ITW,

Politics has made “liberal” into a four-letter-word
campaign mantra of the Right.  “Liberal” is synonymous with “tax and spender.”  Both are synonymous with “Democrat.”

Right-wingers don’t even have to think about either what “liberal” really means or what they’re trying to “conserve” because it’s all already spelled out for them in the campaign rhetoric by their party leaders.

Ask a Right-winger, if they’re so much against tax and spending, what they call the debt run up by their party over the last several republican administrations and how they expect to pay for this one without raising revenue? 

The answer:  Pass the bill on to their children. 

They’re “restaurant deadbeats” which is what one who wants to conserve his own wealth is likely to do: eat a sumptuous meal then duck out on the tab leaving the serve person to pay it.

“But now I am older and wiser.
So that’s why I’m turning you in!
So love me, love me, love me:
I’m a Liberal!” —Phil Ochs

Nobody could say “Liberal” with disdain like Jerry Falwell.  Rush Limbaugh and Ann Coultergeist are pale images of ol’ Jerry when they say “Liberal”!.  But, Hey! He had God and Jesus on his side: “I’m as sure for Heaven as if I’m already there!” This justified his gay-bashing, fascism preaching and out-and-out LYING and money-grabbing.

Except for the frequent confusion of liberal with leftist, I think the popular use of the word is coherent—it refers to people who are actually conservative about (that is, want to keep) the classical liberal rights as amended by the New Deal, post World War 2 imperialism and the Civil Rights movement.  Liberalism allows for some personal exceptions—abortion, gun laws, intellectual property, fiscal discipline, this war or that—but the individual in question can still be a liberal because they are in the liberal category on every other question.  You don’t have the sort of fundamental difference of worldview and philosophy you find among those who are currently being called “conservatives”.

Of course I am speaking here of the modern, popular usage of the words.  Liberals are not classical liberals and conservatives are not classical conservatives, at least not in the United States.  The linguistic slippage makes discussions about these things pretty confusing at times.

Leisure suit Larry , From your post and litany of votes it sounds like you are somewhat confused . What is a liberal , well , you named three , to that you can add FDR , TR and JFK . You want to hear a discription , John Kennedy gave a quite eloquent one early in his presidency , you can probably find it by googling ” John Kennedys what is a liberal speech ” it was quite profound . If that doesn’t answer it for you both FDR and TR spoke of the values and ideas that would be rather orthodox liberal values and thought many times . I am also at a loss to remember the sixtys you speak of , I was alive and active in that period and can not remember liberals being scorned by the left . The terms you refered to , limousine liberal in particular was coined by the drooling dumbass reagan and his crew , they made a concerted effort to make the term liberal demeaning , I never heard the other terms you refered to in the 60’s , 70’s or frankly at all . I also don’t beleave considering yourself a ” liberal ” or ” conservative ” is putting ones self in a box . It simply quantifies ones political leanings , two quite diffrent world views . I also own guns , but I am very liberal , I must have missed that rule . Unlike you I don’t vote for republicans . The reason is simple , I don’t believe in their governing philosophy , it’s just that simple . Why would I vote for someone who represents a political philosophy I don’t agree with in general ? I can also look at history past or present and see which governing philosophy I would rather live under . Would you prefer to live in a country like , say , Saudi arabia , Iran , Nth Korea , all very conservative or , Denmark , France or Germany , quite liberal ? I don’t know about you but I would prefer the latter , hands down .

@JNagarya

You seem to equivocate.

Help me out here.  What is it, exactly that conservatives are trying, in 21st century America, to conserve?  I’d very much appreciate an answer because, I haven’t found one yet.

Then, I’d be open to discussing your answer with you.

Fadel Abdallah: ‘I believe that the label of “conservative” for the types of people many Americans label them is indeed a misnomer. ...’

It sure is.  For one thing, many profoundly contradictory groups, beliefs and activities are lumped together under that name: religious zealots and those who exploit them, neo-cons, those who pursue the interests of the wealthy and their corporations, libertarians, social conservatives and racists.  Most of them are not actually conservative in the old sense of the word.  The main reason to use it, I guess, is that the members of this unlikely collection often call themselves that.

I believe that the label of “conservative” for the types of people many Americans label them is indeed a misnomer.

I happened to like labeling myself as conservative and reserved in relation to social and economic issues, yet I don’t find anything in common between myself and those who are called conservatives. I believe that the word “reactionaries” and “backward-thinking” are more suitable words to describe those types!

But I guess American English keeps giving me cultural shocks even after living in America for thirty years! My first shock was with the word “football” which is a misnomer for a game where the “foot” is hardly used!

The conservative movement has indeed lost control of it’s new base.

The old guard repubs, that is big business and the wealthy, were a dying breed in the era of the “new deal”, “new frontier” and “great society”. A middle class had risen from the ashes of WWII and the great depression, and had built america into THE world power for the second half of the 20th century. The american working class had become empowered like no other working class in human history. Wealth was being redistributed at a record pace, the “neaveau rich” were popping up all over place, and the old rich could finally stand no more!

But how could the american blue bloods turn the tide against these petty commoners who now make too much money, have too much political power, and are now(gasp!) sending their children to college, making the next generation even more of a threat to the future of their old establishment ways?
Easy, we turn them against each other by accentuating their differences, thus starting a class war. And it worked!

