My name is Eloy and I'm a Liberal

Do ‘dispirited’ Liberals need a 12-step program?

There is no shortage of support groups in our society. There are groups for people with various addictions. There are anger management groups. Some groups are very specific, such as the support group for Gay and Lesbian Former Jehovah's Witnesses or the one for people who had controlling parents. Some are more general like the men's and women's support groups. I guess I'll have to wait for a "Why Are Gasoline Prices So High" group as well as an "I Hate Artificial Turf and Indoor Stadiums" support group. But there is one segment of society that won't have to wait any longer. A support group for certain people who have worked hard, been frustrated and discouraged, and are often belittled began this past February. It's a support group for dispirited liberals.

Not surprisingly, this support group is located in Southern California. The Activists' Support Circle is the brainchild of Santa Monica's Jerry Rubin. Its purpose is to give liberals "emotional rejuvenation."

Nobody gets up at these meetings and says haltingly, "My name is John Smith and I'm a liberal." It's not a 12-step program. In fact, it's really the opposite of programs that help people control their addictions. This support group tries to give its members encouragement so they'll remain addicted to political activism despite all of their recent discouragements.

I do not want to control my addiction to Liberalism, I do not need a 12-step program. What I really need is a support group.

Championing a particular cause or course of action often can be a lonely crusade, but these are particularly tough times for liberal activists.

Red-state dominance in the last election, the war in Iraq, changes in environmental policy and the possibility of a more conservative Supreme Court have left many local activists feeling as blue as the state they live in.

What they need, one longtime activist recently decided, is some therapy — a good old-fashioned support group tailored for the liberal activist in need of emotional rejuvenation.

A support group sound very ‘touchy-feely’ are Conservatives going to make fun of me?

But don't expect conservative Republicans to have meetings like this. Matthew Knee, a conservative activist and chairman of Bruin Republicans says, "A support group seems very touchy-feely and un-Republican ..." So, I doubt that in a few years you'll be able to overhear discouraged Republicans shouting, "Why did we mess with Social Security?" Conservatives generally have very little sympathy for those who wallow in their problems.

Knee adds that Republicans didn't fall into emotionally-needy doldrums during the Clinton years because they controlled Congress. And then those impeachment hearings bolstered conservative spirits. Conservatives often see liberals as "cry babies."

Cry Babies? Wait a minute, all Conservative do is cry and whine about liberal media, liberal judges, Democrats and so on.

Fox news, talk radio and the rest of the right wing media and organizations are conservative support groups. It is just one big support group of conservatives preaching to conservatives and crying and whining about the evils of worlds, anything not supporting the conservative cause or opposing the causes is evil.

So, it probably won't surprise them that some liberals who just won't let go of their causes need a support group. But before conservatives get too condescending about this, I think I should remind you of something. Conservatives also have a support group they run to when things aren't going their way. It's called the Supreme Court.

The Republican Party really need the support of Supreme Court in order to select Bush as President.

I am already part of one support group, Dailykos. It is more than a support group, it community of all type of Democrats, liberals, independents and even some republicans too. A place to debate, to gather, to preach, to advocate, to from new ideas or to reinforce old beliefs. A place of political information.