Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

“The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits.”

Those who are easily outraged are easily manipulated.

The media handbook says “controversial” is the most negative description that can be used for a Republican.

You know it’s bad when the Project 2025 people have to create training videos on “How To Be Normal”.

Russian mouthpiece, go fuck yourself.

Fundamental belief of white supremacy: white people are presumed innocent, minorities are presumed guilty.

The cruelty is the point; the law be damned.

Speaker Mike Johnson is a vile traitor to the House and the Constitution.

If America since Jan 2025 hasn’t broken your heart, you haven’t loved her enough.

Since we are repeating ourselves, let me just say fuck that.

If you voted for Trump, you don’t get to speak about ethics, morals, or rule of law.

There is no compromise when it comes to body autonomy. You either have it or you do not.

Sitting here in limbo waiting for the dice to roll

I see no possible difficulties whatsoever with this fool-proof plan.

When I was faster i was always behind.

A snarling mass of vitriolic jackals

Oppose, oppose, oppose. do not congratulate. this is not business as usual.

I like political parties that aren’t owned by foreign adversaries.

No one could have predicted…

Never entrust democracy to any process that requires Republicans to act in good faith.

Black Jesus loves a paper trail.

Hell hath no fury like a farmer bankrupted.

Republicans do not trust women.

“What are Republicans afraid of?” Everything.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / “What Kind of Liberal Are You?” Open Thread

“What Kind of Liberal Are You?” Open Thread

by | 236 Comments

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Assuming you’re liberal, but whatevs. It’s Friday and there doesn’t seem to be anything serious going on over here, so why start now?

Are you a New Left Hipster? A Social Justice Crusader? The Liberal Identity Quiz will gauge everything from your taste in bumper stickers, books, and music to what you would do if you could travel through time or convene your own death panel.

Share your results, and find out where your friends stand. Is your girlfriend a bigger PETA-loving tree-hugger than you knew? Does your husband base his entire worldview on The Daily Show? This handy political quiz will help you find out.

Quiz: What Kind of Liberal Are You?

My Liberal Identity

You are a Reality-Based Intellectualist, also known as the liberal elite. You are a proud member of what’s known as the reality-based community, where science, reason, and non-Jesus-based thought reign supreme.

Take the quiz at
About.com Political Humor

So apparently I’m a reality-based intellectualist. It’s a stupid quiz, but there’s so much stupid today. Might as well jump in with both feet.

Reader Interactions

236Comments

  2. 2.

    mr. whipple

    I got: You are a Social Justice Crusader, also known as a rights activist. You believe in equality, fairness, and preventing neo-Confederate conservative troglodytes from rolling back fifty years of civil rights gains.

  7. 7.

    robertdsc-PowerBook

    You are a Social Justice Crusader, also known as a rights activist. You believe in equality, fairness, and preventing neo-Confederate conservative troglodytes from rolling back fifty years of civil rights gains.

  8. 8.

    dr. bloor

    Social Justice, a pleasant surprise to me. I figured I was way too jaded to bag anything other than Reality-Based Intellectualist.

    Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

  10. 10.

    soonergrunt

    Result: Working Class Warrior
    You are a Working Class Warrior, also known as a blue-collar Democrat. You believe that the little guy is getting screwed by conservative greed-mongers and corporate criminals, and you’re not going to take it anymore.

  12. 12.

    me

    The Wisconsin Supreme Court debate is on. Let’s see if Prosser calls his a opponent a bitch.

  13. 13.

    Felanius Kootea (formerly Salt and freshly ground black people)

    Reality-based intellectualist here.

  14. 14.

    Suffern ACE

    You are a Peace Patroller, also known as an anti-war liberal or neo-hippie. You believe in putting an end to American imperial conquest, stopping wars that have already been lost, and supporting our troops by bringing them home.

    Hmmm. I think I need to get in touch with that inner hippie.

  16. 16.

    middlewest

    Another Reality-based Intellectualist. Did you all choose Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, too?

  17. 17.

    Felanius Kootea (formerly Salt and freshly ground black people)

    What no new-left hipsters yet? Unban matoko chan.

  19. 19.

    wesindc

    Woot! I’m with ABL Reality-Based Intellectualis…so does this quiz make me a Eloi or Morlock? Confuseded.

  20. 20.

    Raenelle

    Reality-based intellectualist also. Pretty much I’m just pissed off at banksters, capitalism and Bible-thumpers, and I never pass up a choice to vote for Michael Moore, no matter what he’s running for.

  23. 23.

    ruemara

    I’m a liberal who doesn’t take polls, but does eat these spiffy avocado jalapeño poppers. My weekend will be all about Sucker Punch, Sucker Punch Brunch and gardening. And not reading about 1 more psychotic republican that people elected in 2010 despite their frothing, nutty, tax cutty idiocy.

  27. 27.

