The Progressive Elk
I was reading the letters from Salon's article on Glenn Beck's war on progressives this morning, and found this little gem:
If you believe in the things that progressives and liberals do, what is the big secret? Most of you believe the Constitution is a living breathing document, you are for the redistribution of wealth, you are only for free speech as long as it's proper speech, you believe that we spend too much on the military, you hate people who use their religious beliefs to decide their political beliefs, and you are believers in big government to provide everyone equally with the same basic services. You also hate big corporations and the idea that any of them make big profits. So why would you be upset with Beck for pointing out what you all say you believe? Or have you truly considered what it is you back? Don't you believe in the importance of making the rich pay much higer taxes to make things cheaper for you?
Salon is, of course, rife with trolls, as are most blogs these days (trust me: do *not* read the comments on any Yahoo! News article), but this one struck a nerve. I'd say, rather, that as a "progressive" I believe:
-That the Constitution's strength lies in its ability to adapt to the ever-changing human situation in which it is embedded, as well as to provide norms of governance and liberty that transcend the particulars of any given situation;
-That redistribution of wealth from the poor to the rich, as has been demonstrably happening in the US for the last several decades, is a travesty of economic justice;
-That your right to free speech is not incompatible with reasonable laws regarding libel, slander, incitement, and other actual damages proven in court, and that as with any other legal action, innocence should be presumed;
-That we *do* spend too much on the military (according to Wikipedia, almost as much of the rest of the world *combined*, and 9x as much as China), for no reason that can be discerned by any rational mind apart from keeping tax dollars flowing into the hands of defense contractors who do business in the states of influential Congresscritters;
-That the religious beliefs of a few, or even the majority, should in no way be allowed to dictate law that restricts the freedoms of those who do not share those beliefs;
-That the national right to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" and the charge of the United States government to "establish justice, ensure domestic tranquility, [and] promote the general welfare" is perfectly compatible with the establishment of basic social services for all citizens;
-That it is fundamentally anti-democratic for corporations, which have substantially more assets available than any private citizen, to have the unrestricted ability to influence our political system, particularly when the result is substantively to increase their own profits at the expense of private citizens and the natural environment that we hold in trust.
So there. =)
If you believe in the things that progressives and liberals do, what is the big secret? Most of you believe the Constitution is a living breathing document, you are for the redistribution of wealth, you are only for free speech as long as it's proper speech, you believe that we spend too much on the military, you hate people who use their religious beliefs to decide their political beliefs, and you are believers in big government to provide everyone equally with the same basic services. You also hate big corporations and the idea that any of them make big profits. So why would you be upset with Beck for pointing out what you all say you believe? Or have you truly considered what it is you back? Don't you believe in the importance of making the rich pay much higer taxes to make things cheaper for you?
Salon is, of course, rife with trolls, as are most blogs these days (trust me: do *not* read the comments on any Yahoo! News article), but this one struck a nerve. I'd say, rather, that as a "progressive" I believe:
-That the Constitution's strength lies in its ability to adapt to the ever-changing human situation in which it is embedded, as well as to provide norms of governance and liberty that transcend the particulars of any given situation;
-That redistribution of wealth from the poor to the rich, as has been demonstrably happening in the US for the last several decades, is a travesty of economic justice;
-That your right to free speech is not incompatible with reasonable laws regarding libel, slander, incitement, and other actual damages proven in court, and that as with any other legal action, innocence should be presumed;
-That we *do* spend too much on the military (according to Wikipedia, almost as much of the rest of the world *combined*, and 9x as much as China), for no reason that can be discerned by any rational mind apart from keeping tax dollars flowing into the hands of defense contractors who do business in the states of influential Congresscritters;
-That the religious beliefs of a few, or even the majority, should in no way be allowed to dictate law that restricts the freedoms of those who do not share those beliefs;
-That the national right to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" and the charge of the United States government to "establish justice, ensure domestic tranquility, [and] promote the general welfare" is perfectly compatible with the establishment of basic social services for all citizens;
-That it is fundamentally anti-democratic for corporations, which have substantially more assets available than any private citizen, to have the unrestricted ability to influence our political system, particularly when the result is substantively to increase their own profits at the expense of private citizens and the natural environment that we hold in trust.
So there. =)