# Why so many liberals here? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 8, 2013, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-so-many-liberals-here/646552 "2013-01-08T22:47:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**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:** [January 10, 2013, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-so-many-liberals-here/646552/101 "2013-01-10T17:59:49Z")
> [@Dave\_Hartwick](#): > > On the other hand, it endorsed Obama twice. Which says nothing. Obama is about as “liberal” as Reagan was. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2013, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-so-many-liberals-here/646552/102 "2013-01-10T18:05:11Z")
Yeah, neither the Post, nor the NY Times are liberal. The Times was used as a mouthpiece to plant fake stories about Saddam’s WMD plan that helped lead us into war and the Post’s Bob Woodward wrote a hagiographic book about Bush. They both have a pro-business slant that was obvious in some of their coverage of OWS. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2013, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-so-many-liberals-here/646552/103 "2013-01-10T18:14:07Z")
> [@marshmallow](#): > > Coming here is a good way to refresh one’s memory of three year old memes. _blows his vuvuzela for freedom_ ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2013, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-so-many-liberals-here/646552/104 "2013-01-10T20:04:30Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > That [appears](http://news.discovery.com/human/voter-conservative-aging-liberal-120119.html) to be a myth. The article tries to cover some very broad turf. It even contradicts it’s own premise by saying > [@](#): > > Results, which are just starting to emerge, suggest that each belief follows its own complicated pattern. Seniors seem to have become more liberal about subordinate groups, for example, but more conservative about civil liberties.[\quote]. In other words, as they age people become more tolerant of other viewpoints and cultures but more conservative in their polictical (civil) views. > > QUOTE=Molesworth 2;15880893]You don’t, so you just start threads like this one and whine about how awfully you’ve been mistreated. FTR, I started this thread. I asked a simple question with NO bias. Others from both sides have dumped loads of steaming propaganda and vitriol. You haven’t a clue which wing I claim, if any. It is entertaining, though! ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2013, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-so-many-liberals-here/646552/105 "2013-01-10T20:11:55Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > You the pot or the kettle? False dichotomy! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2013, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-so-many-liberals-here/646552/106 "2013-01-10T21:17:39Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > False dichotomy! 😃 You know I don’t know big words like that. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2013, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-so-many-liberals-here/646552/107 "2013-01-10T23:15:30Z")
> [@For You](#): > > Which says nothing. Obama is about as “liberal” as Reagan was. And today on another board, I saw someone claim that Reagan was a RINO who raised taxes 11 times and not a true patriot like he was. :rolleyes: Just shows you how far right the right has moved. ---
**Author:** ![Dave\_Hartwick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7feea3/32.png) [@Dave\_Hartwick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dave_Hartwick)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2013, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-so-many-liberals-here/646552/108 "2013-01-11T00:36:44Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > Are you sure people aren’t confusing it with the Washington Times? I don’t know if some people are, but the Times is a much smaller paper, isn’t it? It rarely turns up in my news searches, while the Post turns up regularly. Wikipedia has it that the Post may have moved to the right in response to the Times. > [@For You](#): > > Which says nothing. Obama is about as “liberal” as Reagan was. Obama isn’t a liberal, true-- I’m sure he wouldn’t describe himself as one-- but his endorsement (twice) shows that the Post at least isn’t a party line Republican paper. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2013, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-so-many-liberals-here/646552/109 "2013-01-11T03:59:37Z")
Do you people actually read _The Washington Post_? I do. I’ve read at least 95% of the issues over the past twenty-two years. The _Post_ is certainly not conservative. It’s not extremely liberal by any means, but it’s certainly reasonably liberal by any American standard and even somewhat liberal by the standard of most countries. What you’re doing is picking a position here and there, exaggerating the _Post_’s viewpoint on it to make it sound conservative, and deciding that because the _Post_ isn’t as liberal as you are it must be conservative. ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2013, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-so-many-liberals-here/646552/110 "2013-01-11T04:01:12Z")
By the way . . . Average Circulation at the Top 5 U.S. Sunday Newspapers The New York Times 1,265,839 LA Times 850,267 102,494 Houston Chronicle 459,231 Chicago Tribune 755,265 Washington Post 688,576 The US newspapers with the largest daily circulations are: 1. Wall St.Journal 2. USA Today 3. New York Times 4. L.A.Times 5. New York Daily News The New York Times I view as solidly centrist, the Washington Post leans conservative. I don’t find either of them liberal, and I could not name a large daily paper that is. If you want liberal or progressive views, in the US, you would need to look for “alternative” weeklies. There is a consistent argument from the right that mainstream US media is biased to the left. This argument has not just zero, but less than zero factuality.I read the NY Times to find out what the centrists are thinking. This one fact, that right wingers think the media is biased left, is an example of why the Dope seems full of so called liberals. Just not believing provable nonsense makes you “liberal”, apparently. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2013, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-so-many-liberals-here/646552/111 "2013-01-11T04:07:07Z")