    Mowgli

    My Liberal Identity You are an Eco-Avenger, also known as an environmentalist or tree hugger. You believe in saving the planet from the clutches of air-fouling, oil-drilling, earth-raping conservative fossil fools. Take the quiz at About.com Political Humor

  29. 29.

    Karen

    My Liberal Identity You are a Social Justice Crusader, also known as a rights activist. You believe in equality, fairness, and preventing neo-Confederate conservative troglodytes from rolling back fifty years of civil rights gains. Take the quiz at About.com Political Humor

  30. 30.

    New Yorker

    “Reality-based Intellectualist.” Not surprising, as I sure ain’t a hippie and I ain’t no soshulist. Rather, I prefer our government not be run be insane and/or stupid people, and one party pretty much has a monopoly on insanity and/or stupidity right now.

  31. 31.

    The Dangerman

    You are a Social Justice Crusader, also known as a rights activist. You believe in equality, fairness, and preventing neo-Confederate conservative troglodytes from rolling back fifty years of civil rights gains.

  32. 32.

    JPL

    That was fun and btw I’m a Social Justice Crusader. I thought a few of the questions were iffy..but this one stood out for me

    If the Founding Fathers were alive today, they would be most appalled by which of the following?……………….
    That hemp is illegal. Come on, what wasn’t clear about the “pursuit of happiness”?……………………………..
    The fact that Ted Kennedy’s Senate seat was lost to a truck-driving nudist who tried to auction off his daughters on TV
    The military-industrial-evangelical complex……………..
    That the Bush-packed Supreme Court thinks corporations are people too………………………………………….
    That 60 million people punched a ballot with Sarah Palin’s name on it in ………………………………………
    The mind-blowing ignorance of teabaggers who want to give Obama strong tongue-lashings and lick government spending

    Sometimes all of the above is appropriate but I did choose that corporations are people also, too.

    OT…stuckinred..u around

  34. 34.

    dr. bloor

    @ruemara:

    And not reading about 1 more psychotic republican that people elected in 2010 despitebecause of their frothing, nutty, tax cutty idiocy.

    Fix’t. Think Pogo.

  37. 37.

    Tokyokie

    Social Justice Crusader. Figured I’d get that, not that I consciously tried to game that result. I got that despite picking HHGG (Catch-22 wasn’t available). But I didn’t like any of the answers on a couple or three.

  39. 39.

    Phyllis

    Eco-Avenger here.

    OT, Charles Barkley haz limited skills regarding analyzing college basketball.

  42. 42.

    Comrade Mary

    RBI, but I don’t know if they normalized the curve for Canadians. (And would it have killed them to randomize answer order? It’s called JavaScript. Look into it.)

    Up since 8 AM Thursday, heading for bed soon. Why am I pulling more all-nighters now than when I was in university?

    (You have to pay a mortgage.)

    Oh. Yeah. Right.

  43. 43.

    JPL

    Does anyone know how many categories are possible? So far we have six in less some one is making up names.

  45. 45.

    mr. whipple

    OT, Charles Barkley haz limited skills regarding analyzing college basketball.

    Yes, but he was the only one to pic AZ over Duke last night.

    Looks like we need to wait for the late games to see anything interesting.

  47. 47.

    quaint irene

    Another Working Class Warrior.

    When I read the “If you could declare an executive order what would it be…” type question, my immediate thought-
    “All serial numbers of all appliances and electronics MUST be placed on the front and in plain view. And in 24 point type at least. No more of this nonsense of trying to hoist up your all-in-one printer with one hand to try and decipher some dusty chicken scratches on the bottom, while you’ve got Tech-support on the other.

  48. 48.

    David Fud

    I am seem to be from a past generation.

    You are a Peace Patroller, also known as an anti-war liberal or neo-hippie. You believe in putting an end to American imperial conquest, stopping wars that have already been lost, and supporting our troops by bringing them home.

    I never thought of myself as a neo-hippie, but I suppose that it takes all kinds and all that rubbish.

    David +5

  49. 49.

    Keith G

    @licensed to kill time:
    @soonergrunt:
    Working Class Warrior

    I am in good company.

    BTW: News in on in the background and Friday pundit pannels are full of heads that are exploding because the Pres is not playing by any of the conventional “We are fighting a war” rules.

  52. 52.

    Fucen Pneumatic Fuck Wrench Tarmal

    i am a social justice crusader, which is cool, but i am kind of offended by the casual use of the term crusader, and they couldn’t manage to work in my “yeah pal, try the real world view of folks who think professors are oppressed.

  55. 55.

    Suffern ACE

    @quaint irene: That’s stickin’ it to the man, and his designers who focus on “styling” rather than the needs of the little guy, who wouldn’t be on the phone with tech support anyway if the corporate suits would put people and product over profit.

  56. 56.

    KG

    I took the “which type of liberal are you” and came up with “reality based intellectualist”. Then I took the “which type of conservative are you” and came up “free marketeer”. Both probably accurate

  57. 57.

