The GOP has made LIBERALs a bad word...its time the term CONSERVATIVEs becomes worse

[opihimoimoi]

Thanks to Bush and McCain/Cheney...this is now possible...

For too long then pundits used Liberalism as a catchall for anything BAD

Now its their turn

[UnrepentantUnitarian]

1. Let's see...

liberal = Greek, I think? = liber = liberty = liberation. Sounds pretty good to me! Also to George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and some other "old school" liberals who used that word with great pride and conviction. Yep, shame on those who have made it a dirty word. It's time to take it back.

[opihimoimoi]

12. 25 years of brainwashing....some asshole Pub thought of it and they all used it

Damn.....

:toast:

[Odin2005]

23. Latin, actially.

Liberty comes from the Latin word "Līber," meaning "free."

[Enthusiast]

73. I always point out to Liberal hating conservatives

that our Founding Fathers were liberals, nearly to a man, and Jesus was obviously a liberal. They do not like that.

[izquierdista]

2. Dictionary definition

Conservative (adj.) (1) Clinging to ideas that have been shown false; (2) Stupid, ignorant; (3) Mentally constipated, not able to engage in the free flow of ideas.

[opihimoimoi]

5. In Hawaii, we call it PO'O PA KIKI...hardheaded, stubborn, obstinate

:toast:

[KamaAina]

26. You learn something every day

:hi:

edit: web search indicates that "pakiki" may be one word

[opihimoimoi]

27. Aloha Kama....but...LOL...Ya knew dat alreadys

Come, we celebrate early

:toast:

[hootinholler]

35. Man that's the Hawaii I came to love

Call them POO!

-Hoot

[opihimoimoi]

40. POO on their heads....I love the thought...LOL

:toast:

[calimary]

66. So do I!

It's about time we returned the favor. The concept of "CONservative" should be THOROUGHLY trashed - so it's as vile and lip-curling as they tried for years (with success, unfortunately) to pervert it.

I say CONservative, and republi-CONS, because all they offer is a CON job.

[lonestarnot]

67. Can never take the CON out of conservative!

[20score]

3. K&R

It's pissed me off for years.

[opihimoimoi]

6. Me too....its time for a reversal....

:beer:

[Dollface]

4. you mean like the conservatives' mess in Iraq, or the conservatives' economic disaster or

conservatives' rascist education policy or the conservatives' handling of Katrina, like that?

[opihimoimoi]

8. Ed Zachery....it was brainwashing and it worked for too long...

:bounce:

[dorkulon]

7. I think 'liberal' has lost its edge, which is why they're trotting out 'socialist'

and 'Marxist.' Liberals don't seem so bad now that the GOP has devastated the country.

[opihimoimoi]

10. Yup...they changing the story on us...but too late...their shit for brains has been revealed :o)

:toast:

[Dollface]

19. I love to use Liberal. Like when someone says "the Liberal media", I say

I'm a Liberal and trust me, the media isn't Liberal. And when they use Socialist just put on a sincere look and ask what they mean when they say socialist.

[Initech]

9. Ah, what goes around comes around!

[opihimoimoi]

14. Its Time....

:bounce:

[JaneQPublic]

11. I've been thinking the very same thing.

Even after all the misery the conservative philosophy has caused in the past 8 years, the TV pundits are still wringing their hands about the possibility of having "wild-eyed liberals" running amok in the White House, Senate, and House.

Yeah, the liberals will run amok, just like we did when Bill Clinton was in charge. There'll be unbridled peace and prosperity, a balanced budget, jobs out the wazoo, other countries will love America again... How will we survive!?!?!?

[opihimoimoi]

13. LOL....the sheer audacity of them Pubs making statements as u described

Hannity and Oreally are the worst

:beer:

[UnrepentantUnitarian]

15. Actually I like both liberal and progressive!

To me they go together...that which "liberates" the human--mind, body and spirit--for as many people as possible--not just the rich--and that which moves us all forward. To me, the word socialism is the dated one. Now is not the time to be trotting out that tired-old corpse. Nobody "on my side" wants more government just for the sake of it. Government--like money--is simply a means, not an end. The end, in my opinion, should indeed be liberation as described above, with the minimum of government necessary to deliver it. Wow, how "unAmerican" is that?

[Ezlivin]

16. The GOP has TRIED to make Liberal a bad word

And they've only succeeded with a portion of their base.

The only people I know who think that liberal is a bad word have been baptized in RW KoolAid.

[opihimoimoi]

41. In discussions with people in general...I come across peeps who really think LIBs are BAD

They have swallowed the Cool Aid drink by the gallons..

Incredible but true...they rant and rave how the Liberals fucked America...its like listening to Hannity or Rash ass...

[RethugAssKicker]

17. Liberals allowed it to happen.... Conservative won't

[UnrepentantUnitarian]

20. I mentioned these Washington quotes...

"The Citizens of the United States of America have a right to applaud themselves for having given to mankind examples of an ENLIGHTENED AND LIBERAL POLICY: a policy worthy of imitation. All possess alike liberty of conscience and immunities of citizenship. It is now no more that toleration is spoken of, as if it was by the indulgence of one class of people, that another enjoyed the exercise of their inherent natural rights. For happily the Government of the United States, which gives to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance requires only that they who live under its protection should demean themselves as good citizens, in giving it on all occasions their effectual support."

