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| | [[Image:Liberal Brain.jpg|thumb|450px|top|<center>A satirical conception of the liberal brain.</center>]] | | [[Image:Liberal Brain.jpg|thumb|450px|top|<center>A satirical conception of the liberal brain.</center>]] |
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| − | A '''liberal''' (also '''leftist''') is someone who rejects logical and biblical standards, often for self-centered reasons. There are no coherent liberal standards; often a liberal is merely someone who craves attention, and who uses many words to say nothing.<ref>As one liberal website candidly observes, "Obama is a shallow narcissist, not a believer in any cause higher than himself. Every American president has had a healthy ego, but none has ever been as purely motivated by vanity as the childishly self-loving [[Barack Obama]]."[http://www.opednews.com/articles/Barack-Obama-s-ego-driven-by-Christopher-Calder-091210-804.html]</ref> Liberalism began as a movement for individual liberties, but today is increasingly [[statist]] and, as in Europe, [[socialist]]ic. | + | A '''liberal''' (also '''leftist''') is someone who uses logical, not biblical, standards and arguments. There are no simple liberal standards; often a liberal is merely someone who believes in equality, and who wants the best for everyone.<ref> Liberalism began as a movement for individual liberties, but today is increasingly about the freedom of everyone. |
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| | A liberal generally supports many of the following political positions and practices: | | A liberal generally supports many of the following political positions and practices: |
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| − | * Taxpayer-funded and/or legalized [[abortion]] | + | * Rights to your own body |
| − | * [[Censorship]] of teacher-lead [[prayer]] in classrooms and school sponsored events | + | * Upholding the Constitution |
| − | * Support for [[gun control]] | + | * Support for [[gun control]] as a means to keep guns out of the hand of children and criminals. (It's often, mistakenly, belived that liberals want guns outlawed and while some do it's not the norm.) |
| − | * Support of obscenity and pornography as a [[First Amendment]] right<ref>The [[Warren Court]], led by [[liberal]] Justices [[William O. Douglas]], [[Hugo Black]], [[Abe Fortas]], [[William Brennan]] and Chief Justice [[Earl Warren]] issued 36 decisions granting [[First Amendment]] rights to obscenity and pornography. These decisions remain fully supported by liberals today.</ref>
| + | * Support of the [[First Amendment]] right<ref> |
| − | * [[Income redistribution]], usually through progressive taxation | + | * A country where there is no hunger or poverty |
| − | * Government-rationed medical care, such as [[Universal Health Care]] | + | * Government-rationed medical care, such as [[Universal Health Care]] so no one dies of preventable and treatable diseases |
| − | * Taxpayer-funded and government-controlled [[public education]] | + | * Taxpayer-funded and government-controlled [[public education]] so no one goes with out an education |
| − | * The denial of inherent [[gender differences]] | + | * Knowing that just because someone is different doesn't mean they are less than. |
| | * Insisting that men and women be placed in the same jobs in the [[military]] | | * Insisting that men and women be placed in the same jobs in the [[military]] |
| | * Legalized [[same-sex marriage]] | | * Legalized [[same-sex marriage]] |
| − | * Implementation of [[affirmative action]] | + | * Implementation of [[affirmative action]] which does not mean what most people think. It's actaully a move to ensure that whoever is the most qualified applicant gets the job. Regardless of race/gender/nationality/etc |
| − | * [[Political correctness]]
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| | * Support of [[labor union]]s | | * Support of [[labor union]]s |
| − | * Teaching acceptance of promiscuity through sexual "education" rather than teaching [[abstinence]] from sex.<ref> [http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,286671,00.html Democrats Aim To Kill Abstinence-Only Program Funding], [[Fox News]], Monday, June 25, 2007</ref> | + | * Teaching sexual education, becuase, guess what, your kids a going at it like rabbits. |
| − | * A "[[living Constitution]]" that is reinterpreted as liberals prefer, rather than how it was intended | + | * A "[[living Constitution]]" that is reinterpreted as liberals prefer, because as a country changes old ideas must be looked at in a relative way. |
| | * Government programs to [[rehabilitate criminals]] | | * Government programs to [[rehabilitate criminals]] |
| | * Abolition of the death penalty | | * Abolition of the death penalty |
| − | * [[Environmentalism]]<ref>[[Greenpeace]], for example.</ref> | + | * Protecting the Earth so we have someone to live |
| − | * [[Disarmament treaties]] | + | * [[Disarmament treaties]] so we don't all blow each other up. |
| − | * [[Globalism]] | + | * [[Globalism]] because we're all the same really. |
| − | * Opposition to the [[Bible]].