    Will

    Social Justice Crusader. Hmmm. I picked Origin of Species as my book.

    I’m not sure how accurate that is…I’d like to send all conservatives into space and then nuke their ship.

    “I say we take off and nuke the entire site from orbit. It’s the only way to be sure. “

  60. 60.

    JC

    Working class warrior. Thought I’d get a reality based intellectual, but clearly I side with the working man.

    Mainly three types represented here on BJ, so far.

  61. 61.

    RalfW

    Since this is nominally an open thread.

    These fuckers just can’t even follow a court order.

    The Legislative Reference Bureau took the [publication] action at 3:15 p.m. Friday, sending confused lawmakers and legal experts scrambling to determine what’s next for the measure that has brought waves of chaos to the state since it first was proposed by Republican Gov. Scott Walker.

    There is a reason for the waves of chaos. Scott Walker and Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald are right wing arseholes. And screamingly incompetent.

  63. 63.

    PaulW

    My Liberal Identity You are a Social Justice Crusader, also known as a rights activist. You believe in equality, fairness, and preventing neo-Confederate conservative troglodytes from rolling back fifty years of civil rights gains. Take the quiz at About.com Political Humor

  65. 65.

    JPL

    @KG: I just tried to take the conservative which type are you.. and I just couldn’t answer several of the questions. YUK…

  67. 67.

    scav

    New Left Hipster today, somehow, although I’d like to think that with my multiple personality disorder I could manage a few other alter egos waving pitchforks in a less ironic manner. HHGTTG is a given.

  68. 68.

    grape_crush

    Working Class Warrior.

    Disappointed that the questions weren’t multiple choice, ‘tho.

  69. 69.

    WereBear

    Working class warrior. Which is kinda funny, because I’m usually denigrated as a clueless intellectual.

    Fun quiz.

    May I send out a Balloon Juice appeal that combines financial need… and animal rescue?

    It’s a job lead. I have just recently been apprised of a Cat Chow Correspondent position that I believe I was genetically designed to perform.

    Help WereBear be the First Purina Cat Chow Correspondent

  70. 70.

    malraux

    You are a Peace Patroller, also known as an anti-war liberal or neo-hippie. You believe in putting an end to American imperial conquest, stopping wars that have already been lost, and supporting our troops by bringing them home

    That’s not really wrong, but certainly I wouldn’t say it describes my strongest feelings. Were I to self assign, I’d probably put myself in the Social Justice category, from which the peace feelings flow.
    @middlewest:

    Did you all choose Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, too?

    I chose Origin of Species. If earth is getting massively destroyed, the natural history contained in OtOoS is something worth preserving.

  71. 71.

    eemom

    reality based here too. Tee hee.

    The Mt. Rushmore question really pissed me off, as the combinations all sucked. I tried to skip it but the quiz wouldn’t let me. WTF.

  72. 72.

    mr. whipple

    Interesting: took the quiz again using my second choices and still came out Social Justice Crusader.

  75. 75.

    Will

    @malraux

    I chose Origin of Species. If earth is getting massively destroyed, the natural history contained in OtOoS is something worth preserving.

    My thoughts too. On the next planet, let’s nip that Jeebus crapola in the bud.

  76. 76.

    JPL

    @malraux: I am a Social Justice Crusader and I also selected Origin of Species.

    eemom,..That’s the one I tried to skip, also,too..
    I finally chose Chavez and Jolie.. Quite a combination..

  79. 79.

    PIGL

    @Will: That nuke-em all on the airless desolate rock would be my preferred solution, too. Meanwhile, I too would have chosen the Origin. Although the Voyages are a more fun read. We should be be best buddies.

    If only there was a sensitive assay for authoritarian and psychopathic personalities, that would allow them to be drowned at birth like the deformed rattlensakes that they are. That would go far to improving our situation.

  80. 80.

    quaint irene

    The Mt. Rushmore question really pissed me off, as

    When I checked out the Conservative quiz, I was shocked, SHOCKED, that the ‘Mt. Rushmore’ question didn’t include Reagan.

  83. 83.

    Martin

    NATO has agreed to expand beyond the naval blockade and no-fly zone to cover the civilian protection duties as well. That’s quite a positive development. And news that Canadian Observer should be excited about:

    Canadian Lt. Gen. Charlie Bouchard will command the NATO military campaign over Libya, CNN has confirmed.

    Huzzah! We’ll be able to blame this all on the fucking imperialist Canadians!

  84. 84.

    Anya

    I was going for hipster, alas I am “a Reality-Based Intellectualist”. But seriously, whoever designed question ten should be standing before a death panel. WTF! Putting MLK and Robert Kennedy in that company should be a crime.

  88. 88.

    Catsy

    What the fucking fuckety-fuck?

    How is this not blatantly illegal? Like, illegal in the “this will not stand and someone will be found in contempt of court” sense?

