'm not attacking you, so I hope this doesn't sound like I am.

[Boosterman]

21. I agree that theres racism

and classism and bigotry galore. Just IMO now the calls are falling on deaf ears at times. Theres plenty of poor white people...enough to sway a close election anyway...that have huge problems of their own. IMO they are almost completely ignored by the democrats. They do benefit from democratic policies but theres little to no effort made to communicate with them. They end up becoming rushies by default almost.

Oh and btw you didnt seem harsh at all. Everyone has been quite nice. I think I might become a DU contributor. I want a search option.