| + | * Not forcing any religion on anyone. |
| − | * Opposition to an interventionalist American foreign policy <ref>Stefaan Walgrave and Joris Verhulst, [http://nicomedia.math.upatras.gr/conf/CAWM2003/Papers/Verhulst.pdf The February 15 Worldwide Protests against a War in Iraq: An Empirical Test of Transnational Opportunities. Outline of a Research Programme](PDF).</ref> | |
| − | * Opposition to full private property rights<ref>For example, the liberal wing of the [[U.S. Supreme Court]] issued the 5-4 [[Kelo v. City of New London]] decision authorizing the taking of private property by government in order to give the property to another private entity rather than convert it to a public use.</ref>
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| − | * Reinstating the [[Fairness Doctrine]]
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| − | * In 2005, it was reported by CBS News that [[Theory of evolution and liberalism|liberals were the most likely supporters of the theory of evolution]]. The theory of [[evolution]] is a key component of [[atheistic]] ideologies in the [[Western World]].
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| − | * Opposition to domestic wire-tapping as authorized in the [[Patriot Act]]
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| − | * Calling anyone they agree with a "professor" regardless of whether he earned that distinction based on a real peer review of his work (see, e.g., [[Richard Dawkins]] and [[Barack Obama]]).
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| − | * Opposition of [[Operation Iraqi Freedom]], a major part of the [[War on Terrorism]].
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| − | * "The long romance of Western leftists with some of the bloodiest regimes and political movements in history is a story not told often enough ...."<ref> [http://www.city-journal.org/2009/bc0605bt.html Dupes by Bruce S. Thornton], City Journal - 5 June 2009</ref>
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| − | ==Liberals and Uncharitableness==
| + | ==Part deleted for stupidity== |
| − | [[Image:228130875 35181424e3.jpg|thumb|right|175px|[[United States|American]] liberals give less to charity than American conservatives.<ref>http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2008/03/conservatives_more_liberal_giv.html</ref> In addition, [[per capita]] [[atheism|atheists]] and [[agnosticism|agnostics]] in the United States [[Atheism and Uncharitableness|give significantly less to charity than theists even when church giving is not counted for theists]].[http://www.barna.org/barna-update/article/12-faithspirituality/102-atheists-and-agnostics-take-aim-at-christians][http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3647/is_200310/ai_n9340592/][http://abcnews.go.com/2020/Story?id=2682730&page=2] ]]
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| − | ''For more information please see'': [[Liberals and uncharitableness]]
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| − | In March of 2008, [[George Will]] wrote at [[RealClearPolitics]] concerning the [[United States]]:
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| − | {{cquote|Sixteen months ago, Arthur C. Brooks, a professor at [[Syracuse University]], published "Who Really Cares: The Surprising Truth About Compassionate Conservatism." The surprise is that liberals are markedly less charitable than [[conservative]]s....
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| − | If many conservatives are liberals who have been mugged by reality, Brooks, a registered independent, is, as a reviewer of his book said, a social scientist who has been mugged by data. They include these findings:
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| − | -- Although liberal families' incomes average 6 percent higher than those of conservative families, conservative-headed households give, on average, 30 percent more to charity than the average liberal-headed household ($1,600 per year vs. $1,227).
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| − | -- Conservatives also donate more time and give more blood.<ref>http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2008/03/conservatives_more_liberal_giv.html</ref>}}
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| − | [[Atheism|Atheists]] and [[agnosticism|agnostics]] often reject [[Bible|biblical]] [[morality]] (and therefore [[conservative Christianity]] ) and hold to [[moral relativism]].<ref>http://www.barna.org/FlexPage.aspx?Page=BarnaUpdate&BarnaUpdateID=152</ref> Therefore, it is not surprising that [[per capita]] atheists and agnostics in [[United States|America]] [[Atheism and Uncharitableness|give significantly less to charity than theists even when church giving is not counted for theists]].[http://www.barna.org/barna-update/article/12-faithspirituality/102-atheists-and-agnostics-take-aim-at-christians][http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3647/is_200310/ai_n9340592/][http://abcnews.go.com/2020/Story?id=2682730&page=2]
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| − | == Liberal politicians and uncharitableness ==
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| − | The political magazine the [[American Spectator]] featured an article which focused on [[liberal politicians and uncharitableness]] and the article exposed the hypocrisy of the liberal politicians it featured.<ref>http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=1c5_1238044128&c=1</ref>
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| − | In addition, [[Barack Obama]] has been criticized concerning [[Barack Obama and uncharitableness|his charitable giving]].