    They’re not even pretending to give a shit about this country or its laws anymore.

  89. 89.

    Suffern ACE

    @quaint irene:

    When I checked out the Conservative quiz, I was shocked, SHOCKED, that the ‘Mt. Rushmore’ question didn’t include Reagan.

    Because everyone would have chosen the answer that included Reagan. Good survey design. You could put St. Reagan on a list with Gloria Steinem, Malcomn X, and Pol Pot, and they’d still vote for Reagan.

  93. 93.

    Incoherent Dennis SGMM

    Well I got “Working Class Warrior,” which I found quaint and a bit sad considering the decimation that’s been carried out on blue collar jobs.

  95. 95.

    arguingwithsignposts

    Since this is an open thread, and I’m a *Working Class Warrior* now, just an update to tell everyone thanks for the kind thoughts over the past couple days. I’m still here, and still bleh, but better than I was the other day. I think. I ate – twice – today. Progress.

    And Angelina Jolie doesn’t deserve to be mentioned in the same time zone has Cesar Chavez and Rosa Parks. Please.

  99. 99.

    hilzoy

    Working Class Warrior here. My effete intellectual parents would be proud. (As would my grandparents the Swedish Social Democrats.)

  100. 100.

    slag

    @Martin:

    Huzzah! We’ll be able to blame this all on the fucking imperialist Canadians!

    Be careful…they have ways of making you pronounce the letter O. Or is it the other way around?

  101. 101.

    Southern Beale

    I took this quiz back in September. I was an eco-avenger. But other times I’ve taken it and I’ve been a social justice crusader. So I blame BP. And Al Gore.

  105. 105.

    KG

    @JPL: yeah, most of it was choosing the least worse answer… Except for the “which part of the country do you want to kick out”, I chose the west coast out of pure self interest since I live here and all. I’d say a lot of the questions on the conservative on were much more charicatures than what was on the liberal quiz

    Also, too, I have an iPad, why would I be limited to one book? I don’t have that much digital music, do I?

  107. 107.

    JGabriel

    I took the test twice. Apparently, I am both a Working Class Warrior AND a Reality-Based Intellectualist.

    I’m satisfied with that — since I think any rigorous intellectual analysis will reveal that most of the problems in our country are due to the greedy, over-privileged, bullying, power-mad assholes who seem to compose, not all but the majority of, our top 10%.

    .

  108. 108.

    Ken J.

    I got “Working Class Warrior.”

    But… but… I wanna be a “Reality-Based Intellectualist”!

    (*sniff*)

  110. 110.

    stuckinred

    @JPL: Not really, the gooobers on the comment board are really out of control with speculation that they are in cahoots with him. Choppers up, reminds me of long ago an far away. . .

    He released 2 kids an 2 men.

  112. 112.

    PaulW

    Some answers had parts to them that I didn’t agree with (seriously, mixing Maher in with Stewart or Colbert?!). But I answered as best I could.

  113. 113.

    licensed to kill time

    I think I got Working Class Warrior because I chose death panels for the Supreme Court conservative justices and blamed Wall Street, corporations and the military-industrial-evangelical complex for what ails America.

    I chose not to revisit the Summer of Love with condoms because been there, done that (bareback-hey, that’s how we rolled!). I picked Hitchhiker’s Guide because, ya know, ya just gotta laugh.

    I agree with eemom that the Mt. Rushmore choices were dumb, so in that spirit I chose Colbert and etc.

    I like to think of myself as a Working Class Hero. That’s something to be.

  114. 114.

    JPL

    @stuckinred: Well according to the AJC ..The man accused of killing a policeman in Athens released four of his eight hostages around 9 a.m. Friday night
    Yup,, I copied and pasted this from the AJC and it seems we now have a 9 a.m. on Friday night.

  118. 118.

    Tim (The Other One)

    Social Justice Crusader but some of those questions were just awful and I’m busy all weekend..

  119. 119.

    Omnes Omnibus

    Also too, I don’t do bumper stickers. If I redid Mt. Rushmore, I would just replace Teddy with Franklin.

  120. 120.

    stuckinred

    @JPL: The Atlanta media has been more timely than the Banana Herald. After hitting the google map this shit is going down about a mile away. I have the old japanese rifle with the 18″ bayonet at the ready!

  121. 121.

    ppcli

    @Martin: I don’t know anything about him, but glancing at his bio I can see he brings a lot to the table. Named Bouchard, born in Chicoutimi, so presumably he’s a native French speaker but BA in Manitoba, an English institution, so he’s fluidly bilingual. Canadian air force is well-integrated with US air force, and he has extensive experience commanding as part of NORAD, so he knows how to work with Americans. Not an American and not a Euro, so he’s not going to push as many buttons. Let’s hope he can manage the task.

  122. 122.

    Carl Nyberg

    While the Origin of Species is more important in a macro sense, evolution is probably something not unique to Earth.

