What was the defining moment in your conversion

[MoseyWalker]

from someone who just lived life and took it as it comes, to actively opposing what you see as a degradation of ideals and destruction of the Constitution?

Was there a point where you said you couldn't be the way you were before?

I have always been a democrat, but never took it as seriously as I do today.

I crossed that line when the networks changed their predictions for the winner of Florida from Gore to Bush. I went from extreme elation to unbelievable angst.

Again. Was there a defining moment when you told yourself you just could not be the way you were before, and had to object in some way to this creeping fascism?

[hobbit709]

1. 1968

Chicago

[Jeanette in FL]

4. 1968, too

Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy being assassinated. I was thirteen at the time, but knew that these were defining moments in who I was and what I would become.

Also in 1968 more and more of our older friends were being drafted, which made many of us become politically active even at age 13.

[MrCoffee]

2. August 5, 1981

My dad was an air traffic controller after he came back from Vietnam, and joined PATCO. He was fired in 1981. I've been a flaming liberal ever since.

[MoseyWalker]

12. I'll bet the word "reagan"

is forbidden in your house to ever be whispered.

I hated that bastard, but not as much as I do the current crop of crapeaters.

[MrCoffee]

14. Don't even talk to me about The Great Satan.

[Cobalt-60]

37. It was exposure to that d*ck that did it for me

I could see the senility upon him early.
these people had the same smirking "what are ya going to do about it ?" attitude that the Chimp does.
their callous disregard for the workers in this country, their attitude, smear tactics and general lack of honor had me ready to lock and load in 1983.
If I could stand them against a wall I'd ensure the last words they heard were " ketchup as a vegetable."
The election of Bush Sr. was completely intolerable. I couldn't imagine who was voting for these *ssholes.
There was one young governor from Arkansas with the courage to chew their sorry *sses in the open, though, so I put off the putsch for a while...

[SteppingRazor]

3. Was always somewhat to the left...

then became more so after the 2000 stolen election.

Then became a relentless, merciless hater of all things fascist after Nov. 20, 2003, in Miami.


This day made me a liberal.

[Rude Horner]

5. September 11th

Although that is not when I made my conversion. Sometime in 2004, I started questioning what really happened. My eyes opened to a whole new reality. I haven't been the same since.

[sinkingfeeling]

6. About 1967 or 1968. When about half of my male friends were drafted

and sent to Viet Nam. I began to protest the war. After Kent State with the National Guard on my campus (Ohio State), I think I realized that the government was never to be trusted.

[AX10]

7. I have always been involved in politics.

But I believe, ever since September 11th, 2001 that this world needs some serious change.
Also, the vile attacks on the Dixie Chicks convinced me that we are up against a brutal and inhuman enemy. People ask me why I don't think much of the Country genre. That is because so many Country "artists" came out and supported the boycott of the Dixie Chicks. Artists have a tradition of respecting each others right to freedom of expression. That respect obviously does not exist in that genre. The entire fiasco just reconfirmed what I already knew about the Country community.

[EstimatedProphet]

8. I think there was a defining 'time' instead of a moment

I've been a lifelong liberal and very politically active. However, during the Clinton impeachment, I got burned out. I had too many other things on my mind anyway (like finishing my doctorate) and there was just too much crap to pay attention to it all. When Bush came in in 2001, I didn't really care. When 9/11 happened I was shocked somewhat, but at the time I didn't have a TV, so I didn't get the 24/7 '9/11 changed the world' crap that the rest of the nation did, and I stayed mostly neutral.

Then came the war on Iraq. I could see from the outset that it was completely lies and chest-thumping. It was obvious in the way it was presented - "We have to attack Iraq because they could destroy us!" What? They can't destroy us? Well, we have to attack Iraq for the good of the Iraqis!" Anyone with critical thinking skills could see through that argument as the kind of thing a 3 year old does in order to get a cookie. Yet, so many people that I had previously thought of as astute were still swept up in it, and I realized that it was a full-scale propaganda attack, and I was more immune because I wasn't glued to a TV all day. So, I turned back to my liberal roots and never looked back.

[CGrantt57]

9. Kent State.

Impossible.

Fucking unreal.

Soldiers killing American students.

Jesus...it still pisses me off.

[MoseyWalker]

10. Thank you all for your replies!

:patriot:

I truly appreciate your replies and stories.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

11. 1964 on a Marine Corps rifle range.

We had to "qualify" every year. The boosted it to every 6 months because Vietnam was looming.

It was a fine October morning and we were on the firing line, drinking red hot coffee out of aluminum cups. It was beautiful. California, cool, clear, meadowlarks, golden sunrise. It suddenly struck me that they were about to "pull" the manlike targets for us to bang away at and that the point of all this was that we were going to be sent to kill people just like us for no reason except the bosses wanted us to.

I decided then, and there, that I didn't want to kill my fellow human beings because politicians wanted to look "tough on Communism" and I would oppose the bastards who tried to make me a murderer. About 6 months later they asked me to extend my enlistment so I could be sent to Vietnam and be a real "patriot". I told them they could shove that idea where they kept their brains.

Got 30 days mess duty for telling that gunny my opinion of war.

[MoseyWalker]

16. I'm proud to know you (on a message board anyway)

:patriot:

[QuestionAll...]

13. Noam Chomsky.

made my true nightmares. Before that I was a believer in the shit on our great news media.

ignorance is bliss.

[MoseyWalker]

17. Ignorance is indeed bliss

but it doesn't get things done, does it!

