All posts tagged: liberal

What Would a Liberal Tea Party Look Like?

What Would a Liberal Tea Party Look Like?

Published by José

This is an edition of The Atlantic Daily, a newsletter that guides you through the biggest stories of the day, helps you discover new ideas, and recommends the best in culture. Sign up for it here. A new president has taken office, elected in response to widespread economic dissatisfaction. Now he’s trying to make big changes to the government, and some voters are upset. They’re angry at the president’s party for backing the changes, and they’re angry at the opposition party for not doing more to stop it. That’s a fitting description of what’s going on now, but I was thinking of 2009, when the Tea Party movement erupted amid Barack Obama’s attempt to pass major health-care reform. Over the past week, some signs have emerged of a shift in the national mood that feels similar to what the country experienced back then. As the effects of Elon Musk’s rampage through the federal government are starting to be felt, some people are getting angry. Trump’s net approval rating is slipping slightly. Americans are upset that …

Secularists call for renewal of liberal values at NSS conference

Secularists call for renewal of liberal values at NSS conference

Published by skeptic

Educators, parliamentarians, and academics highlighted the need to challenge religious threats to universal freedoms at a National Secular Society conference in London on Saturday. Shedding light on the complex issues affecting liberal societies, speakers from a wide range of backgrounds emphasised the importance of secularism to liberal values. Liberal values and the secular state Opening the first panel of the day, Professor Ronan McCrea of UCL said liberalism is the “idea that disagreement is permanent, and the search for truth ongoing”. Journalist Emma Park said the starting point for liberal society is that “civil liberties are precious and should be jealously guarded”. She emphasised the importance of the twin values of free thought and free speech. Liberal Democrat peer Paul Scriven, who introduced a bill last year to disestablish the Church of England, gave an inside perspective on how the Church has a “special hold on the levers of power”. He said experiencing the influence of the 26 bishops given automatic seats in the House of Lords impressed upon him the need for disestablishment. Anglican …

Secularism and the safeguarding of liberal values

Secularism and the safeguarding of liberal values

Published by skeptic

It’s easy to see how the idea of being saved by an act of “divine intervention” might well appeal to a narcissist like Donald Trump. But his claim that he had “God on his side” during the recent failed assassination attempt is more likely to be the sentiment of a grifter exploiting religion for political gain. But sincere belief in the supernatural isn’t necessary for Trump and his cronies to dismantle America’s wall of separation between church and state. His nomination of conservative justices to the supreme court during his previous term of office paved the way for the overturning of Roe v Wade – a significant win for evangelicals. With a return to the White House looking distinctly possible, more laws to enforce the doctrines of his Christian support base could be on the cards. The rise of Christian nationalism in the US is another indicator of a backsliding of secular liberal democratic values, the foundation upon which many successful modern societies are built. Right across the world, wherever religion and political power are …

Liberal Archbishop Víctor Manuel Fernández is pope’s right-hand man

Liberal Archbishop Víctor Manuel Fernández is pope’s right-hand man

Published by Sam

VATICAN CITY — When Pope Francis first asked if he would be willing to take one of the loftiest jobs at the Vatican, heading the office that sets the policies of the Roman Catholic Church, Víctor Manuel Fernández said no. The liberal Argentine archbishop worried his appointment might make things worse for a pope facing historic internal dissent. “I knew that there were groups that did not love me, some willing to do anything — judging by the expressions they used on social networks and even in messages they wrote on my Facebook page — and I was afraid of causing problems for Francis,” Fernández said in an interview with The Washington Post. When the pope called again last June, from a hospital where he’d just undergone intestinal surgery, Fernández relented. He moved to Vatican City, was named a cardinal and became the pope’s right-hand man, helping to translate the changes in tone and style Francis brought to the papacy into concrete new guidelines for 1.4 billion Catholics. “Fernández’s appointment was the most consequential of …

Manifesto checker: What are the Greens’, Conservatives’ and Liberal Democrats’ key pledges? | Politics News

Manifesto checker: What are the Greens’, Conservatives’ and Liberal Democrats’ key pledges? | Politics News

Published by Sam

The Greens, Conservatives and Liberal Democrats have released their manifestos – as the general election campaign carries on. Sky News has scoured their policy pledges so you don’t have to. We will add a breakdown of all the other parties’ manifestos here when they are announced. Follow live general election updates Scroll to the right in the interactive tool below to find out what the parties have promised to do if they win the election on 4 July. Source link

Rishi Sunak must stop liberal migration ‘betrayal’, say ex-ministers | Politics | News

Rishi Sunak must stop liberal migration ‘betrayal’, say ex-ministers | Politics | News

