Liberal is not a four letter word

It shouldn't be necessary to defend liberalism since it is the founding philosophy of our nation. We should be able to affirmatively state our ideals, our case to the American people. But our brand has been poisoned by a concerted effort of reactionary forces. By the Rush Limbaughs, the small minded "Hannitized" masses, the church numbed, too busy hating fags to notice that their saviour believed as good liberals do, in feeding,clothing and sheltering the poor. Franklin Roosevelt had a name for them. Malefactors of great wealth. The Olin foundations. Richard Mellon Scaife, The Bush Crime Faamily, The Forbes. The AEI, CATO and Heritage foundations that keep the cockamamie ideas alive.

Our brand, our ideals have also been poisoned by the supine Democratic Party, that too often stands for nothing, our 'leaders' bragging about their 'PROBUSINESS, TOUGH ON CRIME, HAWKISH JINGOIST" world views. People like Joe Biden, who are culturally liberal, but end up selling out to the corporate interests again and again, the Bankruptcy bill being only the most egregious example. Who knows how many chemical company regulations were quietly quashed by the Senator from DOW CHEMICAL and MBNA? If both parties play the corporatist game, why shouldn't a culturally conservative working man vote Republican?

The biggest lie Conservatives tell about Liberals is that we want to control people's lives. Every liberal impulse comes from the facistic need to control. We want "BIG GOVERNMENT" so we can control every aspect of your life. Social programs are not set up to assist people in their everyday lives, No it's to make people dependent on government, so they will reward Democrats with votes. Liberals believe in checks and balances. The govrnment did not grow so big in a vacuum. Society has grown large and complex, and the government has grown with it. It is a fact of life. If we are going to have big business, and a large, complex, decentralized society, we will have big government. It is a matter of checks and balances. We cannot have the corporations and the market determining everything.

If I could boil liberalism into one word, it would be JUSTICE. That is why we do what we do. We are committed to civil rights and gay rights because of JUSTICE. We back our constitiotional rights for all, not just the popular, because of our commitment to JUSTICE. We are against torture, not because we love terrorists, but because we love JUSTICE. How can we know they are terrorists we are torturing? We support the poor because we are committed to JUSTICE, not some cynical desire for votes. In fact I wish the poor would vote their economic interests, but they don't even get out and vote in large numbers.

Justice is the reason we support the labor movement. That is why every major improvement to working peoplle's lives is due to liberalism. The 40 hour week. Minimum Wage. Public Schools. Women's Suffrage. Freedom for slaves.We hold these truths to be self evident...,EPA, Worker safety laws, workmans comp,food and drug inspections. If it was up to conservatives we would all have the "Liberty to Contract". That meant the liberty to work for slave wages and no benefits. The liberty to starve. Conservatives would deny the most basic of social safety nets. No Social Security. No Medicare. No Welfare. No financial regulation. No environmental regulation. No hope for the oppressed.

No Thank-you.