Pity, that.
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.
"Liberalism is the principle that glorifies and revels in the beautiful diversity of this land in all its multicultural, multiracial and multi-lingual aspects..."
LOL, it reads just like something out of North Korea!
I'm still learning that history, but I agree with you for now. The new "big government liberals" are more like apparatchiks and commissars.
He's proud......and powerless.
absolutely, and they can't wait to make the rest of us worker ants for the state.
Their multiculturism is just a buzz word. Dr. Condoleeza Rice is not glorified but demonized and hated with a white hot flame.
FDR tried socialism in the Great Depression and found out he liked it! All through WW2 he refered to the butcherous Stalin as 'Uncle Joe'.
Before he died, he set the stage for the 'Cold War' at Yalta and Truman foolishly went on treating the Russians as allies. For his conciliatory efforts, all he got was an 'Iron Curtain'.
If he lived today... he'd fit right in with the whole, stinking bunch!
Some "reasons" I can think of:
laziness,
lack of discipline,
lack of education (drop out or just quit trying),
lack of initiative,
inability to read
unwillingness to improve themselves
drugs,
alcohol,
other addictions,
money wasted on new cars and big screen TVs,
too much TV,
willingness of others to assume responsibility for them,
Socialist crap filling their brains,
hatred of employers,
imagined racist behavior
self pity,
hatred of achievment,
MTV,
rap music,
Jesse Jackson/Al Sharpton
Howard Dean/Algore
PEOPLE WITH VALID REASONS: people with physical and mental handicaps that require special accomodation, children still under 18 who are born to people that use the "reasons" above and are forced into their circumstances. (less than 0.1% of the complainers)
I wish that were true, eagle....he's been a mayor and a college professor. Both positions of influence. This is another reason why conservatives need to run for office, muscle their way into schools and colleges, do whatever it takes to keep these Marxists from infecting the citizenry with their dangerous and wrong-headed utopian visions.
I just can't help but think of the glories of diverse Bosnia/Serbia, Iraq, religiously diverse Ireland, etc, etc. Diversity, unto itself, is destructive. Unless their is unity of culture diversity is, well, divisive.
After all, we are a country of immigrants, whether voluntary or forced.
Let's not forget the noble Native American, many of which did a pretty good job of making war on each other even before we got here...
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.
"...promote the general welfare..." Funny how liberals have a hard time differentiating between "promote" and "provide." Our government was designed to stay out of the people's way. To give them the oportunity to acheive their dreams, not to take from others to give them their needs.
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?
"We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America." That's what it is for, no more, no less.
And, perhaps, most important of all, liberalism is about a belief in an entitlement
Bingo. They believe that people have rights not enumerated in the constitution and are constantly trying to create programs that take from one group to give to another, to pit one side against another, for political gain.
publicly provided education for all citizens, not just those who can afford to send their children to private institutions
And when those public institutions fail, who stands in the way of improving them? Who refuses to give those with no other choice but to go to failing schools a chance to go elsewhere?
so that we all may take part in this participatory democracy as informed citizens.
As long as we are informed in the way THEY want us informed. Contrary opinion (FoxNews, Newsmax, FreeRepublic) is to be belittled and marginalized.
Certainly, government does not exist simply to ensure that the rich get richer and the powerful gain more power, while the poor remain poor.
See preamble above. Our Government exists to promote a general welfare, among other things. If the founders has wanted to provide a general welfare, they would have used that word...
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 have yet to hear a conservative call a liberal unpatriotic because he his a liberal. You may be unpatriotic if you wish harm upon this nation, as many liberals during the Bush Administration have done. They hope the war will go badly so it will hurt Bush. They hope the economy goes bad so it will hurt Bush. That is putting politics before your country and that is unpatriotic.
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.
Stupid is as stupid does. His service is commendable, his idiocy afterwards is not.
The term liberal does not mean more, it meant something fundamentally different before our the Orwellian doublespeak of the left stole it as a sissified code word for socialist. A liberal in the enlightenment sense has to use the word 'classical' liberal and is essentially similar to the right wing libertarian. By right wing libertarian I mean the get the gov't out of my wallet and everything else type, not the 'I wanna smoke dope without the cops buzz killing me' type.
Your mind never got past the Utopian stage, did it Otis?
Wow. Boy, does Mr. King need to do some remedial reading.
If you were an actual liberal 50 years ago, how can you still be? The definition has changed. Maybe you were a communist then. That's pretty much the same.
Amen!
I prefer the word and ideals called .... Conservative!
In todays times, FDR would be a Republican. The only reason he became a Democrat in the first place was to compete with Cousin Theodore (he couldn't do so within the NY Republican Party).
In East Texas, there are about a dozen of these dinosaurs left...and he's seventy. They are a dying breed. Good.
review later
...spoken like a TRUE Marxist, all full of doing what is right for the 'common people'...as long as the common people let the elite RULE them....
That right there is why people can't stand liberals.
Their haughty belief that they are needed to correct people's condition in life with other people's money.
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