DL Event; how to make a "Republican" out of a "Liberal"

I went to the Drinking Liberally event tonight at Piper Down. I had called Megan Risbon to meet me there, and I also hoped to see my son there as well. Last time I had gone to one of the DL Friday night events, was when Marcos of DailyKos came to town. I had a great time and had no reason to have any other expectations.

The topic was "Education" and the speaker was Pat Rusk, who is the former President of the Utah Education Association.

I am here to publicly state that the people who were at DL tonight were uninviting, unwelcoming, and cliqueish. I have had more positive response to my presence at the Legionaires meeting.

The "Liberals" at this event were anything but "liberal" in the intent of the word.

These folks were judgemental to statements made which disagreed with their stance. My son's statements about public schools and private schools from his own experience were met with "You sound Republican." (from a man named "John" who was wearing a bright red "Harvard Club" shirt, sitting across the patio.)

Now, I'm just as guilty as Harvard-John was in using the term "Republican" as a pejorative. However, my retort that the "Democratic Party is a party of inclusiveness, including all points of view" was ignored.

Pat spoke using both facts and passion about the need for a change in our Legislature's priorites. Education needs to be funded. Vouchers and Private Schools are evil. She brought a book full of facts and evidence to show that although Utah has one of the highest levels of success on testing, they are also paying their teachers at one of the lowest rates in the United States. Good teachers are leaving, and good teachers cannot be recruited.

As the majority of the group nodded their heads and agreed that things were horrible for Utah's students, the idea that we should give more money to the public school system was the solution de jour.

Gee, can I still be a Democrat if I disagree with the solution? Can I still be a "liberal" if I have other ideas about the education system than those of the attendees?

I have more than 20 years of experience and contact with the educational system in Utah, as a parent, a special education teacher and a psychotherapist. And I'm here to say that I think that any student deviating from the mean or average is S.O.L. in this system.

I wish we had more than simplistic solutions; more money, higher pay (more money) and smaller classrooms.

But this is digression, my views on the public school system come from my own experiences, so I am willing to admit that they might be skewed.

However, the people (with one or two exceptions) at tonight's event were boors.

What a contrast to Democracy for Utah meetings! "Regulars" and "Newbies" alike are treated with respect and inclusion.
Kristie, Dave and June are welcoming to new people who come to meetings. Carrie sets the tone of giving our meetings an atmosphere of safety, so that one can disagree with another, without name calling and categorizing.

I note that "Drinking Liberally" is listed under "Progressive Groups". People like this give "progressives" a bad name.