Why is "liberal" such a bad word?

[MissHoneychurch]

"We need your help to counteract the liberal establishment and fight back against the New York Times by making an immediate contribution today,” the e-mail also said in text that links to an online contribution form on the McCain campaign’s website.

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/14658.html


Why are the Republicans so afraid of liberalism? Heck, you have a "Statue of Liberty". So why is it they can use that word and make it a curse word? I don't understand it.

[liberal N proud]

1. Because the right wing fascist have to have talk shows to tell them what to think

That gives the talking heads the opportunity to define liberal without anyone countering the claims they make.

I guess it comes down to the fact that we can think for ourselves.

[MissHoneychurch]

6. So they have the liberty to talk the bullshit

and they want the libterty for themselves but don't know what liberal means .... :eyes:

And yes, thinking for ourselves is really dangerous. We can't have that.

[liberal N proud]

7. The freedom of speech we all defend so dearly

Kicking us in the ass.

[MissHoneychurch]

8. It is always amazing to me

that the Republicans are allowed to have the freedom of speech but are defying it the Democrats "I have the right to say so and so but you don't" Strange thinking.

[liberal N proud]

9. It's not a concept our "liberal" minds can grasp

We are wired differently evidently.

[Echo In Light]

15. Systematically acclimating the public mind for decades. Little wonder the results n/t

[applegrove]

43. Yup GOP noise machine made Liberal a bad word. Though most Americans

want some form of universal health care.. and that is a liberal policy.. most Americans refuse to call themselves liberal. Some of them will say they are progressives instead. Some will call themselves independants. But if they want universal health care they are all actually liberals.

[KharmaTrain]

2. It's Only A Bad Word If You Play Their Games

Most GOOPers have no clue of what liberal means or who is one. They exist with the cartoon boogie men that don't reflect reality, but are used as strawmen by their controllers to maintain their corrupt kleptocracy.

Thanks to the corruption of the past 7 years and the moral bankruptcy of the current repugnican party, the term is now another "fear" tactic...as the GOOP this year plans to fear anything and everything....or better termed: chickenshits.

[MissHoneychurch]

11. Why not install a dictatorship right away

:eyes:

I guess they would even support it .... thinking for oneselves is then totally unnecessary ....

[KharmaTrain]

13. They Already Have

That's why many of us are here...fighting to take the country and our language back.

[mmonk]

3. They control words and meaning in the U.S.

as well as political concepts. Both parties have accepted these terms. It's one of many reasons we all have to live a lie.

[Bluzmann57]

4. I think it more or less started during the Reagan years

I have had this discussion many times. And during the bad old days of the Reagan/bush administration, we saw the rise of AM talk radio, mostly right wing talk radio, and they just kept hammering away at the mantra, "Liberal bad, Conservative good". Sooner or later, if something is repeated enough, people will believe what they hear.
In fact, if I can scare up enough money, I am thinking about making T-Shirts and/or ball caps with the saying, "Liberal is not a dirty word" printed on them. I believe the tide is shifting now and Liberalism will make a comeback, slow and painful though it may be.

[MissHoneychurch]

12. I just hope

that the neocons are done for good after the last 8 years.

The government wants to spread "liberty" to other countries and if it is with force but don't want a liberal thinking in its own country. That is just messed up.

[Perry Logan]

5. Degenerates hate liberals. It's as simple as that.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

10. I've never understood it myself

I mean, people like it if they get a liberal bonus from the boss.

I think the rwing has painted liberals as people aiding and abetting the "shiftless welfare queens driving Caddys"--read that African-Americans--yes, it is tapping into the racism that is just underneath the surface of our country. Reagan was a master of doing this, and it was under him that making "liberal" a dirty word started.

[Echo In Light]

The mass media apparatus is the delivery system for planting these seeds

[Corgigal]

14. Because the GOP

uses cognitive sciences and learned how to "frame" words and language.

DNC is finally catching on and we are also now learning how to play that game. See the link below if you're curious on how word war is fought.

http://www.rockridgeinstitute.org/

[JHB]

16. Becaue to the CONmen, liberals...

...care more about criminals than victims.
...hate our military and support our enemies.
...think every problem in the world is America's fault.
...want to tax YOUR money and hand it to had it over to shiftless bums who will vote for them.
...respond only to radical special interests (minorities who want special rights for themselves, man-hating feminists, every pervert under the sun, socialists who want to turn the next generation into some kind of gray Stalinist mass, flighty rich do-gooders, pointy-headed intellectuals who all have tenure so they don't know the pressures inherent in having a REAL job, student "activists" who ought to be cracking the books and thanking God how lucky they are, mobster-controlled unions, etc., cowed city-folk who want to take your guns away, baby killers, and so on), not to YOU.
...et cetera ad nauseum.

[zbdent]

17. because hundreds of right-wing "conservatives" appearing on thousands of shows

in the media have kept putting murderers, pedophiles, and rapists in the same sentences as the word "liberal" ... despite the fact that the majority of such seem to lean Republican ...

[Echo In Light]

18. C-SPAN included. Righties drastically outnumber lefties - by design

[dysfunctional press]

19. it isn't.

the corporate media just likes to pretend that it is, and the morans believe them, 'cuz the tv people said so.

[HughBeaumont]

20. This guy right here.

Our 40th President was a fundamentalpatient who demonized the word "liberal" and created an entire cult that declared anything "liberal" a scourge. That horrible influence still sticks around to this day like an incurable flu.

[MissHoneychurch]

21. Isn't that why the NeoCons had a rise

with * again too?