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| | ==Liberals and Superstition== | | ==Liberals and Superstition== |
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| | This is not a new finding. In his 1983 book "The Whys of a Philosophical Scrivener," skeptic and science writer Martin Gardner cited the decline of traditional religious belief among the better educated as one of the causes for an increase in [[pseudoscience]], cults and superstition. He referenced a 1980 study published in the magazine Skeptical Inquirer that showed irreligious college students to be by far the most likely to embrace paranormal beliefs, while born-again Christian college students were the least likely.<ref>http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122178219865054585.html</ref>}} | | This is not a new finding. In his 1983 book "The Whys of a Philosophical Scrivener," skeptic and science writer Martin Gardner cited the decline of traditional religious belief among the better educated as one of the causes for an increase in [[pseudoscience]], cults and superstition. He referenced a 1980 study published in the magazine Skeptical Inquirer that showed irreligious college students to be by far the most likely to embrace paranormal beliefs, while born-again Christian college students were the least likely.<ref>http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122178219865054585.html</ref>}} |
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| | + | This is true, except for the part about it having anything to do with politics. Many liberals are actually Deists, Agnostic or Atheist. Many religious people who find that "God" is not real they turn to pseudoscience instead of looking at real science and seeing that there is no proof for any god. |
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| | == Liberalism in North America today == | | == Liberalism in North America today == |
| | [[Democrats]] and many media outlets in the [[U.S.]] are often [[liberal]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mrc.org/biasbasics/biasbasics1.asp|title=Media Bias basics|publisher=Media Research Center}}</ref> | | [[Democrats]] and many media outlets in the [[U.S.]] are often [[liberal]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mrc.org/biasbasics/biasbasics1.asp|title=Media Bias basics|publisher=Media Research Center}}</ref> |
| − | *Some argue that liberals typically support economic policy similar to that of [[fascism]]. <ref>{{cite web|url=http://fora.tv/2008/01/30/Liberal_Traits_of_Fascism|title=Video discussion about how modern liberalism is actually fascist by author Jonah Goldberg.}}</ref> | + | *Some argue that liberals typically support economic policy similar to that of [[fascism]] but they are wrong it's socialism and no, it doesn't mean what you think it means, look up a REAL definition. <ref>{{cite web|url=http://fora.tv/2008/01 |
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| − | * Liberals claimed a monopoly on [[compassion]], [[decency]], and [[social justice]] (as defined by themselves), posing as the sole defenders of [[civic virtue]] against a horde of backwoodsmen, racists, and religious fanatics. [http://www.americanthinker.com/2008/03/the_disgrace_of_liberalism.html] | + | * Liberals have a monopoly on [[compassion]], [[decency]], and [[social justice]] , the sole defenders of [[civic virtue]] against a horde of backwoodsmen, racists, and religious fanatics. |
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| − | <blockquote>
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| − | ''There's another goal, from my point of view, which is to try to lay the groundwork for a radical political force which would conceive of itself as distinctly to the left of moderate, reformist American liberals. And that has two aspects. One is to try to change that liberalism, to transform it by analysis, critique, and activism; the second is to build a radical movement which would be an autonomous force in its own right, which would be distinct from the traditional American liberal consensus. This radical part of the program involves not simply supporting the liberal students against conservative students and conservative professors, but trying to act on them, to push them to the left. It also involves trying to find and support, even trying to help create, networks of radical students in law school and of radical professors around the country — students and teachers who see themselves as wanting to go a lot further than most people want to go.'' <ref> [http://66.218.69.11/search/cache?ei=UTF-8&p=liberal+teachers&fr=yfp-t-501&fp_ip=MX&u=duncankennedy.net/documents/Liberal%2520Values%2520in%2520Legal%2520Education.pdf&w=liberal+liberals+teachers+teacher&d=BNZFhPReRjC1&icp=1&.intl=us Liberal Values in Legal Education] Duncan Kennedy (professor at Harvard Law School)</ref>
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| − | </blockquote>
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| − | ===Liberal Rankings of Congress Members===
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| − | The National Journal compiles the votes of each congress member each year and uses the information to create rankings<ref>http://nationaljournal.com/voteratings/index.htm</ref> of how liberal each member of the United States [[Congress]] is. In addition to showing the voting records of each member and given an overall all ranking of liberalness, the National Journal also ranks congress members by liberalness in the areas of social, economic, and foreign policy.
