Precisely...The right has plenty of idiots, but it hardly has a monopoly on them.
And it certainly doesn't have a monopoly on violence....
The assholes who regularly riot at Group of Seven and WTO meetings, (in the US and elsewhere) breaking store windows, setting cars on fire, and generally terrorizing ordinary citizens just trying to go about their daily business ain't KKK members....
Virtually everything you've described there, (except for believing that Obama is a Muslim...though many believe equally ignorant things, like the idea that the federal government blew up the levies in New Orleans, or that the CIA is shipping crack into housing projects) can also be said of inner city areas of major urban centers....But they are also astonishingly ignorant. Illiteracy is high: You can buy "bird feaders," "family resturants" caution against the use of "course language," and so on. Judging by their conversations, both those I've participated in and those I've overheard, most of them can't keep Iraq and Afghanistan even roughly straight, most of them think that the phrase "under God" has always been in the pledge of allegiance, most of them can't place Pakistan even on the correct continent, most of them believe that Obama is a Muslim, and on and on and on.
And they vote overwhelmingly Republican.
And they vote overwhelmingly Democratic.....
No, I do not think you hate me at all Andrew... In fact, I'm quite certain you don't.(I think you consider me to be some sort of freak of nature...a Conservative with a brain...I do not hate right-wingers. (Come on, Lord Jim, we've met in person and dined together (as part of a larger group). Did I ever do anything suggesting that I hate you? We've chatted on the phone several times. Have I ever said anything suggesting that I hate you?)
...the fact that an articulate, intelligent, reasonably well educated and reasonably well read person can simultaneously be a member of the Catholic Church and credit Ronald Reagan with winning the Cold War must create a good bit of cognitive dissonance for you.... 
) And I think you know I don't hate you either....I do however find it amusing that you consider me a "right winger"....I suppose by the standards of this bbs I represent the "right wing"... But I believe that really says more about the dominant ideological slant of the forum than it does about me....
At the CSB, EGlide and Steve call me a "right winger"... but EGlide's just an imbecile, and Steve's just trying to be annoying....
Since I know you're not an imbecile, and I have no reason to think that you're deliberately going out of your way to annoy me, I have to assume that your characterization is honestly and sincerely felt....
Though I have expressed a lot of views that would hardly be considered "right wing"....
I've been a lot more willing to give Obama credit for some things than many Conservatives....I support legalizing drugs and prostitution, (those sound like libertarian positions though as I've explained in detail before my motives regarding those positions are pragmatic not libertarian....If the WOD had been a stellar success rather than a demonstrably destructive, total and complete abject failure, I'd probably support it) I believe abortion should be legal, not because I embrace some high falutin' lefty buzz phrase like "reproductive rights", but because I see making it illegal as creating a situation that would be worse than permitting it.
I've criticized my own party many times, and have even gone so far as to admit that George W. Bush wound up being every bit as incompetent as a President as Jimmy Carter. (A very painful conclusion for me to have to come to, but facts are facts)
I've said that the GOP Congressional party completely lost it's way under Tom Delay, and I've been highly critical of some of the propeller beanie candidates who have won nominations in this election cycle, particularly Sharon Angle and Christine O'Donnell....I'm disgusted and disheartened by the fact that they were able to be nominated when far better alternatives were available....
I said I saw no problem with a public health care option, (I saw it as a way of expanding competition and options in the market place, something which I always favor) and I went into some detail explaining why I thought those who described that as a "government take over of health care" were talking out their asses....
I support universal mandatory service, which is generally seen as a left wing idea, (my reasoning on this comes from using the WW II generation as a template...that sort of shared experience helps to instill discipline and a good work ethic, exposes people to folks who come from very different walks of life, strengthens our sense of national community and has a host of other benefits....we ought to be able to get those kinds of positive effects without needing a major war to do it.)
On the other hand, I'm very hardcore on the Death Penalty, illegal immigration, the second amendment, national defense and security issues, and the idea that people ought to be allowed to keep more of their own money to spend as they see fit, because in general I trust them to do a better job making those decisions for themselves than having the government do it for them.
I support the abolition of both the Energy and Education Departments, (since those two were created under TIC, the energy and education situations in this country have done nothing but improve, haven't they?...)that's not to say that there aren't some functions they perform that should be retained....the useful functions of the Energy Department can easily be folded either into the Defense or Interior Departments, (depending on the specific function....safe guarding our nuclear material stock pile clearly belongs with Defense, for example) And the Department of Education, (which was nothing but a political payoff to the NEA anyway) can be folded back into a department similar to the old "HEW" ( Health Education and Welfare) department it was spun off from...Perhaps change HHS (Health and Human Services) into HEHS (Health Education and Human Services)
I also support the elimination of the IRS and replacing the personal income tax with a revenue neutral national sales tax, (sometimes called "the fair tax" there are some very well thought out proposals on this out there that would make adjustments for the poor)
If we're going to have a new "stimulus" I propose a three month income tax holiday, that would really kick start demand; I also support taking the money that has been paid back from the TARP to provide a pool of funds for low interest small business loans, to be administered by community banks.
I also support the elimination of all corporate income taxes, (because it's a complete fiction that corporations "pay" taxes....they collect them) and the elimination of the capitol gains tax, (or at the very least a suspension of it, since this will obviously encourage the recirculation of investment throughout the economy, which is desperately needed)
I believe in "free trade" as a general principle; but I also believe as George F. Will once observed, "free trade is not a game at which only one can play"....Free trade is a good thing when there's a level playing field...but we have no obligation to bend over and grab our ankles for those, (like the PRC) who are rigging the game in their favor....
All of these are positions I have detailed at the CSB for years, so as I said, I do find it amusing when someone characterizes me as some sort of doctrinaire "right winger"....I've got positions that ideologically would put me all over the map....the only common theme is pragmatism....
I know you have some positions that deviate from the liberal line...most notably your positions on illegal immigration and second amendment rights....
Which makes me wonder if you realize that the fantasy "Liberalistan" you talked about wanting to create would most likely as one of it's first acts, outlaw the private ownership of firearms....