    However, our history is unique. That’ why I went with PHUS, although HGG is more fun to read.

  123. 123.

    Suffern ACE

    @JPL:

    Yup,, I copied and pasted this from the AJC and it seems we now have a 9 a.m. on Friday night.

    I am not a morning person at all and I refuse to go through it twice a day.

  124. 124.

    Judas Escargot (aka "your liberal-interventionist pal, who's fun to be with")

    Yet another ‘Reality-Based Intellectualist’ (also: INTJ; Sagittarius, Moon in Leo, Scorpio rising; Knight of Swords).

  125. 125.

    ppcli

    As for the quiz, I decided the candidate answers were too dumb, so I quit halfway through. Which I guess makes me:

    “Pompous killjoy who’s probably a Reality-Based Intellectualist”

  127. 127.

    IM

    Social Justice Crusader

    But some of the questions – either Cesar Chavez and Jolie! or MLK and Kucinich – really pushed into a corner. I did coose MLK, but yet…

  129. 129.

    KG

    @arguingwithsignposts: I’ve moved from center-right libertarian to center-left libertarian. The last decade has done nothing to improve my opinion of government but has also shredded my opinion of much of the “free market”, which, really isn’t all that free

  131. 131.

    WereBear

    I know, I just realized the irony that I took a quiz about sticking it to the Man, and I’m applying for a job where I’ll be “blogging for the Man.” However, it will be about cat/people relationships, and I’ll be a hired gun for that good cause.

  135. 135.

    Shadow's Mom

    Me, I’m a Social Justice Crusader! Good, now let’s get to working helping to ensure that at-risk constituencies are able to get what they need to vote. Hashtag #HelpProtectTheVote

  137. 137.

    Redshift

    @Anya: Yeah, that Rushmore question was way screwed up. The people that most made me want to say yes were paired with people I absolutely couldn’t accept.

    Reality-Based Intellectualist here, too.

  139. 139.

    Anya

    @licensed to kill time: I also chose death panels for the Supreme Court conservative justices and the military-industrial-evangelical complex, but I got “Reality-based Intellectual”. I am not so sure if I chose Wall Street for what’s ailing America. What were the other options in that question?

  141. 141.

    Redshift

    @WereBear: As a proper intellectualist and engineer, the book I would have liked to “build a new civilization” would have been an engineering or science reference (or good world-building SF.) None of the books seemed particularly useful, so I went with Hitch Hiker’s Guide.

  142. 142.

    WaterGirl

    @WereBear: That you would be working for the man was the first thing I thought when I read about the job. My second thought was that if you ignored that part, I couldn’t imagine anyone better suited for the position than you.

    I don’t use twitter or facebook, but I will gladly send the email message. How should we identify you in the email message?

  143. 143.

    WaterGirl

    @Martin:

    NATO has agreed to expand beyond the naval blockade and no-fly zone to cover the civilian protection duties as well. That’s quite a positive development.

    I would love to hear more about why you think that’s a positive development. Not intended as a challenge, just wanting to hear your take as I don’t really know what all the implications of that would be.

  144. 144.

    malraux

    @Carl Nyberg:

    While the Origin of Species is more important in a macro sense, evolution is probably something not unique to Earth.
    …
    However, our history is unique. That’ why I went with PHUS, although HGG is more fun to read.

    Honestly, I was really torn between Origin and People’s History. My choice came down to not being able to justify voting for a book I hadn’t read. Oddly, People’s History is the only book from that list I hadn’t read.

  147. 147.

    Mr Stagger Lee

    Working Class Warrior!! Viva Che!, Which Side are you on!
    To Arms, Citizens!! Thank God the OSU-Kentucky game is on!

  148. 148.

    licensed to kill time

    @Anya: That was actually in the ‘who would you like to see kicked out of the Union’ part. The other choices were Texas, the South, the Bible Belt, Nascar country and Alaska.

    I’m still going with Wall Street though I have no idea how you’d kick them out of the Union.

  149. 149.

    Brother Shotgun of Sweet Reason

    Social Justice Crusader. You believe in …preventing neo-Confederate conservative troglodytes from rolling back fifty years of civil rights gains.

    Well, that part’s right.

  150. 150.

    WaterGirl

    @aisce: I actually read Origin of the Species, about a million years ago. Well, decades ago would be closer to the truth.

  151. 151.

    jl

    Don’t have time now to look at all the possibilities. I assumed I would be some effete intellectual bobo a la Brooks. But, behold and get the eff outta the way, for I am a Working Class Warrior!

    In other words, in the words of a erstwhile local hero (until he jackassed and lost his way out of favor):

    “rule number one, go out and hit ’em in the mouth”

  152. 152.

    Mr Stagger Lee

    Oh one more thing, I have a soft spot for El Paso Texas, So if you could split the border You can send the rest of the lone star state and the rest of the confederacy to the loving care of the Mexican drug cartels, Fidel or Hugo Chavez.