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| − | ==Liberalism in Europe today==
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| − | In Europe, on the other hand, parties that call themselves ''liberal'' are moderate in outlook, ranging from centre-left to centre-right, promote typically economic and business freedom. The Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe<ref>http://www.alde.eu</ref> is a party of the European Parliament that represents most ''liberal'' parties from European countries. Similar policies are promoted by many ''liberal'' parties throughout the world,<ref>http://www.liberal-international.org/</ref> such as the Liberal Party of Australia.<ref>[http://www.liberal.org.au/]</ref>
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| − | Trade unions and socialist parties often criticize politicians for promoting lower taxes on business, or more flexible hiring and firing laws, by calling them "liberals" or [[neoliberal|neoliberals]]. Thus, just as in the US, "liberal" may occasionally be used as a term of abuse. But when someone is called "liberal" in Europe, it has an entirely different meaning than in the US. In fact, the US meaning of liberal is more similar to the politics of European [[socialist]] or [[social democracy|social democratic]] parties.<ref>[http://www.pes.org]</ref>
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| | ==Historical Liberalism == | | ==Historical Liberalism == |
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| | ==Alternative meanings of 'liberal'== | | ==Alternative meanings of 'liberal'== |
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| − | One definition of liberal is anything that is not conservative. For example, the American Heritage Dictionary includes this definition of "liberal":<ref>Dictionary.com http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/liberal</ref>
| + | Not limited to or by established, traditional, orthodox, or authoritarian attitudes, views, or dogmas ... |
| − | * Not limited to or by established, traditional, orthodox, or authoritarian attitudes, views, or dogmas ...
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| − | ==Liberal Organizations ==
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| − | *[[AARP|AARP - American Association of Retired People]]
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| − | *[[ACLU|ACLU - American Civil Liberties Union]]
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| − | *[[AFL-CIO|AFL-CIO - American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations]]
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| − | *[[Amnesty International|AI - Amnesty International]]
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| − | *[[Committees of Correspondence for Democracy and Socialism]]
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| − | *[[Democratic National Committee]]
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| − | *[[Greenpeace]]
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| − | *[[NARAL|NARAL - National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League]]
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| − | *[[NAACP|NAACP - National Association for the Advancement of Colored People]]
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| − | *[[National Committee for an Effective Congress]]
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| − | *[[National Education Association]]
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| − | *[[National Organization of Women]]
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| − | *[[Planned Parenthood|Planned Parenthood Federation of America]]
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| − | *[[Progressives for Obama]]
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| − | *[[Rainbow/PUSH Coalition]]
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| − | *[[MoveOn.org]]
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| − | *[[A.N.S.W.E.R.]]
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| − | *[[U.S. Peace Council]]
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| − | Source: [http://www.politixgroup.com/lo.htm The Politix Group]
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| − | ==References==
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| − | {{reflist|2}}
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| − | ==See Also==
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| − | * [[Conservapedia:Articles about liberals|Articles about liberals]]
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| − | * [[Classical liberal]]
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| − | * [[Drinking Liberally]]
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| − | * [[Godless liberal]]
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| − | * [[Last wordism]]
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| − | * [[Essay:Liberal celebrity obsession|Liberal celebrity obsession]]
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| − | * [[Essay:Liberal Behavior on Conservapedia|Liberal Behavior on Conservapedia]]
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| − | * [[Liberal Christianity]]
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| − | * [[Liberal Democrats]]
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| − | * [[Liberal Elite]]
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| − | * [[Essay: Liberal Falsehoods|Liberal Falsehoods]]
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| − | * [[Liberal Fascism]]
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| − | * [[Liberal friendship]]
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| − | * [[Liberal Gloss]]
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| − | * [[Liberal grading]]
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| − | * [[Essay:Liberal hysteria|Liberal hysteria]]
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| − | * [[Essay:Liberal Intellectualism|Liberal Intellectualism]]
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| − | * [[Liberalism and art]]
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| − | * [[Liberal labels]]
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| − | * [[Slander: Liberal Lies About the American Right|Liberal Lies About the American Right]]
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| − | * [[Liberal logic]]
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| − | * [[The Liberal Mind: The Psychological Causes of Political Madness|Liberal Mind]]
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| − | * [[Liberal Party]]
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| − | * [[Liberal supremacist]]
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| − | * [[Massachusetts liberal]]
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| − | * [[Progressives]]
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| − | ==Further Information==
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| − | * [[Conservative Links]]
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| − | {{liberalism}}
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| − | [[Category:Political Ideologies]]
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| − | [[Category:Politics]]
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| − | [[Category: Liberals]]
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