Republicans using the word "Liberal" to mean something dirty

Is just like several people here trying to make "DLC" sound dirty. Didn't work for them and it's not going to work for you.

:rofl:

Democrats have been running from the term faster than Cheney threw his subpoena in the trash can. Liberal has been a dirty word for quite some time now and the DLC in progressive circles is not thought of highly..What is it about Republican Lite that you like so much?

that attitude. I finally asked myself if I'd been misinformed as to the definition of liberal. Looked it up in my Funk & Wagnall and lo and behold, liberal meant what I always thought it meant....open minded. The ones who use the word in a derogatory manner need to be sent a dictionary.

they can F off.

see!

For starters, it is doubtful anyone outside the overrated "netroots" know who or what the DLC is. But they sure know names attached to them. So let’s imagine someone in the anti-DLC brigade actually goes to any Democratic party meeting and spouts the typical leftwing DLC line. THEN he/she starts rattling off the list of those in that organization that Democrats are supposed to deplore.

Naturally, he/she starts with Bill and Hillary Clinton. You might move on to John Kerry. You could mention former senators Max Cleland, John Edwards, and Sam Nunn.

By now, the crowd at the meeting is staring at him like he has a few screws loose. So he continues.

He rattles off all 16 new House members just elected. All new DLC members. All the enemy.

And he suddenly realize the room is laughing at him hysterically. He's apalled. People on line always agrees with him. He thrusts his fist in the air and says something revolutionary. They laugh harder. He unzips his jacket, revealing a black Che shirt, as though that will bolster his “progressive” credentials. Then he sees the party chair approaching to usher him off the stage, all the while explaining to the crowd that he did not mean to hire a comedian as a speaker.

So off he goes, back to his blog, where he immediately declares the Democrats at that meeting the enemy, also.

can someone believe that the right has not successfully demonized the term liberal, while thinking that the DLC is universally seen in a negative light ...

I do not even try to defend myself as a liberal in the real world ... You could debate on it with the 30-35% of our population that are "conservative" sheeple continuously until the day you die, and they will still believe in their heart of hearts that liberal = sin ... Then, you have moderates and the such who don't feel that strongly about it, but it would take a half day conversation to get them to START to not view liberal in a negative light ...

I am running for a county wide office in a semi-rural county with a 13% difference of more republicans than democrats ... Honestly, for the most part, the republicans are great people ... SERIOUSLY ... Hard working, decent, honest, and for a rural area pretty open minded ...

Frankly, I do as well or better with the Rs than the Ds in campaigning ...

But, the same people who I can successfully gain some support from by calling myself a progressive (which I would definitely call myself) would completely turn me off if I called myself a liberal ...

"He unzips his jacket, revealing a black Che shirt, as though that will bolster his “progressive” credentials."

Why is it you guys use GOP attack tactics? Is that *all* you have? The "libruls r commies" crock of horseshit?

Any for some one making fun of the "netroots", you spend way too much time on an internet message forum.

How can referencing the left's embrace of Che be a rightwing tactic when it is true?

and someone who works for US.

Some of us obviously don't.

It has a connotation of laxity. Being soft. Lacking firmness. Lacking passion. Being laissez-faire. Being supportive of powerful financial interests. I'm definitely not any of the such.

Progressive yes. Liberal no.

"We live in a liberal democracy. That's what we created in this country. It's in our Constitution. We should be very clear on this... this country was founded on the principles of the Enlightenment. It was the idea that people could talk, have reasonable dialogue and discuss the issues. It wasn't founded on the idea that someone would get struck by a divine inspiration and know everything, right from wrong. People who founded this country had religion, they had strong beliefs, but they believed in reason, and dialogue, and civil discourse. We can't lose that in this country. We've got to get it back." -- Gen. Wesley K. Clark

CHEAPSKATE CONservatives, CHEAP LABOR CONservatives, SHORT-SIGHTED CONservatives, STINGEY CONservatives. Attack them at their strengths and call them what THEY are. Take the focus off of us and start bonding negatives to the concept of "CONservatives." REGRESSIVE CONservatives, REPRESSIVE CONservatives, CLOSE-MINDED CONservatives, CON-JOB CONservatives, SNEAKY CONservatives. SNAKY CONservatives. And so forth.

Instead of trying to uproot some old, well-established plants, I'd rather try to plant and nurture NEW ones that will grow up and take over the perception garden. Replace one meme with another. Train the listener AWAY from something by training the listener TOWARD something else.

And remember something else: they've had 40-some-odd YEARS to get to this point. They switched to high gear in 1980 when reagan, gingrich, and the rest of these pirates, liars, cheats, and cheapskates started taking over, and they've been at it relentlessly - in ALL directions. They've had a LOT of time to criminalize the word "liberal" in the public psyche, what with all those think tanks and foundations and other cradles of poisons that they've had decades to set up and build - while our side was complacent and figured it would never happen and everyone would play fair all the time and mind the rules and never cut corners and things couldn't POSSIBLY get this bad. WE, on the other hand, are really only starting. They have quite a lead on us and we have much catching up to do to rebuild OUR infrastructure OUR way to take back and dominate the country and its politics. It takes time.

