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Is the left becoming more and more authoritarian?

Is the American left becoming more and more authoritarian?

  • Total voters
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Cardinal said:
Except that within this thread the definition of "authoritarian" has been expanded to include any policy that Liberals want. So going by that expanded definition any policy that Conservatives want is de facto "authoritarian."

It's a silly thread, though not surprising when you consider the source.
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this.
 
Ever notice how the only times when the horrific boot of political correctness shoves down a brave conservative is when they're saying truly heinous things like accusing gays of being pedophiles, atheists of having no morals, scientists of being in a conspiracy, or Muslims of being a barbarian horde? Oh, and plenty of truly awful things about women. Seems like all you need to avoid the ire of the dread "PC police" is a little bit of decency.

The criticisms of Obama continuing right wing authoritarian policies like Gitmo and surveillance are spot on, though. He disappoints his left leaning supporters by supporting conservative policies from time to time.
 
eohrnberger said:
I'd disagree that the present definition of "authoritarian" is anything that Liberals want.
What's so authoritarian about let's say a carbon pollution reduction tax credit?
However, a carbon cap and trade tax is far more authoritarian.

Being "authoritarian" with a policy or proposal isn't a 'what' about the policy or proposal, it's the 'how' part of it.

I agree with you that there are authoritarian elements or features in the policies and proposals that both parties support.

I dislike authoritarian policies and proposals, full stop. Who want's their arm twisted?
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Of course the definition is not "what liberals want," but the way it's been used in this thread by many is that a conservative is forced "to accept" policies that liberals want and therefore is authoritarian.
 
PeteEU said:
No it favours what should be the "right wing" position. Personal liberty and accountability has always been part of the right. Not having government butt into personal lives at least use to be a right wing mantra.



And the shoe fits. The pro life side is authoritarian as they want to dictate what people can and can not do with their own bodies.
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By that definition, a crying baby is authoritarian. Want to dictate and do dictate are two entirely different things.

Not having government butt into personal lives in ways that abridge personal liberty is a Right wing mantra and that of the Founding Fathers as well. However, there are so many laws that encourage the abridgment of personal liberty that it really isn't much of a guarantee at this point. Given the restrictions of the demands of co-existing within a society, that is how it must be.

However, the fact remains that there are almost no unabridged freedoms left to the individual in the USA right now. Almost nothing that can be done by one person that will not impact others and therefore needs to be regulated.
 
PeteEU said:
In many ways it is. And that is not because of the left, but because of the right losing grip on power they have held for so long, both politically and socially. The right is a wounded animal and is doing everything it can to maintain its power base... and this includes everything from gerrymandering to backing openly racist members of congress.



Nope they have not. But expanding.. not really. At best the actions of previous governments and present have been revealed which alters the perception that the programs have "expanded" under Obama, when in fact they are not much different than under Bush where they were enacted.



Why on earth not?



LOL it has everything to do with it. It has to do with how a country/government looks at and treats human beings. There is not much between having non Americans in a GITMO to having Americans in a GITMO. Now you can complain that the US government now targets US citizens working for the enemy... and you would be right, but who is not to say they have not done this before? The difference again is that under previous administrations there were relatively few leaks and admissions of guilt... now days, it is a whole other ball game thanks to people like Snowdon and Wikileaks.
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I notice that you selectively edited the part that the left has chosen to execute absent due process those who would have previously been imprisoned. Pretty slippery. Just a tad leftist.

Your first comment regarding the race issue is non-sensical and not based in any kind of historical or current events facts.

Your point is that the right is the bad guy. If the left is not doing anything in any way to reverse the acts of the right, they are complicit.

Gitmo is not a device for dealing with the citizens of the US.
 
SouthernDemocrat said:
Wait, wait, so you are saying that states should not be able to set their own policies based upon what is best for that state's citizen's interests, and instead those policies should be centralized and controlled by the federal government in a one size fits all solution.. This in a thread where the right winger in the OP is bitching about left wing authoritarianism. Oh the irony...
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He's saying two intrusive govt bodies is worse than one. I happen to agree.
 
ReverendHellh0und said:
You do know obama expanded domestic spying and the patriot act, right?


GITMO closed yet?


the republocrats are becoming more authoritatian.
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Somehow to the left lamenting the patriot act as they prevented its sunset, and then signing it into law again on steroids is better. Isn't that interesting?
 
SouthernDemocrat said:
Because California has unique environmental conditions (specifically in the coastal areas) that require more stringent standards. You can spin it how you want, but you are arguing for centralization while at the same time bitching about authoritarianism. In the case of the original Clean Air Act, California already had standards in place thus it was allowed to petition for wavers (and the Obama Admin is not the first time such wavers were granted).

