If we were to replace the word "Liberal".....what would you suggest?

[Roxy66]

Since the Repugs have made "Liberal" a dirty word, what "label" would you choose to start pushing to identifying ourselves with. I choose "Compassionate". Dont say it's long, "conservative" has 12 letters....and "compassionate has 13. So, seriously, let's go after these jerks, and get our message clarified.

Add your suggestion......

[BlueEyedSon]

1. Patriot.

[billyoc]

2. Progressive. n/t

[loudestchick]

52. gotta go with progressive!

they aren't really conservative...they're REgressive...and aggressive!

[Killarney]

3. I like progressive because it suggests that the opposite

must be regressive and that's exactly what conservatives are. We want to move with the times and they want to go back in time.

[Roxy66]

10. I like it too...the only problem with that is, it's easily demonized

by repugs. They will say we are pushing for radical change..."See, they are trying to turn our country into a freak show!!" is what the radical right would say. Look what they have done to the word "Liberal".

[Ganja Ninja]

4. Realist. n/t

[Shoeempress]

5. I vote for Progressive Patriot. 2 reasons. 1.it is a great counter punch

to all the connotations of "liberal" and 2. my husband works with a repuke and used that word on him and it drove him crazy. Nuf said

[clydefrand]

11. I like this, too!

[comsymp]

6. Replacing it would just validate the Conservatives-

I'd rather reclaim it *and its meaning* - it's a word to wear proudly, not run from.

[Roxy66]

12. Change is a progressive process.....remember, it's a good thing

Liberal will never be perceived as a positive term again...no matter what we do. The Repugs have made sure of that.

[Skidmore]

17. It's up to us to make it a positive term. I am and always will

be a progressive and liberal. You cannot be progressive without being liberal.

[comsymp]

19. Change is *not always* a progressive process -

The last decade or so demonstrates that, I'd think.

And as for Liberal never being perceived as positive again - maybe, maybe not. If we run from the word, it's guaranteed that it'll keep its negative connotation. My fear is that we will too- no matter what we call ourselves, we'll always be the "usetabe" Liberals. That's Reason # 1 for keeping/reclaiming the word.

Reason # 2 is simply that I'm tired of letting the Right set the agenda.

Did you ever see "The American President"? There's a scene in which the President is being challenged about his ACLU membership. IMO, that kind of response, consistently and from all Lefties, is all we need to take the word back.

[clydefrand]

7. A combo of two of your posts

Compassionate realists

[Roxy66]

13. I LIKE IT!!..."Compassionate Realists"

[cmd]

8. I plan to keep liberal

It's nothing be be ashamed of. The only way to defeat a bully is to stand up to one.

[Roxy66]

16. Not ashamed of it...We need to reach people with a simple term,

no baggage

[cmd]

30. The baggage will come along with what ever you choose

It isn't the word, it is the fact that we allow the Republicans to define it in a demeaning way. Until we stand up to them, they will simply redefine any other word you choose.

[BlueEyedSon]

9. Fact-based.

[ElsewheresDaughter]

14. inclusive...benevolent

Entry Word: liberal
Function: adjective
Text:
1 marked by generosity and openhandedness

Synonyms: bounteous, bountiful, free, freehanded, generous, handsome, munificent, openhanded, unsparing
Related Words: exuberant, lavish, prodigal, profuse; benevolent, charitable, eleemosynary, philanthropic

Contrasted Words: closefisted, miserly, niggardly, parsimonious, penurious, stingy, tight, tightfisted; meager, scanty
Antonyms: close
2

Synonyms: PLENTIFUL, abundant, ample, bounteous, bountiful, copious, generous, plenteous, plenty 3 not bound by authoritarianism, orthodoxy, or traditional forms

Synonyms: advanced, broad, broad-minded, progressive, radical, tolerant, wide

Related Words: forbearing, indulgent, lenient

Contrasted Words: rigid, rigorous, strict, stringent; dictatorial, doctrinaire, dogmatic, oracular; conservative, reactionary
Antonyms: authoritarian

[cleofus1]

15. not a good idea

No matter what we call ourselves thuglicans will have one of their hired minions develop a strategy on how to discredit, demonize and defame.
We are liberals and we should have 50 million bumper stickers printed up in 72 point font with just that legend!

