The Chicago Tribune's Frank James thinks the Democrats really need to stop this insistence on retreat... from the word liberal. In short, James wrote at the paper's "The Swamp" blog today, if Democrats don't hunker down and fight Republicans on the dreaded L-word, the GOP will keep moving on and make "progressive" an epithet as well.
Here's James' argument, portions in bold are my emphasis:
The backlash to taxes, the welfare-state and civil-rights created blowback against liberalism to the point where the term liberal has become an epithet, almost the political equivalent of the “n” word. Republicans have long wielded it like kryptonite against Democrats because it works.
Thus Democrats’ refusal to embrace it and to seek a different term. They’ve landed on progressive. The way Clinton described it, it sounded a whole lot like the classic definition of liberal.
Democrats clearly believe that progressive is a far better term for marketing themselves to the American people. It has the word “progress” in it and Americans certainly like progress.
But conservatives have repeatedly proven they’re very good at taking language and recasting it to their own uses. One need look no further than “death tax” and “cut and run.”
So Democrats may now want to plan now for the day when Republicans have successfully transformed “progressive,” with Democratic complicty of course, into as dirty a word as liberal, leaving Democrats no choice but to island hop to another term.
Of course, Democrats could always take another tack. They could stand and fight for terms that once embodied the very idea of human liberty and the ideas behind the American experiment.
Funny. To me that sounds like a political analog to the "if we don't fight them over there, we'll end up fighting them here" argument that liberals in the media deride as simplistic about the war on terror.
Yet when it's political warfare for the electoral viability of the liberal Democratic Party, however, it's a whole other story.
—Ken Shepherd is Managing Editor of NewsBusters
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Previously repectable terms
July 24, 2007 - 20:05 ET by fitzfongPreviously repectable terms like "liberal" and "progressive" get poisoned forever by their attachment to left-wing politics. Of course, when the sane world rejects leftist dogma, leftists conclude that the terms are the problem, not the bankrupt philosophy. How long before the press starts referring to the "p-word"?
Progressive then liberal now back to progressive
July 24, 2007 - 20:08 ET by dagdaI think, but I could be wrong, liberals were first progressives, then became liberals when progressive became a bad word, now they are back to progressives, since liberal is a bad word. It is too bad they do not change their behaviors rather than their label.
Our real problem, then, is not our strength today; it is rather the vital necessity of action today to ensure our strength tomorrow. Dwight Eisenhower
STOP using the P word now
July 24, 2007 - 20:25 ET by reelman46Probably 6 months ago I e mailed some political buddies and posted (and
e mailed Bill O — who got it only half right in his book… “secular
progressives”) to beg them to never ever use the term “progressive”… (it implies they are somehow advanced-visionary-enlightened — that is their purpose in using it now)…
explain how a bigger bossier fed govt, higher & higher taxes plus
secular everything is progressive? They are liberals. The modern liberal
is simply a secular socialist… its how they vote, its how they almost
always talk… we on the conservative side must stop the p.c. pandering…
we have lost so many battles in the “words & labels” war with
liberals… have we learned anything? Since when do liberals determine
almost all of our political vocabulary?
Stop…cease… end… let’s not see the “p word” on any conservative Forum again!
We have enough pantywaist Repubs-conservatives now… good grief.
(and I invented a word to counter neocon… its neosoc… that should be
used when attacked with the neocon baloney… get on offense!)
Doug Schexnayder, Ph.D. (theconservativecrawfish)
I've always been annoyed by
July 24, 2007 - 20:47 ET by fitzfongI've always been annoyed by O'Reilly conceding to the left by accepting that transparently dishonest term. If anything, they're regressive.
Please fight for Liberal
July 24, 2007 - 22:05 ET by Lame CherryIt is always amazing how even cowards get moments of fight in them and I just love it. As a Conservative Christian American, I have never run from what God made me and I take great offense when someone tries to change the title. I love who I am and what God created. I cherish being honest and smile daily in the Truth.
Liberals on the short stick though have to lie what they are doing as they are criminals at heart. They want to legally steal people's money to salve their bad consciences in being rich liberals and demand governments make legal their debauchery as they are too weak to stand up and try to be a better person.
So I beg liberals please fight for the low class creatures you are so more people really find out all you really stand for and stop pretending to be patriotic and Christian.