  153. 153.

    jl

    WHO WILL COMPILE THE STATS?

    I am leaving for a few days, but will definitely check back.

    I WANT THE STATS on the BJ commenters.

    And Cole.

    Edit: from the brief glance I have time for now, BJ seems like a working class warrior kind a place.

  155. 155.

    malraux

    @arguingwithsignposts: Economic Left/Right: -4.38
    Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -4.00

    I might have moved a whole integer movement in at least a decade if even that much. I guess that means I don’t learn from my past or something.

  156. 156.

    AAA Bonds

    Who would choose anything other than Origin, really, given that choice? No one, I hope.

    People’s History isn’t even useful for finding out about America without another history text to supplement it (unless you’re uninterested in World War II).

    . . . Working-Class Warrior, of course. I don’t think I could have gotten anything else without raging out against purely transitory right-wing celebrities or totally overestimating purely transitory left-wing celebrities.

  157. 157.

    malraux

    @aisce: It was one of my high school english assignments. I still remember the section on those fricken bees. That and it was laboriously detailed and incredibly boring.

  158. 158.

    Southern Beale

    Don’t know if anyone saw this cuz it was in the NY Times, I saw it in the dead tree edition:

    GE Turns Tax Man Away Empty Handed

    The story is about corporate tax dodges. This was interesting:

    Such strategies, as well as changes in tax laws that encouraged some businesses and professionals to file as individuals, have pushed down the corporate share of the nation’s tax receipts — from 30 percent of all federal revenue in the mid-1950s to 6.6 percent in 2009.
    __
    Yet many companies say the current level is so high it hobbles them in competing with foreign rivals. Even as the government faces a mounting budget deficit, the talk in Washington is about lower rates. President Obama has said he is considering an overhaul of the corporate tax system, with an eye to lowering the top rate, ending some tax subsidies and loopholes and generating the same amount of revenue.

    Fuck that. They pay little if any taxes and whine about how expensive it is to do business in America while paying workers crap wages and busting unions?And then they locate their business out of some Mailboxes Etc. on the Cayman Islands? Fuck ’em. There should be penalties for that, tariffs or something. And be glad you’re operating in Murka THE GREATEST KUNTRY EVAH and if you don’t like it locate your business elsewhere and see if people still want to buy your crap product with the import tax attached.

    That’s the free hand of the market for you.

  162. 162.

    arguingwithsignposts

    @AAA Bonds:

    Who would choose anything other than Origin, really, given that choice? No one, I hope.

    Maybe I misunderstood the question, but I can’t think of inflicting the bad news of Zinn’s book on a new civilization that’s just starting out. And we need humor.

  163. 163.

    rikyrah

    Working Class Warrior
    You are a Working Class Warrior, also known as a blue-collar Democrat. You believe that the little guy is getting screwed by conservative greed-mongers and corporate criminals, and you’re not going to take it anymore.

    that is me….lol.

  166. 166.

    artem1s

    Social Justice Crusader

    I was tempted by Darwin but had to go with HHGTG. I always loved the idea of the B Ark. I think it was death panels for the Supremes put me over the top.

  167. 167.

    Jeffro

    Working Class Warrior.
    Knew it even before I took the quiz ;)

    Wall Street, do you hear those footsteps a-comin’??

  168. 168.

    licensed to kill time

    @patroclus: Urgh…I couldn’t get past the first question on the conservative test. Even for laughs I couldn’t choose one of those bumper stickers.

    I guess I’m a delicate flower.

  170. 170.

    Martin

    @WaterGirl: Well, I’m not super excited about NATO taking over, though I’m hard pressed to present a better alternative. The world simply lacks such agencies.

    France is clearly going to carry on the ground attacks. The US, UK, and other nations may be interested in joining them in that, though France seems to be the most eager.

    Having NATO handling the no-fly and blockade, and France (and others) off doing their own thing attacking ground targets is a recipe for disaster. If NATO is willing to take over the ground attack operations as well, that puts everything under one command, which is clearly good. And I would take it as a positive element that Turkey and Germany, as NATO members, will be lobbying to pull NATO out of that role as soon as possible.

    So, we can hand it off from the US, keep a unified command which is safer for all involved (including the people of Libya), continue the mission, and have members of the coalition actively lobbying to limit the military role. All around, that’s decent. I’d like to hear more about the US support for humanitarian relief in Libya in the coming days, and less about our military role. That’s probably wishful thinking from our media, but maybe Obama would speak to it on Monday.

  172. 172.

    arguingwithsignposts

    @Angry Black Lady:

    i don’t want to live in a future civilization that requires Origin to tell us we evolved from apes and not from Jesus fairies.

    Wait, that’s not what my Jesus Fairie book says!

    BTW, Douglas Adams had a series of interviews (IIRC) that were on podcast at one time that were excellent reasoning behind why he was not a believer, among other things. highly recommended. it used to be on iTunes.