LIBERAL!

[Roxy66]

21. how many of those 50 million do you think would put that sticker on their

car? Not many. I would, but most Democrats are affraid of that word. I'm sure most of the people that come to this web-site would proudly put that bumber sticker on their car, but, many in our party dont want to be identified as Liberal. One word makes a world of difference.

[indigobusiness]

18. Liberal is what it is...Celebrate it. Change the world, not words.

Liberal is no more a pejorative than Conservative. The public discourse has degenerated into dogma and noise. Elevate the dialog by contrast. Amplify voices like those of Joan Chittister,etal. to contrast the false messages. Watch the house of cards fall.

[rustydog]

20. Theharder you try to run from the "Liberal" label, the more frequent

and loudly the word will be spoken.
don't run from it, grasp it and redefine it.
Jesus was a liberal. Ghandi, Martin Luther King, Kennedy,
Mother Theresa...all possessed the beliefs held dear to the Liberal Democratic belief.
Why run from that?

[VivaKerry]

22. Humanitarian. N/T

*

[Roxy66]

23. Thats a good one too n/t

[Flammable Materials]

24. "KICK-ASS LIBERAL"

The word is fine as it is.

[Cheswick2.0]

26. LIBERAL AND LOUD!

[Cheswick2.0]

25. liberal

I refuse to allow them to take it from me.

[Arancaytar]

27. I'm a liberal, a progressive, a leftist, and a treehugging pinko commie.

An insult is what you take as one.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

28. The DLC has already done it by removing the liberals.

The party is now controlled by the whimpering poodles of the "practical" wing of the Democratic Party.

[Roxy66]

29. kick

[LynnTheDem]

31. LIBERAL.

They CAN'T make it a "dirty word" unless we LET THEM make it a "dirty word".

LIBERAL; GENEROUS, KIND, GIVING.

[Roxy66]

33. They already have

[LynnTheDem]

34. To THEm. NOT to us unless we let them.

Make CONSERVATIVE a dirty word; STINGY, TIGHT, NARROW-MINDED.

Which was Christ?

[Roxy66]

37. I agree...we need to go after that word for what it is..."Close Minded"

[sunnystarr]

49. You made an excellent point

Demonize CONSERVATIVE!! I'm proud to be a liberal and if we change it they'll just denigrate the new term by calling us the cowards we would be by not standing up for what we stand for.

There's only one way to do this and Donna Brazil spoke of it at the Miami Book Fair which was on C-Span. We have to take to the airwaves and get radio stations so that our message is out there 24/7. That's how they brainwashed so much of America and that's how we have to get our message out. Our LIBERAL message.

[LiberalAndProud]

39. In-your-face LIBERAL.

[Iris]

32. Enlightened.

[The Flaming Red Head]

36. I vote for Enlightened

[Iris]

41. Thanks! I like it to! eom

[Catchawave]

35. Liberal....

...and damn proud of it.

Though revolutionist is starting to look good to me :P

[shawcomm]

38. Human?

:shrug:

[TalkingDog]

40. Great Minds ride in the same truck

My thoughts exactly

[mulderig]

42. Responsible Liberal

Since Reagan managed to salvage 'conservative' by putting compassionate in front of it after Barry Goldwater made it unutterable, how about we salvage Liberal by putting responsible in front of it?
M.

[Sputnik]

43. "A modest proposal...."

Last month, The Rude Pundit proposed how to change the public's perception of the term "liberal."

