The most liberal right-winger I've ever met

[F4lconF16]

A few months ago, I posted this:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10025740683

The guy came off as a creepy, woman-hating right-winger with a gun fetish and far too much interest in violence. Well, I went to work Saturday night, and it turned out he was there. Apparently he suggested to our boss that he come in and have me train him, as he's taking over my Saturday night shift. My initial thought was, "Oh, joy. This is going to be a long night."

Turns out it was a pretty interesting experience.

The guy is the most anti-racist racist, anti-sexist sexist, gun-loving gun-control advocate, homophobic gay rights supporter, socialist-Obama-hating liberal values believer, fox-news-listening corporate media hater, anti-authoritarian right-winger, and best example of a walking contradiction I have ever met.

So we started off talking about something, I forget what, and we ended up spending hours discussing politics and social issues. I don't really know what to say, so I'll just list a few things he did/said:

-He's virulently anti-racist and anti-homophobic. He's part of a very diverse group of people (he's white/Irish, btw), had a drag queen as a very close friend in high school, will happily kick anybody's ass who threatens his gay friends at clubs, and absolutely hates older Republicans because of their views on gay rights and equality issues. He thinks that it's far past time for a new generation of Republicans to come into office and support equality. And yet this is coming from the guy who, upon hearing me say that room 624 was being a giant pain (man, was she ever annoying), goes, "Oh, the asian lady?" in a stereotypical tone. He said that they don't like renting rooms to the guys with arabic-sounding names because they have tons of gay sex in the rooms (apparently there are orgies, it's not the sex that he has a problem with). He firmly believes it's nobody's business what you do in the bedroom, but he seems pretty grossed out by the idea, despite his total comfort with drag queens and other lgbt people.

-He's an MRA who can't seem to stop talking about "the bitches" and saying sexist things. He can't stand "feminazis", but seemed fine with when I told him I was a strong feminist. He supports the equal pay acts, saying that you should get payed for the work you do and nothing else about you should matter. He is a big abortion rights supporter, because it's nobody else's business and it's their body. He got really pissed off when he started talking about the stupidity of the idea of "legitimate rape".

-He hates the liberals and Obama, but he consistently expressed support for liberal policies that I brought up. He's extremely anti-authoritarian and recognizes that the people at the top continually divide and distract the lower classes while picking our pockets, yet supports economic policies that got us to where we are. He's okay with taxes and other things on the top, supports taking care of the poor through medicare/social security, yet still rails against the welfare state. He loved Fox News back in 2000, but completely agrees that it's propaganda. He talks about CNN being part of the liberal media, but recognizes that they push right-wing talking points. He gets the huge problem with police oppression, but thinks it's not too much worse for blacks than whites.

-He's a gun-lover by far. He recently bought his first gun, carries it with him whenever he can, and plans to buy 3-4 more soon. Yet he hates the open carry activists who want to go around with assault rifles into Target and Safeway. He thinks they're idiots, and can't stand them. He is a proponent of needing a license to own a gun, and having to take a licensing test to get one. He's fine with the idea of a private gun registry that can be accessed by police, and having to register your weapon to own one. He supports background checks, and agrees that if you can't wait a few days for a gun, you shouldn't have one. He wants to ban concealed carry, because he says there's no reason you should need to hide the gun.

These are just a few things of what he said--there was a fair amount more, but I think you get the gist of it. He seems like someone who would be a passionate liberal had he been educated differently. He was definitely fine with the idea that I'm a socialist, and thinks everyone should be okay with listening and discussing different ideas. Whenever I pushed him on something he said, though he resisted at first, he generally ended up agreeing with the liberal point of view. He even listened and agreed when I talked to him about some of his sexism, which shocked me--there aren't many people who can admit they're wrong about "feminazis". I think if he was exposed to liberal ideas a lot more, he'd agree with them. He's a pretty decent person underneath the initial layer of right-wingerness. I don't really know what to make of him. I think the constant propaganda of the right has got to him.

Also, we watched a show that was on called "Big Giant Swords". It was kinda stupid, but if you're ever interested in watching a guy make a pretty awesome dragon-sword/flamethrower combo, look it up. The episodes are free on the discovery channel website.

[TeamPooka]

1. Most libertarians think they are republicans but as you point out they think differently.

they are walking contradictions though without realizing that progressivism is their friend.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

2. You just described one of my brothers to a tee.