# Stupid liberal idea of the day **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [April 20, 2011, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-liberal-idea-of-the-day/579086 "2011-04-20T15:35:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 407
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2026, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-liberal-idea-of-the-day/579086/8122 "2026-08-01T12:47:28Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Again, transphobia hasn’t been just a conservative thing since the rise of TERFism. TERFs are definitely trans-exclusive, and they’re definitely radical, but I’ve never been convinced that they’re actually feminist. I think it’s just what a lot of transphobes call themselves to try to justify their position. ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2026, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-liberal-idea-of-the-day/579086/8123 "2026-08-01T13:29:40Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I think it’s just what a lot of transphobes call themselves to try to justify their position. I think _they_ think they’re feminists. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2026, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-liberal-idea-of-the-day/579086/8124 "2026-08-01T13:42:20Z")
Why does being a feminist automatically make you a good person? The original U.S. suffragette movement, for instance, was deeply racist. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2026, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-liberal-idea-of-the-day/579086/8125 "2026-08-01T17:05:40Z")
It really was not. There were conflicts with southern women who grew up racist and wanted the vote but were uncomfortable giving _those people_ franchise, but, in general, the suffrage movement was not “deeply racist”. The same argument has been used to impugn Maragret Sanger, that she wanted contraception available to the negros in particular to reduce their numbers, an argument supported by the fact that she consorted with eugenicists. It is all BS, and given that we have to deal with a RW machine that wants highly selective franchise, this crap needs to be put down hard. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2026, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-liberal-idea-of-the-day/579086/8126 "2026-08-01T18:36:05Z")
Y’know, I thought it was a well established basic thing you learned on day one about political debates, that you **_don’t_ repeat** the opposing side’s lies, codewords, libels, brand-labels or dogwhistles when responding to each. If the other fellow is saying you’re for “letting boys play in girls’ teams”, _DON’T_ repeat it even if to refute it. Dammit!! (Earlier in the summer the Republican was catching heat from MAGAs who don’t want to vote for a non-Christian, so now let’s have the Dem come up short on LGBTQ. Ohio deserves better.) ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2026, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-liberal-idea-of-the-day/579086/8127 "2026-08-01T18:44:13Z")
Hell, today we have Democrats who talk about the “Democrat party”. No one shoots themselves in the feet like Democrats. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2026, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-liberal-idea-of-the-day/579086/8128 "2026-08-01T20:13:30Z")
I did not know that, and I stand corrected. I still stand by my point, though - unfortunately, you can be a feminist and still believe in other, horrible things. There’s no logical conflict. ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2026, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-liberal-idea-of-the-day/579086/8129 "2026-08-01T21:03:36Z")
> [@bobot](#): > > Hell, today we have Democrats who talk about the “Democrat party”. No one shoots themselves in the feet like Democrats. I’ve never understood this shibboleth. Yes, people like Limbaugh were using it as an attack 30 years ago. At the same time, it’s a reasonable corollary to Republican, especially since the adjective is Democrat, even if technically wrong for the party. My experience of the people who make a big deal about it is that they’re not really worth talking to. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2026, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-liberal-idea-of-the-day/579086/8130 "2026-08-01T23:21:27Z")
And yet… ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2026, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-liberal-idea-of-the-day/579086/8131 "2026-08-01T23:33:18Z")
> [@asterion](#): > > At the same time, it’s a reasonable corollary to Republican, especially since the adjective is Democrat, even if technically wrong for the party. It’s not, because “Republican” is both a noun and an adjective, while “Democrat” is only a noun. It’s nothing more than an attempt to distance Democrats from the concept of democracy, and there is nothing accurate about that usage. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2026, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-liberal-idea-of-the-day/579086/8132 "2026-08-02T21:43:30Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > It’s nothing more than an attempt to distance Democrats from the concept of democracy, and there is nothing accurate about that usage. Yep. The Venn Diagram of those who insist on using “Democrat Party” and those who insist that “_the USA is NOT a Democracy, it’s a Republic!!!1!!!_”------forms one big ignorant circle. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2026, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-liberal-idea-of-the-day/579086/8133 "2026-08-02T22:41:12Z")
Who’s moto is “There’s nothing democratic about the Democrat party”. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2026, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-liberal-idea-of-the-day/579086/8134 "2026-08-03T21:36:00Z")
When they’re trying to be nice. (Otherwise: some combination of demons, rats, and Commies.) ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2026, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-liberal-idea-of-the-day/579086/8135 "2026-08-07T15:58:33Z")
It was a mixed bag. There were women’s suffrage leaders who supported black voters’ rights, and then there were people like Frances Willard. > [@](#): > > “‘Better whiskey and more of it’ is the rallying cry of great, dark-faced mobs,” Willard said in an 1890 interview with the New York Voice. “The safety of white women, of childhood, of the home, is menaced in a thousand localities.” [https://www.npr.org/2011/03/25/134849480/the-root-how-racism-tainted-womens-suffrage](https://www.npr.org/2011/03/25/134849480/the-root-how-racism-tainted-womens-suffrage) ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2026, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-liberal-idea-of-the-day/579086/8136 "2026-08-07T16:45:53Z")
Sure, but what percentage of all white people were racist back then? Pretty dang high. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2026, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-liberal-idea-of-the-day/579086/8137 "2026-08-07T20:59:49Z")
What percentage of people are transphobes today? Also pretty dang high. That was the whole point of this digression: someone said that TERFs can’t be real feminists. My claim is that many of them are in fact both real feminists _and_ real transphobes, and that unfortunately, there’s no contradiction between the two. You can be on the right side of one thing and on the wrong side of something else. ---
**Author:** ![Folacin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folacin/32/3195_2.png) [@Folacin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folacin)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2026, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-liberal-idea-of-the-day/579086/8138 "2026-08-07T21:35:10Z")
Of course, the ‘dark-faced mobs’ undoubtedly included Italians, Greeks, and eastern Europeans. In fact, I’d wager small sums that she was more concerned about them than African Americans. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2026, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-liberal-idea-of-the-day/579086/8139 "2026-08-07T23:20:42Z")
Which, of course, is still racist. ---
**Author:** ![Folacin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folacin/32/3195_2.png) [@Folacin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folacin)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2026, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-liberal-idea-of-the-day/579086/8140 "2026-08-08T00:14:08Z")
Absolutely - I meant to include a disclaimer to that effect. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2026, 11:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-liberal-idea-of-the-day/579086/8141 "2026-08-08T11:15:29Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > That was the whole point of this digression: someone said that TERFs can’t be real feminists. My claim is that many of them are in fact both real feminists _and_ real transphobes, and that unfortunately, there’s no contradiction between the two. You can be on the right side of one thing and on the wrong side of something else. They may think so, but transphobia goes hand in hand with misogyny. And the various anti-trans laws being passed will actively harm cis women too. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-liberal-idea-of-the-day/579086.md?page=406) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-liberal-idea-of-the-day/579086.md?page=408)