Liberals are ruining America

Opening StatementsI accept the challenge, but since Pro/ATF is making the positive claim, well a claim in general about Liberals and what they do, the burden of proof if on him/her. That goes for all the claims made in his/her opening statement. As a Liberal, a classical liberal at that, I'll be defending any claim made against liberals and what we stand for. However, between that of a classical liberal, social liberal, and what is known as "Modern Liberalism", the principles of all three almost always include, civil liberties, equality, and liberty -not going into the economical and views on government. Not standing up for civil liberties is against liberalism in just about every incarnation that has been wrought. One common argument against liberals is that we are "politically correct" -henceforth known as PC-, which is arguably... No, it is against Freedom of Speech. Freedom of Speech, or FoS, is a civil liberty and its very purpose is to allow people to say things that will or might offend you. It should be cleared, there are plenty of conservative republicans and neoconservatives who are just as politically correct. They just are lacking in self awareness of it. There has been many cases where the right, people on it at least, proclaimed in a bellowing cry not to speak against God, to remove a beer bottle's brand name that said "Sweet Baby Jesus" on it, and other issues where they show their PC'ness when it comes to their archaic religion. They are also against anyone speaking against veterans, like me who openly says they deserve no respect for simply being in the military and must earn it, like everyone else. There is a good number who are against freedom of expression, as seen by people crying because the young generation walks and steps on flags and demands they not do it. [1][2][3]Most liberals do not support banning guns or "taking your guns away". This is a silly, and childish notion wrought by people and groups like the NRA who fear their little sex toy being removed from their hands because they fear the Government taking over. Ironically, the ones who cry about that the most also say no to big government while voting to use the big government to get their way, invading other nations, and love the funneling of tax dollars to build the most powerful military... A force that can be turned against the people. Most liberals views are extremely broad, but most just want a clear, common sensed system to prevent people like Dylan, the man who shot up the church, or the Columbine boys from getting guns. There are people who identify as Liberals who say guns should be banned, but the number is scarce, and by definition, they wouldn't be a liberal because they're against one of the most well known civil liberty rights. To claim they all, or most, or just say "liberals" in a very broad way would be like me relying on a few asinine conservatives and saying conservatives all want to go to war and kill people simply for their faith while they beat up Sikhs, because they're too ignorant of the religions of the world.DefinitionsClassical Liberal - Classical liberalism is a political ideology and a branch of liberalism which advocates civil liberties and political freedom with representative democracy under the rule of law and emphasizes economic freedom. [4] Social Liberal - Like classical liberalism, social liberalism endorses a market economy and the expansion of civil and political rights and liberties, but differs in that it believes the legitimate role of the government includes addressing economic and social issues such as poverty, health care, and education. [5]Modern Liberalism - Modern American liberalism is the dominant version of liberalism in the United States. It combines liberal ideas of civil liberty and equality with support for social justice and a mixed economy. [6]Liberal (Politics) - Liberals believe in government action to achieve equal opportunity and equality for all. It is the duty of the government to alleviate social ills and to protect civil liberties and individual and human rights. Believe the role of the government should be to guarantee that no one is in need. [7]Civil Liberty - "Civil liberties" concern basic rights and freedoms that are guaranteed -- either explicitly identified in the Bill of Rights and the Constitution, or interpreted through the years by courts and lawmakers. Civil liberties include: Freedom of speech The right to privacy The right to be free from unreasonable searches of your home The right to a fair court trial The right to marry The right to vote - See more at: http://civilrights.findlaw.com... "Civil liberties" concern basic rights and freedoms that are guaranteed -- either explicitly identified in the Bill of Rights and the Constitution, or interpreted through the years by courts and lawmakers. [8]As we can all see, a liberal would have to agree and believe in civil liberties, else they wouldn't be a liberal. And sure, I can hear some screaming "no true Scotsman" at the top of their lungs, however, would you be a Christian if you didn't believe in Jesus and his resurrection? What about a Conservative who doesn't agree to the basic notion of tradition? Would you still be a conservative? No, you wouldn't. It's not a "no true Scotsman" fallacy is you call someone out as not being what they claim because they don't follow what that label actually means. You're not something if you actually do not follow what that word mean. And calling yourself one doesn't mean you are. Because of this, claiming "liberals are X" when they do not actually follow liberal principles is to attack people who are not actually liberals. With that, I end my opening statement and leave my opponent to respond. After, I will respond to his rhetoric and later end with a closing statement. Thank you.NOTE: I will also try to use charts and other picture based data and graphs, but I've always had issues trying to get them to work (as with one of my debates trying to use the evolutionary tree chart with the list of species we are all related too).Cited Work: 1) http://theconservativetreehouse.com...2) http://www.huffingtonpost.com...3) http://www.foxnews.com...4) https://en.wikipedia.org...5) https://en.wikipedia.org...6) https://en.wikipedia.org...7) https://www.studentnewsdaily.com...8) http://civilrights.findlaw.com...