http://www.brusselsjournal.com/node/2825

1/5/2008 8:59:23 PM

Sure, if we can tax them to death. They're liberals, it's not like they'll mind the extra taxes.

1/5/2008 9:01:57 PM

Quote :

"The American mortgage crisis affects banks in Europe."

WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH! PEOPLE MADE BAD DECISIONS AND ARE PAYING THE CONSEQUENCES... WAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!

Quote :

"The insatiable American demand for oil makes the Arabian sheiks rich."

I sure am glad that Europe isn't buying any oil... Or China. Or India.

Quote :

"The American refusal to care for the environment causes the North Pole ice to melt and coastal areas in Asia to flood."

WAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!! AMERICA WON'T BUY INTO BULLSHIT SO AL GORE CAN GET RICH!!!! WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!

1/5/2008 10:04:39 PM

I don't think adults need to respond to this obvious nonsense.

1/5/2008 10:06:18 PM

Quote :

"Well now, the result of last week's competition when we asked you to find a derogatory term for the Belgians. Well, the response was enormous and we took quite a long time sorting out the winners. There were some very clever entries. Mrs. Hatred of Leicester Said 'let's not call them anything, let's just ignore them' ... and a Mr St John of Huntingdon said he couldn't think of anything more derogatory than Belgians. But in the end we settled on three choices: number three ... the Sprouts, sent in by Mrs Vicious of Hastings... very nice ; number two..... the Phlegms ... from Mrs Childmolester of Worthing; but the winner was undoubtedly from Mrs No-Supper-For-You from Norwood in Lancashire... Miserable Fat Belgian Bastards. "

1/5/2008 10:36:49 PM

Liberals in Europe would be free-market conservatives in the U.S.

It's a classic case of one word meaning two entirely different things in two different places. Barry Goldwater in Europe would be called a liberal.

[Edited on January 6, 2008 at 12:08 AM. Reason : .]

1/6/2008 12:06:45 AM

^Not at all true.

1/6/2008 12:30:57 AM

^

Quote :

"Broadly speaking, liberalism emphasizes individual rights and equality of opportunity. Different forms of liberalism may propose very different policies, but they are generally united by their support for a number of principles, including extensive freedom of thought and speech, limitations on the power of governments, the rule of law, the free exchange of ideas, a market or mixed economy, and a transparent system of government.[2] All liberals – as well as some adherents of other political ideologies – support some variant of the form of government known as liberal democracy, with open and fair elections, where all citizens have equal rights by law.[3] Liberalism rejected many foundational assumptions that dominated most earlier theories of government, such as the Divine Right of Kings, hereditary status, and established religion. Social progressivism, the belief that traditions do not carry any inherent value and social practices ought to be continuously adjusted for the greater benefit of humanity, is a common component of liberal ideology. Liberalism is also strongly associated with the belief that human society should be organized in accordance with certain unchangeable and inviolable rights. Different schools of liberalism are based on different conceptions of human rights, but there are some rights that all liberals support to some extent, including rights to life, liberty, and property. Within liberalism, there are two major currents of thought that often compete over the use of the term "liberal" and have been known to clash on many issues. Classical liberals emphasize free private enterprise, individual property rights, laissez-faire economic policy, and freedom of contract, and oppose the welfare state. Classical liberals support equality before the law, and hold that economic inequality, arising from competition in the free market, does not justify wealth redistribution by governments. Social liberals advocate a greater degree of government influence to protect positive rights, often in the form of anti-discrimination laws. Social liberals support universal education, and many also support the provision of welfare, including benefits for the unemployed, housing for the homeless, and universal health care, all supported by progressive taxation. "

Goldwater is the quintessential classical liberal.

In Europe, most parties that use the word "liberal" in their names are right-wing in their country.

[Edited on January 6, 2008 at 12:41 AM. Reason : .]

1/6/2008 12:36:09 AM

how exactly can they say in one breath that liberals support limitations on gov't and then in the next say that some liberals believe in wealth redistribution, socialized medicine, and the like?

re
tard

1/6/2008 12:40:18 AM

^ The same way Mike Huckabee can call himself a conservative and yet Rush Limbaugh can go on radio and spend half his show saying Huckabee is not a conservative because Huckabee does not believe the same things he does, a conservative.

It all depends on who you're talking to and what they emphasize. There's such a thing called different schools of thought.

[Edited on January 6, 2008 at 12:43 AM. Reason : .]

1/6/2008 12:42:26 AM

^^ wait... a word can't mean two different things?

oh fuck

re
tard

1/6/2008 10:47:18 AM

ethnocentrisownt.

1/6/2008 1:30:16 PM

I liked how the article included the adjective "liberal".

btw whoever said it above is right. There is no one "liberal" platform. The term liberal varies from one region to another and from what time to another. At one time the idea of *gasp the colonies breaking away from the King of England was a liberal idea!! Those damn liberals!!!

1/6/2008 3:36:53 PM

I wonder if the same group also demands the right to select a member of the Chinese Politburo as well? Afterall, China is rapidly becoming another highly influential force as well, particularly when it comes to economic and environmental concerns...

1/6/2008 4:58:47 PM

There was an excellent article in the Economist a couple of years back about how American politics has corrupted the term liberal. Of course, I can't find it now because the search on economist.com sucks.

[Edited on January 6, 2008 at 7:22 PM. Reason : ]

1/6/2008 7:22:29 PM

heaven help us if we ever have any liberal dollars

1/6/2008 7:24:42 PM