I find your approach to 'liberal thinking' interesting AOG.
You manage to make the term almost insulting because, if i deduce correctly. you equate 'liberalism' with a lack of thought, or control, of morality, an 'anything goes' approach to the world in general.
As someone who prides themselves as a liberal thinker, I assure you that i do not have the 'anything goes' attitude that you so despise.
i simply try to approach the issues you raise from a point of view of rationality. i utterly refuse to be pumped up by our self-righteous media, and I have never been a vengeful person, so i feel able to try and take a detatched view of situations which do not directly affect me.
To do otherwise is to enter a downward spiral of vitriol and hatred against just about anything that goes against what could be judged to be a reasonable attitude to the world around us.
I cannot live that way, i am not made that way, and if my 'liberal thinking' implies any laxity of morality or a view of right and wrong, then i have to confirm that such a view is misplaced - in my case, and of course, i only speak for myself.