I am a Liberal. There, I have said it! And I don't agree with the Conservative right, that it is a bad thing! Liberal is defined by The Anerican Heritage Dictionary as: "Having, expressing, or following political views or policies that favor civil liberties, democratic reforms and the use of governmental power to promote social progress. 2. Tolerant of the ideas or behaviors of others; broadminded."
Hmmm...doesn't sound soooo bad! I believe in equal rights for all...no matter race, color, sexual orientation or anything. I believe in the power of government to do good WITHOUT infringing on my individual rights. I believe in a Woman's right to choose and the government should have no say in this matter. I believe in the seperation of church and state and don't want the evangelical right to insist that the government tell anyone how to run their private life, including choosing who to marry or have a relationship with. I believe our schools should be sacred and teachers should be paid at least 3 times what they make now. I believe in protecting our environment - we only have one earth and if we continue to ruin it then it really won't matter what we do economically because we will have failed our children and our grandchildren.
When I was in school, I didn't much care for History. However as I have gotten older, it has become one of my favorite subjects! Looking back at American History it is interesting to note that our Founding Fathers were all LIBERALS. Washington, Adams, Jefferson and Madison were moving away from a centralized government to form a government of the people! Lincoln, besides being a Republican, was a Liberal! He put forth the ideals of equal liberty for all - not a bad legacy! Teddy Roosevelt, another Republican, was a Liberal...he busted up corporate monopolies to help the common man. And he is credited with doing more for the environment than any President ever and is credited with preserving so much of America's natural resources.
FDR was a Liberal - he guided us through the Great Depression and WWII and lifted many of our elderly out of poverty. It has been LIBERALS that have brought real change to our Country!
BUT, we have to thank the Republican Party for making Liberal a dirty word. They have spent the last 30 years branding the term as "weak," "anti-American" and eltitist. Liberal, socialist, communist - they are all the same to those that have branded the term. And it has worked...it has worked so well, that most Democratic members of Congress are running away from the label - and we end up with a bunch of mealy mouthed, hapless leaders with no guts. I am tired of listening to the right wing pundits and their attack on progress, but there is nobody out there that has the guts to challenge them...so I am becoming disgusted with ALL of our politicians.
With this election cycle, we are all being inundated with TV commercials - but not a single one of them presents any ideas or a roadmap on how to fix things. All they do is attack, attack and attack. During my corporate years, when someone would bring me a problem, I would tell them "Bring me a solution, not a problem." All of our politicians only want to bring problems to the public but have yet to bring us real solutions.
We need LIBERALS to once again stand up for true American values. Let's protect the environment; Let's bring real race relations to this Country; Let's get a Healthcare system that works for EVERYONE; Let's fix entitlements so they work for all Americans; Let's establish equal rights for ALL people in this Country including Gays; Let's quit trying to force and make law of the evangelical right's beliefs and morals on all, including a woman's right to choose.
I hoped that President Obama was going to be the one to FINALLY step up and be that guy who brought real change to this Country. Unfortunately, The Party of No, The Republicans, are so busy rejecting everything, and the Democrats are so busy trying not to offend anybody. And both are only interested in getting elected rather than doing what is right. What a pity!
Yea, right...but what about the economy? That seems to be the overriding subject of the year. How do we get out of this mess? It is not going to be by going back to what the Republicans did from 2000-2008. In 8 years, Mr. Bush and his cohorts took us into the toilet...and now there are those that want to go back to their failed policies. How quickly we forget. And I am not saying that the current strategy is the end all of end alls...far from it..BRING ME A SOLUTION, NOT A PROBLEM. Unfortunately, there is not ANYONE out there who is even trying to come up with the best solution - they are too busy attacking each other and defending their turf rather than generating new ideas or being tolerant of the ideas or behaviors of others or being broadminded...in other words, being the LIBERAL we need them to be.
And the Journey continues........
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