I share a lot of views with John Stossel, the iconoclastic ABC reporter. I also share his view of the resilient intolerance of parts of the left. Money quote:
Q: For the record, when someone asks you what your politics are, what your point of view is, what do you say to them?
STOSSEL: I’d say I’m a libertarian. And I prefer the word ‘liberal’ except that the liberals stole the word and have perverted it to mean ‘big government running your life.’ So I’m stuck with ‘classical liberal’ and no one knows what that means, so I call myself a libertarian.
Q: That puts you at odds with both liberals and conservatives. Which side hates you or dislikes you more ‚Äì liberals or conservatives? You are in favor of legalizing drugs, you’re not against abortion ‚Äì things like that would annoy conservatives. But you’re also in favor of free-market solutions to just about everything, from schools to buses.
STOSSEL: I think homosexuality is all right. And yet the conservatives will pay me a $40,000 speaking fee — which goes to charity, by the way ‚Äì and invite me to their events and have me on their shows. But the liberals will have nothing to do with me.
You can tell a lot about a movement by whether it is mainly interested in finding converts or heretics. Neither side is blameless in this; but the lefties would be more convincing in their appeals for tolerance if they engaged in more of it themselves.
The Dish 