Sunday, March 18, 2012

Five Pet Causes Liberals Should Give Up On

I say these things as a liberal.  With that said, there's idiocy going on all around me, and before I criticize Republicans (and, given that it's an election year, Lord knows I will), I just wanted to point out a few flaws with the liberal agenda.  Also, credit goes to Dan Schneider (on Twitter, @das5341) for helping me come up with the list.

Voter ID Laws: Voter ID laws, in their most basic form, require somebody to show photo identification before voting.  Seemingly this isn't really a scam--in order for you to vote, you have to certify that you're a registered voter and that you have not yet voted.  This isn't a poll tax nor a litmus test (the latter of which I don't actually oppose)--it just makes you prove you're you.  So why do liberals object to this?  They say it's racist.  Who exactly is it racist against?  The invisible?  The extreme lightweights who are unable to physically carry a sub-ounce identification card?  It discriminates against illegal immigrants, but illegal immigrants aren't supposed to vote.  And while I think deporting illegal immigrants is a gigantic waste of resources, it doesn't mean any sort of suffrage entitlement. Otherwise, you have or are eligible to have an ID.

Banning Rush Limbaugh: Or any other loudmouth, asshole right-wing talk show host.  It's called freedom of speech.  If Limbaugh gets cancelled because all his reprehensible statements cause sponsors to flee, that's one thing.  But the government has no authority to stop him.  This isn't public broadcasting we're talking about here.  And is Rush Limbaugh really inciting violence?  Is he calling for violence, much less doing something which tangibly facilitates it?  If you don't like what you hear on right-wing radio or on Fox News (oh, sorry, I forgot, Fox News is fair and balanced), change the channel.  If we clear out opposition thought, no matter how irrational we find it, it means we will always stick to the status quo.

Claiming Jesus was a liberal: Conservatives do the same thing--identify a man who lived 2,000 years ago who never ran for public office and never seemed to have a specific stance on political issues of his day as one of their own.  Yes, Jesus endorsed charitable efforts.  They were also private charitable efforts.  Just as Jesus never spoke out against abortion or gay marriage, he also never spoke out in favor of universal health care.  So stick to what you know and not what you're pulling out of your ass.  Jesus didn't endorse your candidate.  Jesus would love you because that's his job, but I will continue to fucking hate you.

Public smoking bans: Now, I do not smoke, I have never smoked, I have never used an illegal drug, and I've never been drunk in my life.  I'm also straight and not sexually promiscuous, so the moralization of the Republican Party doesn't tend to affect me directly, but it still pisses me off.  And it pisses me off when liberals do it too.  Hence public smoking bans.  Now, you probably know where I'm going with regards to freedom of choice and whatnot, and how restaurants and bars can (and often do, in the name of profits from those who hate smoking) ban smoking, so I won't touch on it.  But here's something to ponder--when smoking is banned in a restaurant, does the smoker stop smoking?  Or does he go outside, into the air which is shared by all of humanity, and expose the world, including innocent pedestrians including possibly children, to dangerous smoke?

PETA: Now, I'm the first to admit that my stance on animal rights is quite inconsistent.  I eat meat, and not in small amounts, but I guess my general approach is that it's one thing to kill animals for the purposes of aiding humans (by supplying food--I guess I wouldn't really oppose fur if it looked better and wasn't pretentious as all getout), but I don't support genetically mutating for profit (which hurts economically long-term anyway) or abusing for the sake of a Napoleonic complex.  I also despise zoos, both on the principle of completely unnecessary animal confinement and because they're fucking painful to attend.  But while the animal rights premise is noble, PETA is an organization of unproductive trolls who would rather get attention than push for progress.  When you have women pose naked "because they'd rather go naked than wear fur", you aren't doing it because you believe it--you're doing it because you want attention.

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