I’m a Dirty Liberal

What did liberals do that was so offensive to the Republican Party? I’ll tell you what they did. Liberals got women the right to vote. Liberals got African-Americans the right to vote. Liberals created Social Security and lifted millions of elderly people out of poverty. Liberals ended segregation. Liberals passed the Civil Rights Act, the Voting Rights Act. Liberals created Medicare. Liberals passed the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act. What did Conservatives do? They opposed them on every one of those things, every one. So when you try to hurl that label at my feet, ‘Liberal,’ as if it were something to be ashamed of, something dirty, something to run away from, it won’t work, because I will pick up that label and I will wear it as a badge of honor. –The West Wing

4 Replies to “I’m a Dirty Liberal”

  1. This seems unnecessarily divisive, and fails to capture the nuances of reality.

    I assure you, I’m a Libertarian. I can also assure you that I support civil rights and voting rights.

    Seeing the world as black and white might make for a good piece of script, but it hardly reflects reality.

    One man’s opinion.

  2. @mneptok: It’s unnecessarily divisive every time the word “liberal” is used as a pejorative. Liberals have a long history of working for good in the world, that’s all it says. Doesn’t say anything about anyone else (except that conservatives have fought against the causes named above). And certainly doesn’t say anything about Libertarians.

  3. I got Scot’s point just fine. I consider myself a sort of “Libertarian-Liberal”. I’m fiscally conservative, socially liberal, think small, efficient gov’t is generally a good idea (tho’ some things simply demand big gov’t programs, like the Dept. of Defense or the Nat’l Park Service), and wish the gov’t would just leave peaceful, law-abiding citizens be.

    The point is aimed at the neo-“conservative”* Christianist and Limbaugh/Hannity “black helicoper” crowd who use “liberal” as an insult. And used that way, it is complete garbage.

    *Note: I don’t consider that bunch real conservatives by any stretch of the imagination.

  4. Here’s to hoping that after 8 years of Obama, all politicians will be falling over themselves trying to prove they are more liberal than their opponents.

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