[HughBeaumont]

23. I truly believe . . .

. . . that most 2000 election votes on the (R) side weren't FOR George Bewsh, but AGAINST anything associated with Bill Clinton.

[MissHoneychurch]

25. Sigh

to think Gore would have become President ... the world would be a different place today. I still believe 9/11 might have happened but Gore would have dealt with it so much more diplomatic.

[bdamomma]

40. for some reason I don't think we would have had 9/11 if gore

was President, again, I have this on :tinfoilhat:

after 8 years of this insane cabal does anyone truly think that this scum really cares about the American people, they have committed numerous crimes against humanity, and yet they are still there, this is shameful.

[me9399]

32. I have relatives who did that

one of my closest relatives and his girlfriend( now wife) voted for W in 2000 because he was pissed that he had to explain to his then 11 year old daughter what a BJ was. They voted for Kerry in 2004.

His Daughter now 22 said at Thanksgiving that if Hillary or any Dem was elected, she was going to leave the country. :eyes:

[bdamomma]

38. he just fueled the fire.

[Poiuyt]

22. Republicans aren't the only ones afraid of "liberalism"

So are Democrats. When was the last time you heard a Democratic politician refer to themselves as liberal?

[Echo In Light]

26. Excellent point. Speaks to the efficacy of ideological control in the U.S.

[spanone]

24. IT'S NOT

[Enthusiast]

27. Rush Limbaugh has defined "Liberal" for

Rush Limbaugh has defined the word Liberal for his listeners and much of America. Few Americans today realize that both Jesus Christ and our founding fathers were Liberals in the truest sense of the word.

[MissHoneychurch]

28. Exactly

The founding fathers left Europe because they were scared for their lives because of their religion. Still the Repugs nowaday want to tell everyone that the Christian Religion is the one and only. Guess they didn't read about the reasons why the Founding Fathers left the old Europe.

[liberal N proud]

31. If you try to tell the fundies that they will argue with you

They can not prove otherwise but they will argue regardless.

[ReformedChris]

48. Limbaugh has hijacked the word and unfortunatly turned it into a slur..

He took it, twisted it, and has used it to the point where Democrats are afraid to even use the word. Very good point about the Founders and JC being liberals. Many of history's trailblazers have been liberal thinkers.

[czechpat]

29. ummmm

Sorry if it's already been mentioned, but someone should point out the fact (to the Non-Liberals) that "Liberals" as used in Europe, are exactly what most republicans claim to be - FREE Marketeers, supporting unfettered capitalism (although here they seem to except most reasonable fetters (is that a word?) such as sick days, environmental and workplace safety regulations, etc..) and FRREDOM of all things personal, religion, exrpession, etc.

I constantly find myself explaining the difference between the American misconception (Liberal = Socialist) and the European use (Liberal = free markets, personal freedoms = Conservative/ Libertarian in the US)...But then, what do I know.. i'm new here...

[MissHoneychurch]

30. Welcome to DU

fellow European :)

I hope you enjoy your stay here. It gets rough sometimes but don't let that discourage you.

:hi:

[blindpig]

39. You know plenty

Pass it around...

[bdamomma]

41. welcome to DU czechpat!!!

I welcome your fresh perspectives to DU.:hi:

[nadinbrzezinski]

47. Welcome to DU

and you will find that the range of political discussion in the US is EXTREMELY narrow compared to Europe

[ReformedChris]

49. Welcome to DU..

I hope you enjoy your time here!


:hi:

[Touchdown]

33. It wouldn't be if we worshipped Ralph Nader's lazy eye

... he can save us ALL from the evils of the world.:silly:

[TankLV]

34. It isn't - your premise is faulty...

[blindpig]

35. It ain't just the Republicans....

Whatever happened to the mass of working class folks who were rank and file Democrats? Did these people just get rich and hateful? Don't think so.

Might it be that they've been sold down the river, used, abused and ignored as the Democratic Party became the party of the suburbs?

That kind of crap would have no purchase at all if working people thought they were being represented, but they're not.

With the faux choices presented by the duopolistic party system, the resentment and despair has impelled many to consider the tawdry baubles, dressed in traditional garb, offered by the opposition
to be preferable to the disdain of their erstwhile friends.

[Ano Genitus]

36. Chairman Mao wrote an essay on it called "The Dangers of Liberalism" or some such.

It's an attack on liberals for paying lip service to the Revolution but not following through - far more dangerous than the garden variety reactionary, in the Chairman's view.

[bdamomma]

37. it wasn't until the repigs/neocons made it that way.

[Wizard777]

42. It's not and it's frequently misused.

These day anything someone opposes they label liberal. Like those damned liberals fear change. No they don't. They crave change. They embrace change. Dread mortal fear of change is a conservative trait.

[opihimoimoi]

44. Its called pysops.....brainwashing...long term repetitive efforts can bring success

look what happened to them once good Pagans and Heathens....once upon a time...they were cool

then the jews came and made them ..."Them"....its in the bible....

Liberalism has come to mean what the Pubs want it...bad...

[fascisthunter]

45. Propaganda

The reason for the propaganda towards liberalism? Because liberals in general are populists and tend to support the least amongst us in society. Certain players within our capitalistic system see us as an obstacle to their systematic predation on said "least amongst us". We make it that much harder for bastards to take advantage of us all.

[nadinbrzezinski]

46. Because in their minds you and I, (and yes I am serious)

are the enemies... this goes back to Burke, who saw the French Revolution (and yes the American Revolution too) as an attack on the good social order