Do you actually read the _Post_ regularly? Are you just going by what someone has told you about what it said about a single topic? You seem to think that you’re in the center and anyone less liberal than you must be conservative. ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2013, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-so-many-liberals-here/646552/112 "2013-01-11T04:09:11Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > Do you actually read the _Post_ regularly? Are you just going by what someone has told you about what it said about a single topic? You seem to think that you’re in the center and anyone less liberal than you must be conservative. you talking to me? if so, you can assume that anyone to the left of me is certifiably nuts. Everyone else is to the right. ---
**Author:** ![Dave\_Hartwick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7feea3/32.png) [@Dave\_Hartwick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dave_Hartwick)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2013, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-so-many-liberals-here/646552/113 "2013-01-11T04:47:19Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > Do you people actually read _The Washington Post_? I do. I’ve read at least 95% of the issues over the past twenty-two years. The _Post_ is certainly not conservative. It’s not extremely liberal by any means, but it’s certainly reasonably liberal by any American standard and even somewhat liberal by the standard of most countries. What you’re doing is picking a position here and there, exaggerating the _Post_’s viewpoint on it to make it sound conservative, and deciding that because the _Post_ isn’t as liberal as you are it must be conservative. Yeah, it’s practically the Daily Worker. > [@Wikipedia](#): > > The newspaper’s editorial positions on foreign policy and economic issues have seen a definitively conservative bent: it steadfastly supported the 2003 invasion of Iraq, warmed to President George W. Bush’s proposal to partially privatize Social Security, opposed a deadline for U.S. withdrawal from the Iraq War, and advocated free trade agreements, including CAFTA. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2013, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-so-many-liberals-here/646552/114 "2013-01-11T04:54:05Z")
I didn’t consider myself a liberal when I joined, but now I do. But the only opinions of mine that have changed is that I am no longer pro-life (though I’m also not pro-choice) and I’ve gotten much less homophobic. As far as everything else, I’ve always been liberal, but I thought I was conservative, and would have said so in those polls. Why? Because, around here in the Bible belt, Christians equal Republican, and Republican equals conservative. And I’ve found that most people I talk to are also fairly liberal, once you get rid of those two things. Sure, they grasp onto Fox News sound bytes, but, without them, what they say is pretty liberal, by U.S. standards, at least. This board is made of critical thinkers who realize how liberal they are. And it’s actively hostile to those positions I mentioned earlier, which tends to push off anyone who would identify as conservative. And, yes, we are actively hostile towards the Republican party, which contains a lot of conservatives. So we do push them away, but not really because they are conservative. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2013, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-so-many-liberals-here/646552/115 "2013-01-11T04:57:02Z")
I didn’t consider myself a liberal when I joined, but now I do. But the only opinions of mine that have changed is that I am no longer pro-life (though I’m also not pro-choice) and I’ve gotten much less homophobic. As far as everything else, I’ve always been liberal, but I thought I was conservative, and would have said so in those polls. Why? Because, around here in the Bible belt, Christians equal Republican, and Republican equals conservative. And I’ve found that most people I talk to are also fairly liberal, once you get rid of those two things. Sure, they grasp onto Fox News sound bytes, but, without them, what they say is pretty liberal, by U.S. standards, at least. This board is made of critical thinkers who realize how liberal they are. And it’s actively hostile to those positions I mentioned earlier, which tends to push off anyone who would identify as conservative. And, yes, we are actively hostile towards the Republican party, which contains a lot of conservatives. So we do push them away, but not really because they are conservative. ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2013, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-so-many-liberals-here/646552/116 "2013-01-11T21:55:15Z")
We push them away because they are stupid idiots. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2013, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-so-many-liberals-here/646552/117 "2013-01-11T21:56:48Z")
> [@YogSosoth](#): > > We push them away because they are stupid idiots. Witty replies like that are scary smart. ---
**Author:** ![MacCat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maccat/32/216_2.png) [@MacCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacCat)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2013, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-so-many-liberals-here/646552/118 "2013-01-11T22:02:55Z")
> [@YogSosoth](#): > > We push them away because they are stupid idiots. The smart idiots are welcome however. ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2013, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-so-many-liberals-here/646552/119 "2013-01-11T23:20:23Z")
Even the brilliant sometimes are too lazy to come up with something witty. ---
**Author:** ![jambo101](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@jambo101](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jambo101)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2013, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-so-many-liberals-here/646552/120 "2013-01-13T20:39:45Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > The few conservatives left on this board, for the most part, Havent stumbled upon City Data Forum..😉 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-so-many-liberals-here/646552.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-so-many-liberals-here/646552.md?page=7)