I have never been prouder of Barack Obama than today when Barack Obama defended being a “liberal.” In Texas of all places. You go Barack.
AUSTIN, Texas — In the shadow of the state capitol that provided the United States with one of the most conservative presidents in recent history, Obama last night railed against the charge that being “liberal” was a bad thing.
“Oh, he’s liberal,” he said. “He’s liberal. Let me tell you something. There’s nothing liberal about wanting to reduce money in politics that is common sense. There’s nothing liberal about wanting to make sure [our soldiers] are treated properly when they come home.”
Continuing on his riff: “There’s nothing liberal about wanting to make sure that everybody has healthcare, but we are spending more on healthcare in this country than any other advanced country. We got more uninsured. There’s nothing liberal about saying that doesn’t make sense, and we should so something smarter with our health care system. Don’t let them run that okie doke on you!”
It is time the word “liberal” became a positive force in politics. Reading on Walden Bookstore.
Filed under: Democrats, Election 2008, Politics | Tagged: Liberal labels
As a dyed-in-the-wool conservative, I say good for him. I hate people who hide behind misleading labels on either side of the aisle.
Maybe Obama is starting a change in what is implied by calling someone a liberal, but many liberals I know have begun using “progressive” again because they don’t like the bad connotations of “liberal”.
I wish Obama and other liberals would start to use the word progressive, though, because liberal is a word that describes laissez faire capitalism and the private property order, it wasn’t until socialists started to adopt the word (and later those on the Left that aren’t really socialists) that it became a “bad word”.
Good point, Lance; but I truly don’t think it should be a ‘bad word’ any more than ‘conservative’ or even- gasp!- ‘Republican’ should be a bad word. I think no descriptive word is inherently ‘bad’, unless bad intent goes into its use.