I had a discussion with someone today

[murielm99]

100. They have gotten away with redefining words for quite some time.

Lakoff showed us this with "Don't Think of an Elephant." Limbaugh has gotten away with it for years. When I read an opinion piece in the New York Times that used the word "feminazi," I was furious. I emailed the writer. He shot back that the word was now a part of accepted discourse. Like hell it is.

We need to refuse their reframing and redefining of words AND ideas.

I am a liberal. I don't call myself a progressive, because I think many people have their own definition of progressive. Also, I think many people use the word progressive because the word liberal has been tarred and feathered, made to look ridiculous. I will stick with being a proud liberal, as defined by JFK:

"But if by a "Liberal" they mean someone who looks ahead and not behind, someone who welcomes new ideas without rigid reactions, someone who cares about the welfare of the people -- their health, their housing, their schools, their jobs, their civil rights and their civil liberties -- someone who believes we can break through the stalemate and suspicions that grip us on our policies abroad, if that is what they mean by a "Liberal," then I am proud to say I am a "Liberal."

We need to pin them down and ask them what they mean. Maybe we will have to cut many of them out of our lives. We will most certainly have to be sure we outvote them.