Today on Huffington I was astounded at Bob Woodruff's wife from ABC in trying to redefine "families". She had the audacity to take a swipe at religion and community standards which are there to protect children from one parent misery as she was advocating and the stupidity to mention the Scarlet Letter.
Here is a female married to the head of ABC and she doesn't understand the Scarlet A was about adultery and not fornication making babies.
To further her liberal dichotomy, she told a story meant to manipulate about Bob "never waking up as his brain could not" and her daughter talking to him and she saw a tear on Bob's face. These are the same people who said Terri Schiavo should be executed by dehydration because her brain was not working.....and here was Bob in a matter of SOUL just like Ronald Reagan's brain was gone, but before he passed on woke up and knew his family as the SOUL is always aware what is going on just like it was in Terri Schiavo.
Mrs. Woodruff in trying to manipulate people into breaking family societal rules actually made a case against all she and her ilk advocate.
That is why I beg liberals please keep fighting and not hide behind progessive as you defeat yourself every time you open your moronic mouths. They think they are intelligent more than mere hinterland people and the common sense by God runs circles around these twits.
Ok a final point too as I will never get a response from Mrs. Woodruff is this. When Bob was injured and the United States military spent a fortune on hospitals and air transports to Germany at the very least.....which had to have cost 400,000 dollars as he was "special"........have the Woodruffs like any liberal repaid the US military so our brave soldiers can have better treatment?
Did ABC or Disney the billion dollar industries pay back the American taxpayers for all Bob Woodruff cost America?
So stand up and fight Frank James, Hillary Clinton and Mr.& Mrs. Woodruff.......for the word LIBERAL as you sure as the sun rises have never fought one day in your life for the United States of America nor paid back the army for all you sucked out of it.
*HIC IACET ARTORIVS REX QVONDAM REXQVE FVTVRVS
I really don't know why they
July 24, 2007 - 22:51 ET by Sonny LykosI really don't know why they are afraid to herald their beliefs and call themselves what they are - Socialists.
Wait! Socialists have always needed deception go get what they wanted. It's the nature of liars.
Never mind.
Socialists have always
July 25, 2007 - 00:03 ET by motherbeltSocialists have always needed deception go get what they wanted
Right. Someone (Ronald Reagan?) once said "A communist is someone who reads Marx. An anti-communist is someone who understands Marx."
if Democrats don't hunker
July 25, 2007 - 00:01 ET by motherbeltif Democrats don't hunker down and fight Republicans on the dreaded
L-word, the GOP will keep moving on and make "progressive" an epithet
as well.
Yeah, it's much better when the libs get to control the language, with terms like "anti-immigrant" and "nativist" to describe those opposed to illegal immigration.
If Hillary wants the
July 25, 2007 - 01:33 ET by lnthompIf Hillary wants the correct term to describe her politics, I believe "Stalinist" would be a better choice than either "liberal" or "progressive"
The Dems could call themselves "fluffy bunnies" for marketing purposes, but as long as they advocate overbearing government, most Americans will still not like them.
Lee T.
U.S. Navy (ret.) / Vancouver, Washington
The history of the race, and each individual's experience, are thick with evidence that a truth is not hard to kill and that a lie told well is immortal.-- Mark Twain
}}}----> fluffy bunnies
July 25, 2007 - 05:27 ET by Cool ArrowOn the other hand, Dems took two giant steps when they applied lipstick to the Pro Abortion movement and emerged as the Pro Choice movement.
"Mother, May I?"
"No, you can't!"
Ironically, we must thank
July 25, 2007 - 09:54 ET by dscottIronically, we must thank Frank James for publicly pointing out the obvious in regards to the Dems playing with words/terminology. Now each time someone utters the word progressive, we should rightly (pun intended) point to Frank James and say, What are you afraid of, are you trying to hide your belief system from the public?
Thank you Mr. James for framing the issue for us. LOL
“The object of life is not to be on the side of the majority but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane"
Human Liberty
July 25, 2007 - 10:56 ET by The FooIn the 1920's The Republicans referred to their party as the Party of Human Liberty. Just thought I'd pass theat along. My Grand father had banners that he hung up in the Detroit area with the phrase on it.