If you want an example of left wing authoritarianism just look at the PC culture on many university campuses. However, to use the ability of California to set its own environmental standards to better serve its own citizens is an absolutely ridiculous critique of liberal authoritarianism. Decentralization of regulations is the absolute opposite of authoritarianism.
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The only unique environmental condition are more lefties here. Hence the authoritarianism. :2wave:
 
Cardinal said:
The really extraordinary thing about this poll is that someone logged out, voted no, cleared their cookies and repeated this action two hundred and thirty one times. Sweet jeebus, somebody get that guy a dog.
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They have been doing it not just in this poll, but any others they dont like. Judging by how they vote, its a lefty. It kinda makes the case of this thread.
 
eohrnberger said:
I voted Yes. Seems to me that the Liberals / Progressives / Democrats have gone from 'this is a good idea, let's promote it' to 'this is a good idea, let's make it mandatory'. That in and of itself, if far more authoritarian in nature and approach.
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It seems that way to me.
 
Moot said:
Your only example of left wing authoritarianism gone wild is what....interstate commerce? lol

Yet, they aren't the ones trying to force the 'keystone pipeline' on states, tax payers and property owners that don't want or need it, are they?





PS.... your poll seems to have gone wild. How is it possible that 330 people have voted on it since this morning and the overwhelming majority, both left and right say....."no" ?
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Forced private commerce, that was implemented on every American unilaterally and it wasn't from the right.

States want the keystone pipeline, Obama does not.

And as stated above, we have a crooked lefty voting over and over. The left is willing to lie to fit its ends. :2wave:
 
PeteEU said:
Hard to close when the GOP is blocking relocation efforts of the detainees.
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Hard to close because it's hard to close. Obama learned that pretty quickly. Though oddly, the same people who comment about it not being closed are the very ones who would scream the loudest if it were.
 
US Conservative said:
Somehow to the left lamenting the patriot act as they prevented its sunset, and then signing it into law again on steroids is better. Isn't that interesting?
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I'm sure you'd be happy about it being allowed to expire...:roll:

BTW, what were your boy Mitt's plans for the Patriot Act? Was he going to repeal it?
 
Na. I think the left in America has been raped, punched and kept in a dark cellar so very long it's actually refreshing to see them at least get some sunlight and coverage under Obama's 8 years, even if it was ever so brief with OWS only lasting for a short time then crumbling..


By the way, that picture in the first post is actually pretty accurate. Capitalists did start the class war in America. America used to be a much more economically equal society.

 
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rocket88 said:
I'm sure you'd be happy about it being allowed to expire...:roll:

BTW, what were your boy Mitt's plans for the Patriot Act? Was he going to repeal it?
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Actually, Mitt had retained all of GWB's neocon foreign policy advisors.
We can only imagine how many new wars they would have gotten us into .
 
So everyone on the left is OWS according to you ! :lamo

Ryan5 said:
Na. I think the left in America has been raped, punched and kept in a dark cellar so very long it's actually refreshing to see them at least get some sunlight and coverage under Obama's 8 years, even if it was ever so brief with OWS only lasting for a short time then crumbling..
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NIMBY said:
Actually, Mitt had retained all of GWB's neocon foreign policy advisors.
We can only imagine how many new wars they would have gotten us into .
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Well, but, but...he was the "non-authoritarian" choice!
 
Mitt was also to the left of Ted Kennedy 20 years ago.
Yet refused to raise his hand as only Huntsman did for a 10-for-1 swap of cuts to revenues in the 2012 debate.
Even Coburn supported an 8-for-1 swap in his 2011 grand bargain and was willing to go further .

rocket88 said:
Well, but, but...he was the "non-authoritarian" choice!
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NIMBY said:
So everyone on the left is OWS according to you ! :lamo
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If you're asking if the economic left of America which is never ever covered on any of the supposed "Liberal" news stations has essentially been gagged and silenced for decades then yes, I'd say OWS represented that gagged and silenced American left ever so briefly escaping to run the streets screaming in essential terror at what America has become for your average American.
 
US Conservative said:
We hear from lefties how anyone who disagrees with them are racists, sexists, bigots, homophobes, etc-in other words modern lefty versions of the word heretic. The left declares what speech is appropriate (PC). They force Americans to engage in interstate commerce. They have also become increasingly violent, reference the recent officer involved shootings, occupy, etc. All with no new ideas-just rhetoric to explain their policy failures.

There have even been calls to arrest those who disagree with them on global warming... Arrest Climate-Change Deniers

We are told (by them) that "the debate is over". :doh

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Is the left becoming more and more (nakedly) authoritarian?
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well the left has always been authoritarian but the major change is that once the goal of many lefties was to "comfort the afflicted" while now it is to afflict the (conservative) comfortable

I see this poll has been hacked by some left wing hackers just like the gun safety poll
 
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