Wizbang: "So now, like a newly sober drunk or a reformed smoker, I'm pretty hard-core. I now see that one side really is a bunch of cultists. -- But it is the left. And it annoys me that so many otherwise rational people will spout utter nonsense because the cult leaders tell them to."
He had basically the exact same experience I did. My Father whom I had always thought was Republican, but who is, in fact, a raving mad anti-Republican (quote: "all republicans should be lined up and shot") told me to listen to Rush because he was a great entertainer. I too listened with all the intent of mocking him, but over time my efforts to prove him wrong failed and I realized that he made sense. Wizbang put it exactly right; the Left is a cult. I was a member just like he was and just like him I have been deprogrammed. I did the hard work of self examination and forced myself to admit that I was very deeply wrong in my own thinking and my world view. Just like him, I am annoyed, no, angry at those who refuse to do the same work.
You see, the problem is that Leftist thinking is not just another point of view; it is an evil point of view. I don't mind different ideas. Indeed, I actually enjoy heated debate. Among conservatives there is strong and vigorous debate as a matter of course. But, there are some ideas which we all should know are wong. We should not, for example, debate whether it is right to enslave other humans. We have all learned that lesson. There are many other lesson which we have learned through the years. Many of them form the basic ideology of America in the Delaration and Bill of Rights. The Left, though, refuses to learn some of these lessons. Like a teenager who wants to have his cake and eat it too, they say they are for free speech, but are in the habit of restricting it whenerver they don't like it. They pretend that they understand that our country has enemies, but refuse to stand up to them with anything resembling strength. They call themselves Democrats, but don't understand the nature of democray, nor why our founders rejected it.
The consequence of their refusal to learn these lessons is that they enact policies that are immoral. It is immoral, no to mention nonsensical, to take my money by force and give it to another in the name of charity. Worse, it turns out that when the government, as opposed to the citizenry, gives money to the poor, it destroys their life and the lives of those around them. That is so patenly obvious that even some Democrats, like Clinton, joined Newt to enact Welfare reform. My problem is that many Liberals refuse to learn from this experience. But, this issue is small potatoes compared to the anti-Americanism which has infected virtually all the ideas on the Left. The rest of us learned that capitalism and American values are the greatest forces for good in the world. Somehow, the Left continues to feel that American values are the problem. By rejecting the very ideas that allow prosperity, they ensure poverty and human suffering throughout the world.
Yes, it was difficult to admit that the moral relativism and Leftism/Liberalism which I espoused has caused the deaths and suffering of millions. It was hard to correct my thinking, to admit that I was wrong, to actually listen to what the Right had to say, to engage the debate honestly instead of using rhetoric and sohpistry to make myself feel good, but I did it. So did Wizbang and so have Hitchens, Dennis Miller, Cinnamon Stillwell and countless others. The fact is that anyone can do it and that is why I have a real problem with those who have not.