[tdadams]

I know what a liberal is. A liberal is a person who uses the coercive power of government to own or control my property and to tell me what to think or do.

I would disagree with that. What you described is a leftist/fascist. I would like to see the word liberal restored to its true meaning. Today's leftists are anything but liberal.

[MEG33]

Two words that have had their meaning hi-jacked....liberal and gay.

[kesg]

What you described is a leftist/fascist. I would like to see the word liberal restored to its true meaning. Today's leftists are anything but liberal.

You are arguing for the 19th Century meaning of the word, a meaning that attempts to differentiate liberals from statists -- a meaning which has gone the way of, well, the 19th Century. Frankly, these labels (or others such as "libertarian") are not helpful in most cases. Instead, I look to see whether a particular political position promotes or impairs individual rights. "Conservatives" like George Will think it is perfectly fine for government to seize my income to pay for someone else's drug prescription, and his only disagreement with the statists is one of degree rather than kind.