  179. 179.

    scav

    @aisce: Just checked. Origin on on my Kindle and I’ve even started it although I’ve gotten detoured into the Barchester Chronicles. And I still couldn’t pull off the Reality Based Intellectual. Hitchhikers all the way though.

  181. 181.

    tkogrumpy

    I don’t need no steenkin’ test to tell what kind of librul I am. I am a silver-haired irrelevancy.

  182. 182.

    Dustin

    Working Class Warrior here. Though I have to admit, the choice between expelling The South and Wall Street was a tough one.

    Anyone who can look at our country and not see an ongoing class war between the working classes and corporations is either blind to history, a fool, or someone trying to win the war by pretending it doesn’t exist. I used to be nice to people like that, but since having a son… fuck them. Messing with my future was bad enough, but I’ll be damned if my son is going to live in an era historians write about as “The decline and fall of the American Republic”.

  183. 183.

    Wil

    @Angry Black Lady: also, i’ve never read hitchhiker’s guide.

    Oh man…..kids these days…tsk tsk…

  184. 184.

    WereBear

    @WaterGirl: How should we identify you in the email message?

    You could say Pam of The Way of Cats. Thanks so so much!

    I’ve just spent 5 hours on a video I’ll put on my new Youtube channel. It’s about as good as a ten year old camcorder, a six day deadline, and iMovie ’09 can give me.

    Which is pretty good, all things considered… more than the fellow who made The Sneeze Movie had.

  185. 185.

    S. cerevisiae

    Since this is an open thread, I just want to say; GO UMD BULLDOGS!! CC id destroying BC as we speak. Go WCHA!

  186. 186.

    eemom

    @Angry Black Lady:

    you should read it. I think you’d like it.

    Also too, Marvin the neurotic robot might remind you of the more, um, charming amongst our gallery of trolls.

  190. 190.

    Fucen Pneumatic Fuck Wrench Tarmal

    @AAA Bonds:

    the problem with origin of species, is that you are starting a new civilization.

    you might find yourself in a position, a time or two, where you need to get biblical on someone’s ass.

    telling people upfront that there is no creator,no god, no heaven, no hell, is no way to compel them to do the shit duty involved in building a civilization from scratch.

  192. 192.

    Uncle Clarence Thomas

    @Angry Black Cow:
    .
    .

    are you sure it didn’t say “result: ass clown”?

    Yes, I am quite sure. Thank you for taking time out from your busy schedule of professional smegma tasting to offer that gratuitous and dull comment.
    .
    .

  193. 193.

    Angry Black Lady

    that gratuitous and dull comment.

    it’s like ten thousand spoons when all you need is a knife.

    ETA: re Angry Black Cow: your snark-fu needs serious work. “you’re fat” is the weakest attempt at snark in the book.

  194. 194.

    Ozymandias, King of Ants

    @Angry Black Lady: I have absolutely no idea, but I get a laugh out of asking and just watching the expression on people’s faces.

    My results are almost certainly skewed however because I encounter lots of Obies and very few alumni of, say, the Ivies.

  195. 195.

    JGabriel

    @aisce:

    nobody in this thread has ever actually read The Origin of Species.

    I read it back in my twenties. It’s generally bad form to assume everyone in your audience is as ignorant as you.

    For instance, I’ve never read Godel’s Incompleteness Theorem in its entirety — though I have read Turing’s “On Computable Numbers, with an Application to the Entscheidungsproblem” in its entirety, which references Godel — but I would never assume no one else in this thread had read it, especially since I know that several professional mathemeticians frequent this board, including at least one of its front pagers. I’m sure there are some professional biologists & paleontologists too.

    Anyway, the point is, the Internet is a big place. You would be surprised what people on it have read.

    .

  198. 198.

    JGabriel

    @asiangrrlMN:

    I was Social Justice as well. I think I’m more cranky old biddy shouting at windmills.

    Someone’s gotta shout at them. They’re not gonna turn on their own.

    .

  199. 199.

    Ozymandias, King of Ants

    And apparently, I’m a Social Justice Crusader. Should I get a mask and cape?

  201. 201.

    JGabriel

    @Fucen Pneumatic Fuck Wrench Tarmal:

    the problem with origin of species, is that you are starting a new civilization. […] telling people upfront that there is no creator,no god, no heaven, no hell, is no way to compel them …

    You know, there’s nothing in The Origin of Species that says anything like, “There’s no fucking god, suck it up peasants!”

    About the most irreligious thing it actually implies is, “If god created man, he took the long route.”

    .

  203. 203.

    Shade Tail

    So, uh, where is this alleged quiz? I followed the link and saw neither a quiz nor a link to one. I saw lots of stuff about the quiz, and links to a similar “conservative” quiz, but no actual quiz.

  204. 204.

    scav

    @JGabriel:

    @asiangrrlMN:

    I was Social Justice as well. I think I’m more cranky old biddy shouting at windmills.