Published by skeptic

Rishi Sunak was told to dump liberal migration rules after research found high levels fuelled the housing crisis while failing to boost the economy. Ex-immigration minister Robert Jenrick warned it would be “unforgivable” if the Prime Minister failed to act before the general election. In a report, he dismissed claims high migration boosts economic growth and warned rapid population increases are largely responsible for housing shortages. He said: “It would be unforgivable if the Government did not use the time before the general election to undo the disastrous post-Brexit liberalisations that betrayed the express wishes of the British public for lower immigration.” Mr Jenrick called for a cap on numbers, tougher restrictions on students coming to the UK, immediate reduction in social care visas. He also called for the Home Office to be broken up, with a new Department of Border Security and Immigration Control created to take over responsibility for migration. “The changes we propose today would finally return numbers to the historical norm and deliver the highly-selective, highly-skilled immigration system voters were promised,” …

Kristi Noem claims liberal bias is why her interview on CBS went so poorly

Kristi Noem claims liberal bias is why her interview on CBS went so poorly

Published by skeptic

When all else fails, blame the interviewer. Kristi Noem, the Republican governor of South Dakota, is lashing out at Margaret Brennan, host of CBS’s Face the Nation, after a ruinous interview over the weekend. Before her appearance on the show Sunday, Noem said on X that she was excited to promote her new book, “No Going Back,” which she described as a “how-to guide for how Americans can help Make America Great Again!” But Noem seemed unprepared for any questions about the most newsworthy claims in that book: that she shot and killed her dog, for example. “I wonder if you have regrets about sharing this story?” Brennan asked. “This book is filled with vulnerable, painful moments in my life,” Noem explained. “The reason that this story is in the book is because people need to understand who I am. This was a dangerous animal that was killing livestock and attacking people.” Noem took to X again after the interview to complain about the interviewer. “This morning in our 15-minute interview, Margaret Brennan interrupted me …

Lib Dems gain most council seats in last five years, party’s data shows | Liberal Democrats

Lib Dems gain most council seats in last five years, party’s data shows | Liberal Democrats

Published by skeptic

The Lib Dems have added more council seats than any other party over the last parliament, gaining more than 750 in the last five years, largely in the south-west and south of England. As Ed Davey’s party won more seats than the Conservatives in the local elections last week, the Lib Dems said Tories would be “looking over their shoulder terrified” as the general election approached. Data analysis by the party shows that the Lib Dems have gained 768 seats, Labour 545 and the Greens 480, while the Conservatives have lost 1,783. The scale of the Conservative losses, with many councils falling to no overall control or Labour and Lib Dem coalitions since 2019, is likely to add to nerves among Tory MPs worried about keeping their seats at the general election. The Lib Dems have taken control of councils in Devon, Dorset, Hampshire, Hertfordshire, Somerset and Surrey. The party could be responsible for toppling some of the biggest Conservative names at the general election, such as the chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, and the housing secretary, …

The Lib Dems have lost their way – even some members admit it | Liberal Democrats

The Lib Dems have lost their way – even some members admit it | Liberal Democrats

Published by skeptic

“Why don’t we take the UK’s third-biggest party seriously?” says the headline in your print edition on Martin Kettle’s article (Frank Field saw benefit in the Lib Dems. In this election year, Labour would be wise to do the same, 25 April). It is a question that many of us within the party have been attempting to answer for a long time. Even if most of the electorate does not interest itself in the depths of political philosophy, a party has to have a rigorous ideological position that gives it a vision of the kind of society it campaigns for. Only this encourages concerned individuals to commit themselves to working sacrificially for years in the political jungle. Despite the existence of a Liberal-shaped gap in British society today, in which, as Fraser Nelson of the Spectator stated recently, we have “two conservative parties”, the Liberal Democrats have failed to express and present the historical Liberal position as a non-statist radical party. Its last significant document setting out its values and philosophy was in 2002. Today …

“A Marriage Of Ineptitude & High Self-Esteem” – Tucker Exposes The Liberal Cognoscenti

“A Marriage Of Ineptitude & High Self-Esteem” – Tucker Exposes The Liberal Cognoscenti

Published by skeptic

“The marriage of ineptitude and high self-esteem is really the marker of our time,” explains Tucker Carlson as part of his wide-ranging discussion with Joe Rogan. Reflecting on the likes of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Karine Jean-Pierre, Carlson remarks that “I’ve nothing against dumb people at all. My dogs are dumb and I love my dogs…” “I’m not attacking [AOC] for being dumb, and the White House Press Secretary is in the same category, but the idea that dumb person has no idea she’s dumb, she really thinks like she won the prize, she’s the most impressive, like: “I’m White House Press Secretary because I’m the best talker in America.” It’s so crazy and yet the smartest people I know are very often sort of, they have humility.” Watch the brief discussion below: Tucker Carlson about Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Karine Jean-Pierre: “The marriage of ineptitude and high self-esteem is really the marker of our time. I’ve nothing against dumb people at all. My dogs are dumb and I love my dogs….I’m not attacking her for being …