No sissified code words for me: I'm a liberal

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.

"...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."

Step 1; Admit you HAVE a problem, be honest with yourself. And now the rebuttal.

"I am for doing good to the poor, but I differ in opinion of the means. I think the best way of doing good to the poor, is not making them easy in poverty, but leading or driving them out of it." --Benjamin Franklin

"...I am equally upset that other liberals have shied away from so labeling themselves."

"A man who thinks of himself as belonging to a particular national group in America has not yet become an American." --Woodrow Wilson

"...people who... cannot always successfully navigate life completely on their own."

"Give a man a fish you feed him for a day, teach a man to fish you feed him for a lifetime"

"...glorifies and revels in... diversity...in all its multicultural, multiracial and multi-lingual aspects."

Liberalism glorifies and classifies the diversities in society by pointing out superficial differences in humanity; race, color, gender, faith, language. Instead it should couch these less important differences and accept the diversity of ideas, thoughts and plans. Liberalism, now known as cultural Marxism in our society, cries for the acceptance of all, and makes sure to point out those differences thus creating class struggle. It says it shouldn`t matter if you`re black or white, Japanese or Indian, but then points out those and classifies those who are.

"...liberalism is a philosophy that supports a strong role for government..."

"That government is best which governs least." --Henry David Thoreau

"...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."

"Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom, must, like men, undergo the fatigues of supporting it." --Thomas Paine

In conclusion, Mr. King, may I say you should sit down and be forced to listen to and understand Dr. Walter Williams. Finally...

"Political language...is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind." --George Orwell

>>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

By taxing us to death and giving us a Leviathan government!

And then there are the two faced liberals that Phil Ochs sang about in the 60s:

I cried when they shot Medgar Evers
Tears ran down my spine
I cried when they shot Mr. Kennedy
As though I'd lost a father of mine
But Malcolm X got what was coming
He got what he asked for this time
So love me, love me, love me, I'm a liberal

I go to civil rights rallies
And I put down the old D.A.R.
I love Harry and Sidney and Sammy
I hope every colored boy becomes a star
But don't talk about revolution
That's going a little bit too far
So love me, love me, love me, I'm a liberal

I cheered when Humphrey was chosen
My faith in the system restored
I'm glad the commies were thrown out
Of the A.F.L. C.I.O. board
I love Puerto Ricans and Negros
As long as they don't move next door
So love me, love me, love me, I'm a liberal

The people of old Mississippi
Should all hang their heads in shame
I can't understand how their minds work
What's the matter don't they watch Les Crane?
But if you ask me to bus my children
I hope the cops take down your name
So love me, love me, love me, I'm a liberal

I read New Republic and Nation
I've learned to take every view
You know, I've memorized Lerner and Golden
I feel like I'm almost a Jew
But when it comes to times like Korea
There's no one more red, white and blue
("This is John Kerry--reporting for duty!")
So love me, love me, love me, I'm a liberal

I vote for the democtratic party
They want the U.N. to be strong (...which is the problem...)
I go to all the Pete Seeger concerts
He sure gets me singing those songs
I'll send all the money you ask for
But don't ask me to come on along
So love me, love me, love me, I'm a liberal

Once I was young and impulsive
I wore every conceivable pin
Even went to the socialist meetings
Learned all the old union hymns
But I've grown older and wiser
And that's why I'm turning you in
So love me, love me, love me, I'm a liberal

(later re-done with some updated lyrics by
Eric "Jello Biafra" Boucher and
Neil Patrick "Mojo Nixon" MacMillan

But liberalism is what is now Balkanizing this country. This leftist is correct: We are a country of immagrants. The difference that liberalism in government has had is that the whole idea of a "melting pot" in society has been displaced. In the past, when immagrants came to this country, they had to adapt and become Americans. Sure, there were able to keep their own cultural and religious traditions, and that used to be the diversity that should be celebrated! But in order to participate in society, they had to learn to work "within the system." And that's what made the USA strong. However, modern liberalism says, "that is too difficult for you. We must accomodate you, and help you." This sort of "help" is actually quite destructive. It takes away the incentive to integrate into society. In some cases, it even encourages the seperatist mindset. And a society that has groups that can't even speak to each other, mixed with the liberal welfare state's limited allocation of resources, is a ticking timebomb or animosity between ethnic groups.

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.

That's part of the problem with the leftists' thinking. That once you're "born into" a "station in life," you're stuck there. That no matter what you do, unless you're given help, you will flounder and eventually fail. Modern liberalism discourages people from even trying to get out of their situations, to make life better for themselves and their families. The above statement is not about providing minimum levels of opportunity, but minimum levels or results. If you are never given a chance to fail, how will you ever know what it really feels like to succeed?

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?

Here, we have a leftist saying that unless we steal a little bit from everyone, so little that hardley anyone would notice, we can't possibly provide for the protection of the country through the military, as well as making the lives of those living here better, through welfare programs. He specifically states "if government is not about making life just a little bit better," which proves that he doesn't have the slightest clue about what the United States government is about. Of what he seems to believe that government is for, only the military is legitimately a function of government, at least according to the Constitution.

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.

Insanity has been described as taking the same action, under the same circumstances, over and over again, and expecting a different outcome. This person talks about entitlements to education, provided by the government. I can't think of many greater failures than government education, especially in major metropolitan areas. Look at the amount of money spent per child. In most cases, the schools that are failing the worst, also have some of the highest per child rates of funding. Bad example to use.

Certainly, government does not exist simply to ensure that the rich get richer and the powerful gain more power, while the poor remain poor.

Again, this leftist makes the assumption that without the government providing assistance, "the poor" will always be poor." This is a false belief.

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.

No, not unpatriotic, but leftists are simply overcome with their emotions, refusing to actually try thinking about the consequences of their actions. Sort of like giving a drunk a $20. It might make you feel a little bit better right now, but have you actually helped him? Wouldn't it be better to buy him a meal, and escort him to a Salvation Army center? Actually, this isn't a good example of what a leftist would do... He wouldn't want to give the drunk a $20. He'd want the rest of us to give the money.

Mark

I am a liberal, born and bred, complete and unadulterated, pure and simple, without any hyphenated prefix or suffix.

People who get paid by the word rather than by the deed naturally gravitate toward twisting the language to make cheap talk sound profound - and socialism is nothing but cheap talk.
Indeed the dictionary definition of socialism is irrelevant because the socialist so systematicallly conflates the term "social" with the term "governmental" as to be unable to distinguish between the two. The true meaning of socialism becomes painfully clear when you explicitly substitute the term "government" for "social" in the term "socialism." The resulting neologism, "governmentism," is a true description of the socialist project - and a nice synonym for "tyranny."
In the freedom-loving US, the term "socialism" was not nearly deceptive enough to make tyranny palatable and was therefore a failure as a brand. And that is why socialists who got paid by the word found it convenient to assign the meaning of "socialism" to the word "liberalism." But elsewhere the term "socialism" sufficiently masked they tyrannical project to allow it to become popular. Consequently anywhere outside the US, the term "liberalism" still means essentially the opposite of "socialism."
In this melieu the American who adopts the term "liberal" freely is a fool - and/or he is no friend of liberty, and takes you for a fool.

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