My political evolution: Part I

I lean Liberal. Not Democrat. Not even necessarily Left. But pretty darn Liberal.

Why?

I've been thinking a lot about that.  Here's the scorecard in my head based on my life history. According to your preferred description, it  "informs my tendencies" or  "drives my biases."

In more or less chronological order, these are the issues that I remember from my formative years. In Part 2 I'll talk about the results of my more thoughtful reflection.

Sex education: Liberals: teach kids about sex in public schools (voluntary, after-school, but in the school building). Basic stuff, like how do babies get made. Conservatives: No! My mom was involved in this one when I was about 10 or 12.

Public education: Liberals: expand, improve public education. Conservatives: cut spending. Again, personal to me, growing up. This wasn't about school choice. Or teacher's unions. Just: how to do we get kids educated.

Segregation, racism, civil rights: Liberals -- end the injustices. Conservatives: denial, states rights, or worse. I had a paper route in the '50s, and it was not uncommon to read a story about some "negro" who had been lynched somewhere in the South. Burning crosses on lawns? Common enough that it was no longer news. The fight still continues. The Liberal/Democrat axis has taken some really dumb positions and offered some really bad solutions. But sometimes good positions, and good solutions. Meanwhile my perception of the conservative positions has been  (a) It's not a problem. (b) The market will solve it. (c) In the land of opportunity, you end up where you deserve to end up. Which is code for: (d) Inferior people deserve to end up in inferior positions. Or (e) States rights. And by Conservatives I mean Southern Democrats, before they became Republicans. And by Liberals I mean Northern Republicans before they were RINOed out of the party.

Religious discrimination: Liberals -- respect all religions. Conservatives: Jews killed Jesus. Personal because I was a Jew, and I did not kill Jesus. Antisemitism was becoming less common (but still present) in the North where many country clubs excluded Jews. It was pretty common in the South, where "No Jews, dogs, or niggers" was actually a thing. Now it's just the name of a play. I remember reading a racist tract in high school that explained that the whole race problem was caused by Yankee Jews, because niggers were too stupid to agitate on their own behalf.

Commie-chasing, McCarthyism, loyalty oaths, and blacklisting : Liberals against, on the grounds that it was both an abridgment of rights and ineffective as a deterrent. Probably some against because they were actual commies, or thought communism was great. Conservatives, in favor. By conservatives I again include many Democrats some because they agreed, and some out of fear -- because, as a professional politician, and you defended free speech you were attacked as "probably a commie." Or at best a comsymp. That was actually a word. Republican Margaret Chase Smith was one of the first to speak out against McCarthyism, I just learned. But not amazed, because back in those days, some Republicans were liberals. But Republican Joe McCarthy was behind it and represented the best traditions of the party. And that's why it's called McCarthyism. And it sucked. Ever heard of the John Birch Society? This ultra-conservative group thought Eisenhower was a commie.

Censorship: Liberals against censorship. Conservatives against changing standards in the name of family values or civil something. In high school I remember a book called "Lady Chatterly's Lover" being a big deal, banned from libraries. A movie, based on the book was also banned. The case had to go to the (liberal) Supreme Court, which struck down the attempt to censor.

Free speech (see Free Speech Movement): Liberals, more free speech. Conservatives: traditional values; don't change. Free Speech is a broad issue. Did you know that in 1971, you could get arrested for using the word "fuck," as in "fuck the draft" on a t-shirt? The case had to go all the way to the (liberal) Supreme Court. In  a 5-4 decision, they confirmed our right to say or write fuck pretty much whenever we fucking want to. Fuck yes! (And the guy who pushed the case to the Supreme Court? He was later appointed to the bench by then-governor Ronald Reagan.

Decriminalization of marijuana (and other recreational drugs): Liberals for. Conservatives: don't change. Still an issue. If you look at where non-medical marijuana has been decriminalized, there's a pattern.

Decriminalization of sex: Liberals, private sex acts between consenting adults legal. Conservatives: don't change existing restrictive laws. It wasn't until 2003 that blow jobs were legal in the United States, when the case went to a (liberal) Supreme Court, and decided 6-3. Who was against it? Scalia, rest in peace. Thomas. Rheinquist. Hmm.

Vietnam: Liberals - stay out. Conservatives (including many Democrats): Stop Communism! In 1964, when there were "only" 24,000 US troops in Vietnam, Democrat Lyndon Johnson was running against conservative Republican Barry Goldwater. Per wikipedia:  "Johnson campaigned on a platform of limited involvement in Vietnam and continuation of funding for social programs, Goldwater called for substantial cuts in social programs, suggesting that Social Security become optional, and suggested the use of nuclear weapons in Vietnam if necessary." As the sad joke goes: "They told me that if I voted for Barry Goldwater, we'd have a half-million soldiers in an unwinnable war in Vietnam. I didn't believe them, and voted for Goldwater anyway. And sure enough, we had a half-million soldiers in an unwinnable war in Vietnam." See later for more nuanced feelings about Goldwater. [Edit: haven't got around to that part] The un-nuanced feelings: fuck them both.

I can say fuck, now, thanks to the liberals.

Abortion: Liberals: legalize. Conservatives: don't change. Later: limit, and roll-back.

OK, do you see a pattern here?

I'm not saying that all Republicans are conservative; or all Democrats are Liberal, then or now. 

I'm not saying that Republicans have never done any good, and Democrats have never done any wrong. Far from it. 

Richard Nixon, a Republican and outspoken conservative, for whom I have a visceral dislike, did establish diplomatic relations with China. And he did get us off the gold standard.

But I will note that the things that Nixon did that I like are consistent with liberal values and against conservative. And as a matter of real-world politics, a liberal president could NOT have gotten away with them. Conservatives would have pilloried him. So thank you, Tricky Dick for doing the right thing.

And Lyndon Johnson ramped up the war in Vietnam. Ramping up the war? That was part of Goldwater's platform. So fuck you LBJ!

And Nixon ended it. Thanks again, Dick.