Posted on 11/21/2004 1:56:30 AM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
I am a liberal, born and bred, complete and unadulterated, pure and simple, without any hyphenated prefix or suffix
Furthermore, it is an appellation I wear openly and proudly, even in this hyperconservative state and in these excruciatingly conservative times. I have done so since I first became politically astute enough to understand the available label choices, some fifty50 or so years ago.
I do not shy away from it as I have witnessed some doing in recent times, choosing to distance themselves from those of us still willing to be properly classified. They engage in linguistic legerdemain by calling themselves moderates, middle-of-the-roaders or some other such mealy-mouthed, mushy, nondescript, euphemistically sissified term, as though they are embarrassed by the old designation whichthat correctly and properly describes our social and political philosophy.
Moreover, I resent deeply that some, for their own selfish political benefits, and to put us on the defense, have been able to give the word a pejorative connotation, somehow labeling anyone brazen enough to still be recognized by the name as some kind of freak, bent on opening the treasury so as to, God forbid, create a welfare state, peopled by hoochie mamas, illegitimate children and illegal aliens, speaking some foreign tongue, while lapping up money at the public trough.
And worst of all, the term has been so successfully demonized and given such a symbolic negative racial connotation by those on the far right that, in the South particularly, it has separated us, on that spurious basis, from those with whom our shared economic status and interest ought to dictate the making of common cause.
As angry as I am about what we have permitted to be foisted upon us by our political enemies, I am equally upset that other liberals have shied away from so labeling themselves.
Liberalism is a proud tradition, and I believe it represents the bedrock principles upon which this country is founded. It is the leavening which softens the stark harshness of a pure capitalistic society and makes it palatable to those of us who care for people who, for whatever reason, cannot always successfully navigate life completely on their own.
Liberalism is the principle that glorifies and revels in the beautiful diversity of this land in all its multicultural, multiracial and multi-lingual aspects. After all, we are a country of immigrants, whether voluntary or forced. As I see it, liberalism is a philosophy that supports a strong role for government in ensuring that all are able to live a decent life and share in the bounties of this incredibly blessed country, regardless of the stations of life into which they were born. And, if government is not about making life just a little bit better by doing those things that require a collective endeavor, such as security, both physical and financial, by creating a military for the former and programs such as Medicare and Social Security to deal with the latter, and helping those who find themselves in a position of needing temporary support, through safety nets like Medicaid, public housing and food stamps, then, pray tell, what in the world is it for? And, perhaps, most important of all, liberalism is about a belief in an entitlement to a good, publicly provided education for all citizens, not just those who can afford to send their children to private institutions so that we all may take part in this participatory democracy as informed citizens.
Certainly, government does not exist simply to ensure that the rich get richer and the powerful gain more power, while the poor remain poor. It is not unpatriotic to be a liberal, either, and the suggestion that it is makes this old 82nd Airborne paratrooper's blood boil. I was drafted, served without complaint (OK, without too much complaint), and was willing to put my life on the line if that had become necessary. And, as I near the seventh decade of life, I am happy to stand as a yellow-dog, East Texas, Franklin Roosevelt liberal in all my unsullied glory.
King is a law professor at Thurgood Marshall School of Law, and was city attorney under Mayor Fred Hofheinz. He can be e-mailed otisking@facultyvoice.com.
Ugh excuse ME.....
Liberal is a sissyfied code word for socialist.. and progressive is a sissyfied code word for communist.. and by the way communism "IS" socialism.. and liberals are not liberal at all..
What a maroon..
This boy is about as sharp as a bowling ball..- Foghorn Leghorn..
"What a vision may offer, and what the prevailing vision of our time emphatically does offer, is a special state of grace for those who believe in it. Those who accept this vision are deemed to be not merely factually correct but morally on a higher plane. Put differently, those who disagree with the prevailing vision are seen as being not merely in error, but in sin. For those who have this vision of the world, the anointed and the benighted do not argue on the same moral plane or play by the same cold rules of logic or evidence. The benighted are to be made 'aware,' to have their 'consciousness raised,' and the wistful hope is held out that they will 'grow.' Should the benighted prove recalcitrant, however, then their 'mean-spiritedness' must be fought and the 'real reasons' behind their arguments and actions exposed. While verbal fashions change, this basic picture of the differential rectitude of the anointed and the benighted has not changed fundamentally in at least two hundred years."
from The Vision of the Anointed - Self-Congratulation as a Basis for Social Policy by Dr. Thomas Sowell
Basically, this guy just summarized a Loser's Manifesto. You could peddle this stuff in 1936, but we've had too much experience with it by now. Rexford G. Tugwell bump.
Ah, so he must be a Vouchers supporter.
Hear, hear!
Poor fellow has never read the Constitution, especially the Tenth Amendment.
This explains it all.
Thank you for completely coming clean with the real people of America, although you tip your hand in so many ways only a small group of which you align yourself with would dare to expose the true aspects of your political philosophies. You are a glutton for punishing jabs and must like being on the wrong side of everything. I salute your honesty; quite uncommon for your ilk and we will oblige your ignorance and lack of objectivity. Your baby killing mentality served us well in the Vietnam War. I hope you never have a moments peace until you recant your evil lifestyle and damage you continue to do to the REPUBLIC.
There was also the fact that Revolutionary France was immediately attacked and invaded by the neighboring (and sometimes not even neighboring) kingdoms.
What the American Republic could do in peace, keeping in mind the necessary balance between the citizens and their government, the French Republic had to discard to fight a war (and a civil war in Western France, funded by England) for its very survival.
All things I didn't know. Thank you.
"Diversity this country has to offer..."
I guess he means how everyone is full of shit... in different ways.
So what you are saying is that if Liberals would stop "spending" time and money defending themselves and complaining about Republicans, they may have saved up some money to put towards the sad people they hope to cure?
I thought they were just using the blame-game as an excuse not to get off the couch, but to still feel good about themselves.
Well it should be that...!
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