No offense to Daily Kos but you in general are not in the political Center. Having polls showing you are in the majority or even large supermajority on some issues does not automatically equate to being in the political Center.

I understand the desire to move the Overton Window, in which case constantly trying to spread the case of being "centrist" is not bad as long as you are aware that you are spreading propaganda. Regular, useful propaganda but propaganda nonetheless.

I'd like to address a certain problem that keeps coming up in connection to one of the issues (I/P) I choose to involve myself with on dkos. The problem is that I was previously banned before and stated it in a fairly open forum (on Swords Crossed) so now my I/P opponents are bringing it up as an issue so I can be muzzled (as is apparently appropriate under dkos policy).

DelawareDem, whom I strongly respect, wrote a diary that states:

I am sorry, but in my opinion, there is no place on Daily Kos for the airing of right wing talking points or a defense of right wing ideals as I have seen in that diary.  It disgusts me that it is on the Recommended List.  It is as if we liberals are battered wives, and our batterer has said something nice to us for the first time in a long while, and so we are in love with him again.  

The Right Wing is our enemy.  They are evil and hateful.  Their beliefs about America are unAmerican.  Their ideals will destroy America.

Crossposted at Swords Crossed

This is in a way a supplemental to Hamas is not the Answer. by Lucius Vorenus. I'd like to address the absurd notion that Democracy itself is an Absolute Good, that it can do no wrong and must be respected in all instances regardless of the outcome.

Democracy (or government by the people, the many, etc) is an absolutely essential tool for the people to keep their government accountable. Without any adjectives it can be used for both Good and Evil (in the loose and non-religious definition of those words). Here in US we are much more partial to the Liberal Democracy which is practically synonymous to the Constitutional Republic.

This topic has obviously been beaten to death but I'll make another short and sweet go of it. I am a Jew (no longer republican) who supports Israel and peace in the Middle East. My family lost about half of its number in the Holocaust and while I am not the type to continuously bash people for the sins of their fathers, I also recognize the importance of remembering our history and being vigilant. I know of all the anti-Jewish canards out there: that we control the World, the Media, Hollywood, we are greedy, we drink the Christian baby blood, ZOG, ZOA, whatever.

Crossposted at Swords Crossed.

I saw clammyc's diary So they hate Bush. How do we get their votes? and immediately thought of a few ways Democratic candidates could chip away at parts of the rather fragile Republican coalition.

The fact of the matter is some of us, conservatives/libertarians, like seeing a respectful nod and underscoring of common values between us. And you do not need to compromise or throw away any of your principles. Here is what Democrats could talk about with a slight change of emphasis:

Crossposted on Swords Crossed

Two days ago LarryInNYC wrote a diary titled Another Red Stater Reaches The End(er) Of His Rope. about my diary on Swords Crossed: Iraq, Bush, Congress and USA. I was somewhat embarrased by Larry's diary because I don't actively participate at RedState any longer. That kind of a "rat leaving the sinking ship" image does not help that blog, many members of which I respect. So, I would like to clarify that I am in no way affiliated with RedState nor should it reflect negatively on them. Yes my nickname means Ender from RedState but I created it over a year ago when I was a somewhat more active user there.

So I want to quickly recap why I am leaving the GOP and then address where I stand and what our points of agreement are.

I wrote this diary in response to perhaps a not well stated, and even an offensive question. It is not often that someone is very blunt about this but it gives me an opportunity as an American Jew to express some of my feelings on the matter.

This was the original comment that prompted me to think and write about it:

I have a serious question, one that has been on my mind for the longest....  Why is it that Jews in America, ones that were born here and no connection to Israel have more of a loyalty towards Israel than America at times?  I'm a Black man, and care more about America than what happens to Africa.  Just a question that I have been thinking about for awhile....

There are people on both sides who blow partisan statements way out of proportion when all we have is just a bunch of armchair chickenhawks sipping juice in the comfort of their homes, foaming at the mouth, and screaming "Oh no you didn't" at their monitors. A million of those virtual declarations of war would not equate to one swing of a fist in a barroom brawl yet their statements are exaggerated beyond belief. Both sides are guilty of this bravado. Let's see...

As some of you might know I am one of those evil republican-americans. Nevertheless I had my blog WingersOnParade.com on Markos' blogroll for literally aeons. It wasn't because it was particularly leftward, because it wasn't. And it wasn't because I was helping build the community because frankly I trashed this community left and right (mostly right, as some of you are well aware of). But dammit I still helped drive the revenue to Dkos by the virtue of my patient lurking, hitting the refresh button (adding to the page count #s), and even occasionally clicking on some of those stupid ads (what was that oil company?) thereby putting cash directly into Markos's pockets.

Yeah well sh*t happens. I don't really regret it anyways. I just wish Laura taught him to read better. He makes me cringe every time he speaks (reads his speeches). Now he is promoting some silly ideas to try to take the focus away from the disaster that his presidency has become. That's what you get when you are confused about what is right and what you are supposed to stand for.

Disclaimer: I am firmly on the Right of the political spectrum, agnostic and non-spiritual.

Crossposted on Swords Crossed

Over 80% of Americans consider themselves Christian. The one thing I read, that strikes me as truthful, is that if most Christians really truly believed in God and the Bible and Heaven, you would see a very different moral climate in this country with people tripping over each other to do good deeds, go to Church, and aspire to Christlike life instead of just mouthing empty convictions (on both the Left and the Right) and applying them to various pet issues: poverty, death penalty, abortion, homosexuality, etc. This faith, though stronger than in Europe, is so diluted and ritualized and normalized that many people don't give it much serious thought except for when they perceive one of their pet issues being threatened. Then all hackles are raised and the process of defending the faith, either via selective application of the Bible or an emotional religious appeal, begins.

Crossposted on Swords Crossed.

Yesterday I woke up feeling weird and wrote a somewhat strange, though heartfelt, first dkos diary entitled I am not sorry (for being a republican). In it I stated that it might be my last diary as well, but now I feel that I owe a follow up to anyone to cares to read it.

I was presumptious and arrogant and for that I apologize because that was not my true intent. If you really read it you'd see that I do not bask in my own rational or intellectual superiority. In fact on the blog where I usually post (SC mentioned above) I easily take the larger portion of the argumentative beatings from the Left and am forced to retreat. While there is virtually no chance of me switching sides, that does not render inter-ideological debate useless as I am always forced to reevaluate my positions and reconsider whether the defenses I use are logical, rational or even fact-based. I hope that I, at least sometimes, challenge the liberals sparring with me to have to come up with new arguments to show me the error of my ways.

I've been lurking on dailykos for probably close to a year and a member for half of that time. This is my first and probably my last diary. I am a guest here and it's not my place to get into ideological debates with other kossacks because that would be detracting from the point of this site. That said I'd like to identify what I view as severe hindrance to some of your outreach efforts to other republicans.

A little background about myself is in order. I came to US in 1990 from Russia and I am 30 years old. I am single and am firmly in the middle class, working in the field of IT (programming). Like many other former russians I am secular. My mother is apolitical and my father has moved from being a democrat to a republican in the last 6-8 years and no, his finances did not particularly improve, nor has he become a fundie. I've been a conservative republican since I first became aware of politics at the age of 17 - one year before the Gingrich revolution.