"Being supportive of powerful financial interests"?????????????????????????????? I. don't. think. so.

Maybe you have the word mixed up with something else.

TC

LIBERAL principles are what our Constitution was founded upon.

Free Markets - but, at times GOVERNMENT REGULATED instead of run away capitalism on steroids which we are suffering through now.

http://www.huppi.com/kangaroo/ShortFAQ.htm#liberalism

The definition of "liberalism" has changed continually throughout history, and even today it means different things to different people. One of the more fundamental definitions is that liberalism is openness to progress and change. By contrast, conservatism attempts to conserve the traditions and received truths of the past. Liberalism has also been defined as generosity, tolerance, open-mindedness and willingness to give.

In the 18th century, liberals and libertarians were one and the same: both championed free markets, individual liberty and a greatly reduced role for government and aristocracy. This has led to one definition of liberalism: that liberals oppose political absolutism in all its forms, be they monarchist, feudal, military, clerical or communitarian. However, there is considerable difference of opinion on how to run a decentralized society. Today, liberals generally believe in a large and free private sector that is generously defined, defended, and promoted by the public sector. In other words, a balance between individual and group behavior.

For example, consider the free market: liberals believe that individuals should be free to do whatever they please on the market, within the law. The law is determined by democratic government, and not only prohibits simple crimes like theft and murder, but commercial crimes like fraud, copyright infringement, insider trading, breach of contract, price gouging, etc. Without these laws, the market would function either poorly or not at all. For instance, if we did not have copyright laws discouraging people from pirating all their software, computer programmers could not even make a profit, and would have no incentive to produce.

Yet a third function of government is to promote the free market. A dramatic example is Eisenhower's Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956, which authorized the creation of over 40,000 miles of interstate highway. These highways interconnected, accelerated and expanded the U.S. economy, with profound results. They allowed the middle class to migrate from the cities to the suburbs, with an enormous increase in privacy and quality of life. Highways are but one example of how publicly funded infrastructure has increased commerce -- others include railroads, canals, satellite communications, and even the Internet. (The net began as a project funded by the Pentagon and public universities.) Much of this infrastructure was too huge and expensive to be funded by private companies, and languished undeveloped until the public sector stepped in. What distinguishes liberals from other political parties is that liberals advocate a greater degree of government support, defense and promotion of the free market.


Yet a third function of government is to promote the free market. A dramatic example is Eisenhower's Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956, which authorized the creation of over 40,000 miles of interstate highway. These highways interconnected, accelerated and expanded the U.S. economy, with profound results. They allowed the middle class to migrate from the cities to the suburbs, with an enormous increase in privacy and quality of life. Highways are but one example of how publicly funded infrastructure has increased commerce -- others include railroads, canals, satellite communications, and even the Internet. (The net began as a project funded by the Pentagon and public universities.) Much of this infrastructure was too huge and expensive to be funded by private companies, and languished undeveloped until the public sector stepped in. What distinguishes liberals from other political parties is that liberals advocate a greater degree of government support, defense and promotion of the free market."

My term for poops. Shit. Feces.

You know, a neo-con.

It won't be long before we'll come full circle and call them Brownbacks!

just for the non-tax paying corporations who refuse to support workers right & unions (the workers only voice)... People who favor a political philosophy of progress and reform and the protection of civil liberties = Liberal!

*was* fairly successful. Consider how the number of self-identified liberals has dropped since around the Reagan era, when the right's demonization of the term was, I believe, at its peak, while there hasn't been a similar drop in support for liberal policies. Far more people identify as conservatives than liberals, while on the majority of issues people seem to prefer the liberal stance. I have also noticed this in my own experience. People who are even a smidgen to the right of center tout their conservatism, while many who are liberal on the vast majority of issues are far too quick to classify themselves as moderates or "independents." I believe the primary reason for this is the right-wing's successful demonization of the term "liberal."

Anyway, I probably sound obnoxious arguing about something that wasn't the original poster's main point; I just think the right-wing's smearing of the term "liberal" is one of their success stories. Republicans may not be able to govern worth shit, but they are pros at smear tactics.

...or "Backward Ass..." if you are among your Democratic friends.

....it sounds when they use the words 'loony left' or 'weak on national security' the way they do.

America has allowed Rush Limbaugh to define the term Liberal.

It's popular meaning is way removed from the actual meaning. Rush has also defined all Democrats as Liberal and all Liberals as weak, tree hugging, tofu eating weirdos. Liberals want to tell us what to eat, what to drive, what to believe and what to teach our innocent children in school. Liberals want to do away with Jesus, all firearms, outlaw meat eating and all forms of hunting. Unless it is the hunting of someone smoking a cigarette, then we should kill on sight. These are solid "red state" concepts of Liberal and they are written in stone.

...and Rush hates liberals.

Show me someone who hates liberals, and I'll show you a degenerate.

...each and every time.

the same way repukes use "liberal" as a slur

I guess you don't get the irony.

Not one Dem 'leader' will campaign on how liberal they are. Not even Ted Kennedy or Dennis Kucinich. But virtually all GOPers campaign on how conservative they are. And in general elections, its common for the Dem candidate to try to show she/he is sympathetic to some conservative beliefs.