I once called myself a liberal and I was a good member of the party...until I got kicked out. (parts 8 - 9)

I once called myself a liberal and I was a good member of the party...until I got kicked out. (part 8)

The day came during the Clinton years (1993-2000) when there was a national debate on abortion. Remember, some of you, when BJ Clinton said he wanted abortion to be legal, safe and rare? A great thought that mirrored my thoughts. (Still does.) But at the same time....NO LIBERAL would even consider that Partial Birth Abortion should not be allowed. And that bothered me. You see, my fellow Liberals...all loving, all kind...stood by the position that Partial Birth Abortion was very rare and was only done to save the life of the mother. EVEN though that would be an impossibility given the way that the procedure is performed. I had done my research to support my pro-abortion proclivities and found that (wait for it): There IS a birth, it's just that the “fetus” is manipulated to come out only part of the way so that the doctor can puncture “its” brain and destroy it. If the doctor slips just a bit, there would be a live birth. If you performed that same procedure then, you would be murdering an infant. But a few seconds earlier, while still in the birth canal, you are performing a therapeutic abortion. And how the hell can that be better for the mother than allowing the birth?

At around the same time I saw a picture of a surgeon performing an intra-utero surgery on a “fetus” to save “its” “life.” That particular clump of cells had a fully formed hand with fingers that stuck out of the “mother” and grabbed the doctor's hand. Interesting action for a clump of cells, I thought. And that thought hurt. And this time I didn't turn away. Well, not fully away.

So I remained “pro-choice” but with (what I thought was) a small caveat. Partial Birth Abortion is infanticide, so don't do it. Let the woman still have the right to destroy her creation, I mean, clump of cells at some earlier stage BUT draw the line at murder. Surely Medical Science could come up with such a line.

Now I knew my revised position was riddled with inconsistencies (and still is) and I was very queasy with my position, but I was still pro-abortion, wasn't I?

Yet, that was it-the final straw.

I could not be a member of the Liberal class if I didn't fully support unlimited and unrestricted abortion. Hell, I wasn't able to even question a portion of it. Abortion was the Sacrament. My position was Sacrilege; this was Heresy worthy of the ultimate punishment of the religion.

So I was kicked out on my ass. Couldn’t even play in the playground after my former fellows went home.

And haven't regretted it.


I once called myself a liberal and I was a good member of the party...until I got kicked out. (part 9)

You see, I'm pretty much the same as I ever was.

And I've been able to question my positions and prejudices without being charged with blasphemy.

Quite freeing.

So I've self-classified when needed as conservative because the lines have been drawn and sometimes you have to choose a side. I “enlisted” in the Republican Party because there are still a few economic and realist conservatives who reside only there. I do not threaten the “religious right” who at most would convert me (and pray for me, which I appreciate) but do not threaten to ostracize me.

So I've found my niche. It's comfortable enough for now. And I've confused some people because I don't fit in a particular box.

I've found that Libertarians are those who usually don't want to take a position for which they will be held responsible. So they get to bitch and bitch...with a superior attitude. I've found that Progressives...hah, what a word for smug totalitarians...are just Liberals who are just Democrats.

My philosophy: “Don't screw with me or mine. And I won't screw with you or yours.”

In short, let's all of us leave all of us the hell alone. Maybe then we can find that common ground. I won't care who you're sleeping with, and you shut your yap about what I eat. I won't care if you believe that Mother Gaia is angry with her children, just leave me alone with my opinion that there is little we can do to prevent climate change. I won't care what your drug of choice is, and you will allow me to peacefully smoke what I want. You get the gist, right?