FAQ for r/Liberal

Questions about /r/Liberal

This part is still in progress, feel free to send questions to the mods so we can fill this out.

What is the "Liberal of the Week"?

It is a way of recognizing or highlighting a liberal (be they elected, unelected member of government, or ordinary citizen) actually doing something liberals widely consider as good.

The liberal of the week is selected from submissions to /Liberal made in the last week or so, and the general idea is to highlight a regular pattern of accomplishment and positive acts. While it is fine to highlight what the other side is screwing up, it is also important to highlight what we're doing right, or trying to do right, and that's what "Liberal of the Week" is about.

If there's someone you'd like to see as Liberal of the Week, submit a story about them doing something liberals widely consider as good and message the mods, and we'd be happy to put them up there!

Chronological List of all Liberals of the Week

(As of Dec 31, 2011)

Week of May 15 to 21: a tie: The Democrats of the Washington State Legislature, for passing a resolution opposing "money as speech" and corporate personhood, one small step in solving the biggest problems of our time. And President Obama, for ordering the action that GOT OSAMA BIN LADEN and the treasure-trove of information from Al Qaeda HQ.

Week of May 22 to 28: Elizabeth Warren, consumer advocate and potential appointee to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, for coming up with the idea for this much-needed entity, and for being willing to become the first head of it.

Week of May 29 to June 04: Eric Holder, Attorney General, for for being a voice of sanity in reducing the horrors of the drug war. This past week, Holder pressured the body in charge of making sentencing rules for federal courts to retroactively apply reduced penalties for federal crack-cocaine offenders who are not considered dangerous drug offenders.

Week of June 05 to June 11: The Democrats of the Vermont State Legislature, for passing a single-payer health care bill, which would provide health care coverage to every resident of the state without interference from private health insurance corporations.

Week of June 12 to June 18: Blogger Dan Ruben, for his defense of the word 'liberal' and motivational speech encouraging us to call ourselves that.

Week of June 19 to June 25: a tie: redditor Big_Baby_Jesus, for his excellent idea to push the Democratic Party to the left, by getting out the liberal vote in the Democratic primaries. He also laid out a brief list of steps required, and registered TurnLeft2012.org and /r/TurnLeft2012. And New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, for signing the bill legalizing gay marriage in NY state.

Week of June 26 to July 02: President Obama, for calling out the GOP for playing chicken with the debt ceiling. Obama called for an end to “tax breaks for oil companies and hedge fund managers and corporate jet owners.”. Only one small step in the process, but a necessary one.

Week of October 16 - 22: Pete Seeger, folk singer and longtime activist, for boosting the profile of the budding Occupy Wall Street movement with his presence. Seems to have worked.