    Someone’s gotta shout at them. They’re not gonna turn on their own.

    I like that image. Classic Asian-American Goth(ic) woman with rusty pitchfork screaming: “All of you windmills! Offa my lawn!”

  206. 206.

    Fucen Pneumatic Fuck Wrench Tarmal

    @JGabriel:

    i know.

    but once you penetrate the notion that whatever religious document you believe is not, the literal word of a creator/omnipotent, you have the makings of a society of non-believers.

    @Suffern ACE:

    the first generation of settlers would likely be fairly civilized+adaptations for survival. i am guessing each successive generation less so, for a while, until, if successful, they feel the need to civilize on their own.

  207. 207.

    licensed to kill time

    @Anya: Wall Street was on both the death panel question and the kick ’em out of the Union question.

    Funny, I just took the quiz again to find the answer to your question and this time I came out as a Peace Patroller:

    You are a Peace Patroller, also known as an anti-war liberal or neo-hippie. You believe in putting an end to American imperial conquest, stopping wars that have already been lost, and supporting our troops by bringing them home.

    I might have eliminated the Dept of Defense this time and chosen Cat Stevens Peace Train song. And the hell with their neo-hippie crap, I’m an original DFH!

  208. 208.

    Allan

    Social Justice Crusader, and I recommend that we boycott About.com until they provide better choices! Who’s with me?

  210. 210.

    Allan

    @asiangrrlMN: OK! Here’s the plan: I’ll create the Facebook Page, you come up with a clever hashtag and enlist Shoq on Twitter, and together we’ll persuade MoveOn.org and Color of Change to collaborate on an online petition.

    We can totally win this thing!

  212. 212.

    aisce

    @JGabriel:

    that was a comment on the dry, boring nature of the book. considering it was supposed to be the only book left and all. malraux seemed to get it.

    at least you got to feel smug about yourself though. yay. so it wasn’t a total loss.

  213. 213.

    FlipYrWhig

    I’ve also never read Hitchhiker’s Guide, but I’m not a Oberliner or Antiochian. I also never read any Tolkien. I deliberately avoided a lot of the big geek-culture touchstones, not because I wasn’t a geek, but because I was and didn’t want to out myself.

  215. 215.

    John O

    @licensed to kill time:

    I turned out to be a Peace Patroller too on the first pass, so I don’t think it is a very good quiz. I am bitchily combative.

    There were several questions for which I needed checkboxes or text options. There’s only one book I want on an island if that’s all I get…and it wasn’t on the list.

  219. 219.

    Xenos

    Social Justice Crusader here, which I think is a category for civil rights absolutists while having some flexibility (or heterodoxy) on economic issues. I see it more as the category of people who supported FDR, but would have supported his wife if they had a chance. Strangely, I feel the same way about Barack and Michelle – I can settle for him, but would prefer to put her in charge.

  226. 226.

    Barb (formerly Gex)

    @FlipYrWhig: HHGG is worth it. Never could get through Tolkien.

    For myself, I can never figure out how I score so high on the nerdy tests without the points from Star Trek, Star Wars, Dr. Who, and Dungeons and Dragons.

  228. 228.

    WaterGirl

    @Martin: I ended up going to bed early and missing your reply until this morning. Belated thanks for your thoughtful reply. Count me as officially more hopeful after reading what you wrote.

  229. 229.

    WaterGirl

    @soonergrunt: My first laugh of the day, and I have only been up for 10 minutes. Thank you, soonergrunt! It’s a lovely way to start the day.

  230. 230.

    WaterGirl

    @WereBear: Yea, I think Pam of the Way of Cats will sound better than Pammy-I-don’t-know-her-last-name, but I can’t recommend her highly enough.

    I just got up, so I will compose the actual email message later when more of my brain cells are functioning, but i have the message addressed and “Pam of the Way of Cats” in the body of the message. So I should be in good shape.

  231. 231.

    soonergrunt

    @WaterGirl: I’m here to serve. Upon reflection, I could’ve put “Oh, Irony, thy name is” but that might have been too meta.

  232. 232.

    Linnaeus

    Working-Class Warrior here. I work for a labor union (albeit one that represents pointy-headed intellectuals), so that kinda makes sense.

  233. 233.

    Shade Tail

    @asiangrrlMN:

    @Shade Tail: Click the, “Are You a New Left Hipster” sentence in blue.

    I did. Like I wrote, I followed the link and didn’t see any quiz.

  234. 234.

    sparky

    peace patroller, of which there seem to be only a few. perhaps that’s why i find myself often against the tide here.

  235. 235.

    kindness

    I am a:

    <a href=" My Liberal Identity You are a Working Class Warrior, also known as a blue-collar Democrat. You believe that the little guy is getting screwed by conservative greed-mongers and corporate criminals, and you’re not going to take it anymore. Take the quiz at About.com Political Humor“>

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