Is Cecil on the left or right?

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

I was just reading Cecil’s “damn fool war” quote, and although being against the war doesn’t make you a Democrat, his tone was sort of democratish. It’s not enough to say anything, so just wondering.

I also found a [choice quote](Notary sojac," like the Bible Code and most Republican dogma, has no meaning) from SDSTAFF Euty: “‘Notary sojac,’ like the Bible Code and most Republican dogma, has no meaning”. Certainly he could have said ‘most Democrat dogma’, unless there is something specific here that went over my head.

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ps I am not looking to have a debate, I’m just interested in what people think of Cecil’s tone.

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Personally, I think Cecil is above such mundane matters as “politics”. That’s for those of us who don’t know everything. :cool:

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Well as far as I’m concerned Cecil is a man who likes to keep schtum. I mean I’m still waiting for that “welcome” message he promised when we became Charter Members.

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Cecil has explicitly referred to himself as a liberal in at least one column I can recall (no link because I don’t remember what the article was about, but I’m sure a sufficiently motivated person could find it if they do a search on “liberal”). However, I’d say overall he seems to try to be fair about partisan issues. I’ve also seen columns where he referred humorously to “liberal” as “the L word” and called the people who went easy on MLK Jr’s doctoral thesis “guilty white liberals”.

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Is Cecil on the right or the left? Cecil holds to those political opinions which are true and correct.

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Is Cecil on the left or right?

Well, last time I met him he was wearing rather tight brown corduroys, and from what I could tell, he seems to dress to the left.

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From all the columns I’ve read, my impression is that Cecil is left-of-center, but open-minded.

9

THIS LOOKS LIKE A JOB FOR… :smiley:

In What is, or was, the purpose of men’s neckties?, Cecil writes "I gather, Phil, that you do not like ties, probably because you are some kind of hippie beatnik who would rather live in the forest eating roots and berries than hold down a job like a man. But hey, no problem, I’m a liberal. "

From 1993’s How much do the animals used for fur coats suffer?: “Cecil, like any good liberal, opposes the gratuitous destruction of life. But as concerns the exploitation of animals by humans in principle, he is of the view that the means must be considered in light of the ends and, equally important, the alternatives. In the case of furs worn by the wealthy, the ends are frivolous. I don’t try to squish turtles when driving the back roads, either. But I do wear leather shoes, and plan to.”

I wouldn’t necessarily take any of this at face value, and there are indeed jokes about liberals elsewhere, but there you go. Also of note, in January 2000’s What’s up with gay marriage? Why do we have marriage laws at all?, we find
“Friggin’ liberals, some may think. But where’s the harm? If gay men and lesbians want to buck the hetero trend away from marriage and face the prospect of divorce and spousal support, why should the straight world care? No one with half a brain thinks homosexuals want to “convert” straight people, destroy the family and traditional marriage, etc. Gay marriage would serve the public interest by increasing stability, reducing the social cost when relationships dissolve (by making the disadvantaged partner eligible for spousal support), and maybe even reducing the spread of AIDS. Research to date suggests that children raised by homosexuals turn out about the same as children raised by heterosexuals, with no differences in sexual orientation.”
Cecil doesn’t call himself a liberal here, but the position he takes isn’t conservative- although he does say that the issue should be decided in the legislature, not the courts.

If you need more proof that he’s a lefty: Why are left-handed catchers so rare in baseball?, “Being a lefty myself”

From Is there such a thing as a left-handed cat?: “Cecil finds this interesting because he himself is a lefty, a much-oppressed minority. I haven’t previously had much use for cats, but when I see one now I’ll think: “Hey, bro!””

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No, no, no, …, no. Cecil is the center arround which all politics rotates. Cecil is neither left nor right, neither up nor down, Cecil is the sense and center of all things that have an answer. All hail Cecil ommmmm,ommmmm,ommmm.

Either that or he’s some pinko commie beatnick.

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Without going into details, i have concluded that Cecil is a progressive, moderate liberal (which all mean the same thing IMHO).

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Sounds like the Master is neither left nor right, but in front. :slight_smile:

[sub]Of course, that is the slogan of the Green Party of Canada…[/sub]

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Like most people of strong intellectual character, Cecil’s views cannot be so easily pinned down with the dualistic labels “conservative/liberal.” He certainly cannot be pinned down to any ideology vis a vis the system of political parties in the U.S. He would never be one to, for example, endorse a particular candidate.

Party loyalty (to the exclusion of independent thinking) is a trap for losers and the intellectually dishonest.

Cecil would never fall into such a trap!

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He’s on the left, but equally critical of politics/politicians.

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This is interesting. Is liberal considered right or left?

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Liberal is left

He may be to the left but not too far. In this thread, Cecil makes disparaging remarks about people who flee the country to avoid the draft.

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Depends on where you are. F’rinstance, in my country, “liberals” is a term most associated with center-to-right-wing sentiments. That’s because the spectrum is different altogether: Your “left” is almost identical to our “right”, and on our left, we have honest to God (semi) socialists and idealistic treehuggers galore. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. :slight_smile:

To confuse matters even more, the only true liberal party in my country calls itself “socal liberal”, and the party actively using the “liberal” label are really nothing more than conservatives with decent PR.

In a (predominantly) two party system like the US, liberal will soon become equivalent with “left”, if only for the reason that “religious conservative” will always be more of a right wing gig. The two ends of the spectrum define each other - but that doesn’t necessarily apply to other political structures, such as the coalition democracies in many European countries.

And yeah, Cecil’s above most politics. He calls them as he sees them, and that’s the way it should be.

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FWIW, Australia’s dominant conservative party (currently forming government in coalition) is named the Liberal Party, drawing from an earlier meaning of the word.

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<heresy>Didn’t we decide that there have been several incarnations of Cecils over the years? If so it’s entirely possible that they differed on matters of personal opinion, while being equally omniscient about matters of fact.</heresy>

20

Blasphemy!!! GET THE TORCHES AND PITCHFORKS!

Seriously, Cecil seems to be moderately liberal, but closer to the center than to the left, and he doesn’t seem to have any strong party affiliations.