If I had to do it over again, I wouldn't wish for bliss. As much as this world pisses me off these days...........

:patriot:

[QuestionAll...]

29. yes, it does get thing done. not for us tho. nt

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

15. The Second The SCOTUS Ruled Against Gore My Life Changed Forever.

At that very moment I knew our democracy was headed down a dangerous path. My eyes were opened like never before. I had never been into politics at all prior to that, but watching what transpired in Florida prior to the ruling had me glued to the screen.

I couldn't believe what I was seeing and how deceitfully absurd the republican behavior was. But I was still ignorant. I hadn't been exposed much to politics but I knew the republicans were acting disgracefully. What I was ignorant too was the false had-not-yet-learned-better belief that the Supreme Court was an honorable institution that always ruled with logic and sound reasoning. I hadn't known the court was broken up by political splits as well.

I was idealistic. I thought the Supreme Court was filled with the smartest legal minds our country had to offer, and would always come up with rulings that were logically solid. When the ruling came down and I read it, my jaw dropped and I haven't closed it since. I knew right then that I better start understanding government and politics better and that our country would be headed into some troubling times.

[MoseyWalker]

21. I was exactly mentally where you were

:patriot:

[BuhByeChimp]

18. When my son was born.

I lost a lot of my selfishness that day.

[MoseyWalker]

22. Now that really hits

a lot of buttons!

:patriot:

[Marr]

19. When I read Chomsky's "Understanding Power".

I'd never read anything by him before. In fact, the only political commentary I'd read up to that point was the New York Times, Newsweek, that sort of thing. I had a head full of "official truth" that didn't stand up to close inspection, and I'd never realized it up to that point.

I kid you not, I had a terrible headache for 2 days after reading that book. Anyway, that was when I started seeing the world as it *is*, and not just the way I'd been taught to see it. That's when I became politically active as well.

[MoseyWalker]

23. do you know if any of it is online?

:patriot:

[Marr]

33. Hrmm... not sure. But that particular book was a compilation

of lectures and other materials, so I'm sure you can find lots of it online. I know there's a Chomsky archive online somewhere, but I can't seem to find it at the moment. :(

[lutefisk]

20. 1. Clinton impeachment 2. 2000 election 3. 9/11 aftermath

Seeing the collusion between the media and Republic Party as they methodically tried to destroy Clinton made me realize the Right Wing was willing to cross any line to get what it wanted.

[MoseyWalker]

25. I didn't cross the line then

because I still believed in the good ol' US of A, and thought things would sort themselves out. I never imagined.

:patriot:

[shanti]

32. yep, that was it for me too

2000/2001/*ush

[slackmaster]

24. When I noticed environmental destruction, rampant overdevelopment

In my home town. I was about 10 years old.

[kimmerspixelated]

26. Well when Gore lost

I was pretty pissed alright, but I wasn't near as incensed then as I am now. I thought, sure, Georgie is an idiot, but no one ever dreamed the current nightmare could ever exist on so many levels, nearly over our heads. I started visiting the blogs when Kerry lost after the exit polls had him winning. There were so many more Kerry banners where we went to vote that day, and I thought it was a shoe-in. I knew something was wrong, nauseatingly wrong. I've been fired up ever since, and I have been so grateful that there are others that share the angst. The huge numbers of us all really give me hope, but the terrorist in the WH scares the shit out of me!

[MoseyWalker]

27. thank you for your thoughts!

I think many of us can relate.

:patriot:

[immoderate]

28. Vietnam War

I was libertarian and independent. Strong on Constitution and Bill of Rights, still am. I noticed, especially as my student draft deferment drew near, that the right wing, which included the democrats in those days, wasn't making sense, and wasn't living up to it's ideals. I questioned my politics and made the adjustment. Changed my social outlook as well.

--IMM

[MoseyWalker]

30. My dad was in the Vietnam war - twice

but dropped bombs on people. He never saw the direct impact of those bombs.

thanks for the response.

:patriot:

[immoderate]

35. Hope your dad is OK and it's behind him.

That was one of the main scenarios of Vietnam, they call it "carpet bombing" and it brings up frightful images. I did not go to Vietnam, nor did any of my friends. We all found a way out or around. That stoked my cynicism, along with the question, "Why did we kill 3 million people?" Because they're stubborn?

It was Vietnam that showed me what Jefferson really meant about avoiding tyranny.

--IMM

[omega minimo]

31. What was yours?

:popcorn:

[MoseyWalker]

34. I gave the prime example

in the OP.

peace

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

36. Did You Read The OP? It Was Stated There... So What Was Yours?

[WiseButAngrySara]

38. SCOTUS involvement in the Presidential selection 2000. This

represented a national loss of soul and belief in integrity, and forever debased the "Highest Court in the Land."

[jbm]

39. Anita Hill..

I had been wavering, but still considered myself a repub until the Thomas/Hill hearings. That did it for me.

[Jed Dilligan]

40. I don't see myself primarily as someone

opposed to degradation of "ideals" or the Constitution. I know firsthand situations where the Constitution is just a piece of paper somewhere, and I never had an ideal image of this country.

I became an active Democrat, as opposed to an anti-political cynic, after seeing George W. Bush in the 2000 debates and deciding he was a fascist madman.

Getting along with the rest of the opposition is still a struggle for me. But I won't abstain from voting or vote third parties, as I did before, until the crisis has passed (if it ever does!)