Note: This isn't for the faint of heart or those easily offended by foul language. The guy has a tongue-in-cheek point, but you have to read all the way to the end.

http://rudepundit.blogspot.com/2004/10/modest-proposal-rape-republican-for.html

[Arancaytar]

47. "after years of getting * by the conservative movement"

What a punchline. I found myself having to read that entire text out loud to fully appreciate the hilariousness.

[dmkinsey]

44. Makes no difference

They'll continue to refer to us by the epithet "liberal"
Won't matter what we call ourselves.
We have to be proud to be liberals. Say " DAmn right I'm a Liberal and you're a troglodyte"

[spanone]

45. Fucking Huge Liberal.

Nothing wrong with being liberal. Trying to CALL ourselves something else is not an answer to anything.

[Roxy66]

46. I like responsible liberal too

[ibegurpard]

48. You don't need to replace the word

Just find a way to show people what it really means. Snivelling and running away from labels just furthers the disrespect that much of the electorate has for the Democratic Party as a whole.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

50. Sane

[MattWinMO]

51. How about rising above labels...

And not designating all issues to left vs. right and liberal vs. conservative.

I think most voters are liberal on some issues and conservative on others, I don't take anyone serious who says they're liberal or conservative on every issue.

Even Paul Wellstone had some conservative views. However I tend to see more Republicans with less and less liberal or moderate views on issues than Democrats. In other words I see more Republicans who are 90% conservative than Dems who are 90% liberal.

[Lone Pawn]

53. Label them "regressive."

We need to make them dirty, and you can't make "compassionate" (which they have claimed to describe conservative) remotely dirty.

[thinkingwoman]

54. freedom fighter nt

[Tweed]

55. Progressive Populist

[onecitizen]

56. We should not replace it.........

we should embrace it and be PROUD of it again. We should take it back.

But I don't hold out much hope for that. Seems we liberals are embarrassed of who we are.

And while I'm at it............

I'm afraid it's going to be up to us to do anything political. Forget the leadership. We are like a rudderless ship right now. Adrift in the ocean and no one to help us. I want a Democrat, any Democrat to start yelling, I mean yelling, for us to bring our soldiers home and quit all the killing in Iraq. What are we doing there anyway? Even if they were stupid and voted for the war, they need to say: "I was stupid and voted for the war but it was a HUUUUGE mistake! I was wrong! End this NOW"! We have to stand up against this evil empire because if we don't, I fear the end is near. We have to stop this man. He is a psycho. A deviant. An evil-doer.

We are on our own. We have no media. We have no leaders to help us. We have to do it ourselves. What do we do? I have no idea. You all tell me and I'll go along with you. I'm a follower, not a leader. You guys here are leaders. Lead me. I take directions well.

[Cleita]

57. I don't want to replace it because it's their problem not ours.

What if the Jews in Germany called themselves Israelites or Hebrews, would it have changed anything? This is the same situation. The radical right wing is trying to marginalize liberals so that we can be considered unpatriotic and therefore unAmerican. Unfortunately, some of our leaders are doing the same saying we should be more to the center, blah, blah, blah.

I'm liberal and proud of it. No one is going to make be ashamed of it.

[Lone_Wolf]

58. Free Thinker

n/t

[EstimatedProphet]

59. Hero n/t

[donheld]

60. Liberal is a perfectly good word

i'd just tell those "Compassionate" souls to Cheney themselves

[Individualist]

61. I refuse to allow pugs to define me

I'm a progressive liberal and proud of it!

[tommcintyre]

62. You must stop accepting their terms - FIGHT FOR RIGHT!

You see, even "right" is still a "good" word. ;~}

[Tim4319]

63. Considerate!

If I would use another word, it would be considerate. Meaning, Liberals think of other lives, things, and reason before making a decision. Liberals are more thoughtful, and look at the big picture before coming to a conclusion. Liberals, do not have "tunnel-vision" when it comes to making choice that are going to effect society as a whole. Liberals are considerate!