When I look at the Tea Party and the irrational Right, I can't help but note that conservative voices who fail to agree with their dogmatic approach are vilified as RINOs or conservative in name only. Many former GOP members have left their party because they have found themselves less and less welcome as their views and the views of the rest of their party have diverged.
You know...the same thing happens on the Left. How many open-minded progressives are finding themselves shunted out of the progressive movement by ideologues insisting on every liberal toeing the party line?
I've often found myself confounded by the harsh, strident criticism from the Left for daring to question certain beliefs and positions. Such stridency and purity reminds me of the never-bending intransigence of the far right wing.
The question I have to ask myself is can you be a true Liberal and behave in such a dogmatic, strident, insistent manner? Is that even possible? Aren't liberals the ones who are supposed to look at all sides of an argument? Aren't we the ones who have cornered the market on empathy and compassion; in having a broad, nuanced understanding of the human condition?
Perhaps it's just human nature that people will aggressively and violently oppose any challenge to their dearly held beliefs.
But, for me, that is not what being a liberal, a progressive, is all about. If that means I can no longer be a "member" of the Left, then so be it.