They began with racism. The repubs went throughout the old south prior to the passage of the voting rights act of 1964, and told the people that this would be the final nail in the coffin of states rights and thus the confederacy itself. New northern liberals were coming to tell them how to live their lives, that the N word was frowned upon, and you could no longer threaten to hang blacks for trying to vote. The repub plan worked wonderfully! The dye was cast for the largest voting block the repubs would ever enjoy. 1968 became the deathknell for the new deal and the great society, and liberals scurried for whatever dark corner they could hide. The repubs had more power than they had enjoyed since the days of Teddy Roosevelt! But now there was much work to done, for all the trappings of the new deal would have to be slashed and burned before americas Blue Bloods could fully return to prominence.

It took fourty years, but they succeeded! There was a brief hick-up in the plan in 1976. But the repubs smartly threw that election, knowing that they, and their newly created conservative media outlets could, in the next four years, make americans believe that Carter was responsible for Watergate, Vietnam, and the lindberg kidnapping. But the people had swayed away from the right to vote for Carter. They would need to bind the cohilition tighter, permit no more straying from the path. What to do?
Create a religious class war.
Appeal to the lowest common denominator of your new southern working class and poor white base by accentuating their intolerances for abortion and womens rights. At the same time tell them that liberals are coming for their guns, and don’t want their kids to pray at school, that unions are communist anti-american organizations that want to kill God. Put preachers on TV and the radio every day, with one cohesive message, you are either with us or against us!

And while all of this is going on, big businesses were calling the shots in DC. Deregulation was the word of the day. The Blue Bloods once again consolidated their power and cut the balls off the working class in the US.
But they did it all on borrowed money. And now the Piper is here.
And the beast they created, the religious right, has grown beyond their control. They don’t like Mac because he’s a moderate. They don’t like Palin because she’s a woman. They don’t like bailing out big business because that’s Communism!

No one in america should be surprised by the attrocities that the wacko right will attempt to perpetrate in the next four years. Hell hath no fury like a christian wacko scorned on election day!

The problem with McCain is not the parroting of the talking points, it’s the parroting of talking points that either he himself (or Palin) suffers from themselves OR that they’re false.

You can’t attack someone for no experience when your running mate has less experience than nearly anyone in america.  Attacking someone as elitist when you yourself are one of the most elitist people in America doesn’t work.

You can’t continue to parrot talking points like ‘joe the plumber’ and ‘he wants to raise your taxes’, because they aren’t TRUE!

If this was 1990 and no one had the internet, they could probably get away with it.  Presidents in the past have.  But this is 2008.  A good majority of people have the internet and can see right through McCain’s lies.

Teddy not only singed the eyebrows of the Clintons as he ‘Passed the Torch’ to Sen Obama- he threw the Gauntlet at their Heads! Now we have clear distinction about What constitutes a Democrat.
the Clintons & the DLC were slipping Republican ideas in to our platform (aka NAFTA, ‘Don’t ask Don’t Tell). And after 12 yrs of Neo Con Crap, we were willing to compromise on those thinking it would finally give Us an Inch in the political arena.It didn’t it only moved the ball towards the Neo Cons agenda. Hindsight Being 20/20, I KNOW the Clintons had no interest in the returning to a Real Democrat Platform, but contaminating it. what does the DLC call it ‘The Third Way’....Not the Labor way, Nor even the Free Market Way..the Corporate Way- just like the Neo Cons. Hillary’s Red Slip was Showing throughout her campaign- She obviously has her own autographed copy of the Neo con handbook & manifesto.
I Know there are some Good Republicans still hiding in the Party. Chris Matthews was trying yesterday to show how the Dems & Repubs have far more incommon then we have been allowed to discuss for Decades.
Small Gov’t…YEAH BABY!! Get rid of ‘Homeland Security’, the NSA ,the Federal Reserve,and Private Contractors like Blackwater & Halliburton OFF our Payroll. Get the Feds out of my pockets, off my Phone line and out of my body (abortion,Stem cell, vices- Tobacco, Pot, Prostitution)
Limit our presence in foreign countries…Let’s allow soveriegn countries to handle their Own defense- ie Iraq & Israel. We don’t need to be Standing over their shoulders, Nor footing the Bill. And Certianly should NOT be their Hitmen for Hire (Saudi’s).
Reduce Spending…Great let’s start with the Wages & Bennies of the Public Servants, Tax loopholes and concessions to Corps,Needless Foreign handouts
If Bush & cheny have done nothing else positive for this country, they may have played their hand out to far and Now we are going to cut it Off!
There is talk Sarah is trying to build her base for a ‘12 run…LOL. I don’t think she’ll have one by that time.The Religious Right has been revealed as the ‘Immoral Minority’ with UnAmerican Ideologies.
It’s time they recognize the fact it is THEIR TURN to compromise. We will Reduce or eliminate Unwanted pregnancies (Since there is No Such thing as a ‘ProAbortionist’), by encouraging education and accessiblity to Preventive Birth control. We will allow Gays to Marry (in churches who agree to perform such services) otherwise they can Legalize their union at the Court house.We will move Forward on Stem Cell, because ‘Life’ does not end at birth.
Why will We be able to move these issues towards our way of thinking, Because REAL republicans find them more intune with their Original Doctrine…They have No Place in the Federal Gov’t and impede Upon the Freedoms and Rights in our Free Democratic Society.
WELCOME BACK REPUBLICAN PARTY!!!
Sit Down ..We have Sooo Much to discuss and solve together!
Thank you Gen.Powell for helping bring Real Republicans out of the shadows. You may have not only Saved their ‘Brand’, but may have given them a Shot at Redemption and ‘12!