George Clooney is a LIBERAL
Oh yes. He is a liberal. You didn't know? Well, he even blogs about it. There. Mystery resolved. Now, remember when liberal meant this? Liberalism is an ideology, broad political tradition, and current of political thought, which holds liberty as the primary political value. Broadly speaking, liberalism seeks a society characterized by freedom of thought for individuals, limitations on the power of government and religion, the rule of law, the free exchange of ideas, a market economy that supports private enterprise, and a system of government that is transparent. This form of government favors liberal democracy with open and fair elections, where all citizens have equal rights by law, and an equal opportunity to succeed. Now, how many people think George Clooney, or the Democratic party for that matter, stand for that? Yeah, thought so.
posted by The Sandmonkey @ 3/15/2006 04:53:00 AM
11 Comments:
Uh.. Thats not what he did. What he inferred is that people whisper they're liberal, like they're ashamed of it. Just like they would being nazi. NOT the same as equating them.
As for the issue of liberalism, it's a little more complicated than you make it out to be, SM. I used to bonk Americans on the head for not knowing the classical philosophical and economic definition as well, but really it is only fair to separate the two in societal values and economic system considerations.
George Clooney IS likely very liberal when it comes to classical societal values, especially compared to neo-conservatism. From what little I've heard him speak, he is a fierce defender of free speech, and of individual freedom - he seems to wholeheartedly support the ACLU, for example. In that sense he is likely more like European liberals.
Economically you're right, he is probably more of a social democrat. But just because Americans seem to have forgotten traditional categories in economic and political philosophy, doesn't necessarily make it wrong.
Also, please remember that while there may be sound critical points to raise with the ACLU, it is pretty damned difficult in my opinion to preach freedom of speech and press, and NOT agree with the core ideals of the organization, which aims to protect and preserve:
"Your First Amendment rights-freedom of speech, association and assembly. Freedom of the press, and freedom of religion supported by the strict separation of church and state.
Your right to equal protection under the law - equal treatment regardless of race, sex, religion or national origin.
Your right to due process - fair treatment by the government whenever the loss of your liberty or property is at stake.
Your right to privacy - freedom from unwarranted government intrusion into your personal and private affairs."
That's classical liberalism, but certainly not modern U.S. liberalism.
Liberal: A political philosophy which believes that society should be controlled by an elete coterie of enlightened people. This group should controll commerce, health care, education, indeed all societal structure. They purport to have the most educated and intelligent people in all positions of power ala the 'philosopher kings' of Plato but within one generation they will actually install a rigid nepotistic oligarchy just like in China. Liberal is a newspeak (read Orwell) codeword and actually means neocommunist.
turns out to be a bogus post. He never wrote in that blog. Ariana Huffington used his words and made it look like he directly posted it to her site when instead she just quoted him.
American Liberalism is a mental disorder.
Well yeah, George Clooney stands for all those liberal principles, and he knows what he's talking about, and by him being a liberal he injects some sanity into what's going on in the world, it's ignoramous parrots who blindly quote a hideous monster like Michael Savage are those with a mental disorder, got what I mean Nick?
Clooney disapproves of the democrats as well in the same article. However, the blog is gone now. Apparently there was a misunderstanding between Clooney, his publicist and Huffington.
As this has turned out to be one crazy creation of arianna huffington, perhaps you should post something to that effect for the benefit of those who don't read comments.
Here's andrew sullivan's take on the revised story
http://time.blogs.com/daily_dish/2006/03/quote_for_the_d_16.html
Now, how many people think George Clooney, or the Democratic party for that matter, stand for that?
George Clooney: Definitely. The Democratic party? DINO.
Hmmm. And how many people think the Republican Party still stands for fiscal responsibility? States rights? Individual liberty? Pft.
The US suffers under a de facto two-party system that inevitably ends with a choice of the lesser evil, rather than a positive choice of politics that one actually agrees with.
I think most Americans would agree that neither the Democratic nor the Republican Party are very admirable. But third (and fourth, and fifth, and tenth) parties, and through that: balance and nucance, are not an option, because any vote cast outside the two big parties is wasted. It's an artifact of the "winner takes it all" system in place.
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