I've always considered myself a liberal, but I have to say I found this article to be jarring at best, frightening at worst. Even realizing that it's fairly tongue-in-cheek, it paints liberals as the kind of smug, condescending, elitists that the right tries to tar us as. I feel like there's this growing consensus among a lot of liberals that if a concept goes against the conventional wisdom--if it shocks Middle America--than its virtue must be sacrosanct. I do feel that there are some issues, gay marriage and marijuana laws among them, where this is mostly true. But a lot of things on this list portray a shocking simplistic worldview. I don't want to ramble down the list, but I'll give an example:

"No more wars without United Nations or at least NATO support!"

I admire the sentiment, but can we please talk about foreign policy like adults? I believe that the US needs a stronger focus on diplomacy and foreign aid in order to prevent wars from occurring in the first place. In order to accomplish this we need to work together with our allies and, yes, our "rival" countries. Moreover, any military action should hopefully be carried out in concert with our allies and, if possible, with UN approval.

That being said, the above quotation is still wrong-headed. First, it supposes a functioning international system that simply doesn't exist. Do you truly believe that stronger action in Darfur, Zimbabwe, or Burma would never be permissible simply because China and Russia hold a permanent veto on the Security Council? Furthermore, can we really surrender our sovereignty to an organization whose Human Rights Council routinely condemns Israel (perhaps justifiably), but largely ignores abuses in North Korea? Perhaps, the authors realized these issues and thus added the "or at least NATO" caveat. Of course, this is the same list that dismisses our commitment to Eastern European member states.

Look, I'm not anti-UN or a unilateralist as I'm sure I'll be accused of here. I am saying the US needs to be able to pursue its national security interests with or without UN approval. In virtually every situation, it IS within our national security interests to work within the international system, but we need to maintain our right to responsibly defend our country or intervene humanitarianly without the UN if necessary.

IAnd that's just one long-winded example. So was this list "fun"? Cathartic? To me, it seems like more George W Bush style rhetoric: dogma over nuance, ideology over unpleasant facts.

Of course the person who had the "most fun" contributing to the article was a conservative. This list is full of extreme examples of policy postitions that paints liberals in a horrible light. A long list of conservative policy points, when worded the same way, would also look ridiculous and unworkable.

Maybe the author should have added the following one to the list:

It is ok to have a sense of humor in politics... ;-)

I see your point, but then how do you account for the number of folks who've posted here saying they agree with most of those points?

I think the humor is more double-edged than the author intended.

Maybe "most" people don't hate "liberals" after all?

I admit my Subject was a bit crass, but to be fair, I never said "most people hate liberals." All I meant was that this article gave me a little insight as to why some people do.

And if this was supposed to mainly satire and/or political humor, I think this falls somewhere into the Tom Tomorrow category of "Not clever enough to be satire, not thoughtful enough to be insightful commentary."

After eight years of Bush, haven't we had enough of "easy" answers and sloppy but hardline solutions. What I think would be a refreshing end to the Bush years, would be a society where decisions and opinions are driven by research and measured analysis. So please, more of that, and less of "Can I finally start calling troops baby killers, 'cause those were the guys who made fun of me in high school anyway."

How about the age-of-consent at 16 or legalizing pot...maybe good policy ideas but doesn't Noah understand that it's *exactly* dumb cultural wars like this that have kept the left out of power?

I mean it's a staggeringly stupid post. Right when the country was getting comfortable with the important core Democrat issues - socialized medicine above all, which has very strong support, or anti-Iraq, which has *very* strong support - there's this stupid stupid post about all the reasons people ran away from the left.

Parents, moderates, Christians (WTF was that bit about mocking Mormons?????????) ... they're all ready to vote for the Democrat this time, and sweep in a new majority, but things like this just reignite the unnecessary culture wars that keep Republicans winning.

It is ok to have a sense of humor in politics... ;-)

I love humor! But this wasn't funny. This was the political equivalent to a stand-up routine about the differences between white people and black people.

Hear hear!

I keep telling people that this election, coupled with the financial crisis could turn out the be the best thing that happened to this country in a long time. I think part of the reason officials were so freaked out on both sides of the aisle and rushed to pass a rescue bill in a panic was because for a brief moment they were exposed and people could see our economy for what it has really become and which they have helped facilitate. A giant pyramid scheme.

Unfortunately for you, Thrillhouse, this does make me hate the liberal ideology a little bit more. I heard about this and came to see for myself if it was a joke. Even if it's supposed to be a joke, it just reinforces all the negative stereotypes of the loony left. Sorry guys like this give you a bad name. I know you're not all like this.

Keep up the good work Noah! You just scored one for the right :)

I am a proud Democrat and a liberal on most issues. However, I can also understand why many people might hate liberals, issues in this list aside.

One thing I always point out to my liberal friends is that we can not preach "tolerance", "diversity" and "respect" while at the same time acting as if we look down on the rest of America. As much as a disagree with right-leaning voters, we have to remember that they are "our fellow Amercians" as well and that we live in a democracy where people can have highly opposing and vocal views. We can not continue to preach tolerance and respect for different cultures, religions, ethnicities and nationalities, while continuing to snear at "those scary Southerners and Midwesterners" or "those hicks".