-- Washington (...from a letter to the congregation of Touro Synagogue, Newport, Rhode Island, August, 1790)


"Religious controversies are always productive of more acrimony and irreconcilable hatreds than those which spring from any other cause; and I was not without hopes that the ENLIGHTENED AND LIBERAL policy of the present age would have put an effectual stop to contentions of this kind."

-- Washington (...from a letter to Sir Edward Newenham, June 22, 1792)



"Of all the animosities which have existed among mankind, those which are caused by a difference of sentiments in religion appear to be the most inveterate and distressing, and ought most to be deprecated. I was in hopes that the ENLIGHTENED AND LIBERAL POLICY, which has marked the present age, would at least have reconciled 'Christians' of every denomination so far, that we should never again see their religious disputes carried to such a pitch as to endanger the peace of Society."

-- Washington (...from a letter to Edward Newenham, October 20, 1792)


--- (EMPHASIS ADDED.) I guess they had no Hannity back then to set him straight!

[opihimoimoi]

28. Washington??? The Man was a real HERO...and he could WRITE too

http://www.biblicalpatriot.net/HistoricSpeeches/Washingtonfarewell.htm

His farewell thingy to America...wordy but so approps

We wuz LUCKY to get him....he was the MAN

[old mark]

34. From George Washington to George W. .....

What went wrong?


mark

[opihimoimoi]

38. The NeoCons and PNACers took over the ole Pub Party and Introduced DELUSION as REALITY

Damn...

[norepubsin08]

18. I agree

It's time to marginalize the conservatives...everyone of them including their children so that they will feel the stigma of their parents foolishness and not be so ready to make the same mistake.

[klyon]

21. The people running the republican Party are not conservative.

I respect true conservatives, haven't seen any lately. I am conservative on fiscal policy. I think we need conservatives for balance. What we don't need is the thinking that has taken over the republican Party, not even sure what to call this religious, greed is good, shoot first ask questions later mentality group of people since some of their beliefs contradict some of their other beliefs. These are very confused people that follow, like sheep, today's republican Party.

[old mark]

22. You are right. There used to be some reasonable,

respectable conservatives. While I never liked most of them, there are a few liberals I don't like much, either. BUT the folks that have taken the "conservative" label over the last 35 years or so are not even close to respectable or resonable. They are a bunch of sick bastards who believe in nothing but their own advancement. Think of Gingrich, Buchanan, the Freepers in general, and Palin, the wave of their future.

The fact that a low person such as Palin could seriously be considered by some people as presidential materiel is hard to credit. It is bad enough we have had W, but SP would be so much worse. And who would follow her?

Sorry, that's too much to think about.


mark

[klyon]

24. I have been considering who would be the future of their party

and I don't see a future. I am not in favor of one party rule, republican or Democratic. The last 10 years shows how that turns out. One party always goes overboard if they hold all the marbles. Don't get me wrong I want the Dems to win the WH, 61 seats in the Senate and increase their margin in the House and I will never vote for a republican again (unless there are big changes and even then I doubt it) but for the long run we need at least two parties. Many parties would be the best of all with instant run off elections.

[opihimoimoi]

48. Them Pubs are talking Palin as head of the PUBs...I can't see it but then I happen to be realistic

Them Pubs are Whackos for even thinking it.

Palin is an airhead

[opihimoimoi]

62. The last one in my book is Warren Rudman fro NH...2 terms and he quit...

His last work was with Senator Gary Hart when they formed the Hart Rudman Report during the 90's and habded over to the Bush Dudes early 2001.

It was rejected....the subject? Terrorism in America....Had Bush read it...9/11 would not have happened.

[opihimoimoi]

25. One of the last ones is Rudman from NH...serverd only 2 terms but he has my admiration

[EFerrari]

30. They're not conservatives. They're right wing extremists.

Barry Goldwater would weep for his party.

[opihimoimoi]

72. Goldwater must be turning over as they say...in his grave....

The NeoCONs and PNACers have sold America for their sins....

The Party of Vitter, Scooter, Craig, Cheney, Bush, and now, Stevens.... OMG

[Faryn Balyncd]

31. Actually, the GOP has now made "CONSERVATISM" a dirty wod.

[opihimoimoi]

39. All by Themselves too...no one helped them...shot themselves in the balls they did

No beer for them...

[ChairmanAgnostic]

29. the best way to start, put CON in front of each member's name

and add 10-20 with good behavior after their names.

[opihimoimoi]

46. I only wish....Treason brings a damn long sentence...won't be no nickle or dime...

:handcuffs and leg irons:

[Octafish]

32. Absolutely. The cons know propaganda.

They learned it from their masters: Josef Goebbels and Propaganda Techniques

The Truth is the best antidote to their crapola, Big Lie and small.

Let us apply it, most Liberally, my Friend. They won't know what hit 'em.

[opihimoimoi]

44. Our man Obama is KILLING THEM with the TRUTH and the Pubs can't stand it...

drives them insane...look at McLiar...he is proof.

[Octafish]

55. JFK: What is a liberal?

Sen. John F. Kennedy, acceptance of the New York Liberal Party Nomination, September 14, 1960.

What do our opponents mean when they apply to us the label "Liberal?" If by "Liberal" they mean, as they want people to believe, someone who is soft in his policies abroad, who is against local government, and who is unconcerned with the taxpayer's dollar, then the record of this party and its members demonstrate that we are not that kind of "Liberal." 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 in our policies abroad, if that is what they mean by a "Liberal," then I'm proud to say I'm a "Liberal."

But first, I would like to say what I understand the word "Liberal" to mean and explain in the process why I consider myself to be a "Liberal," and what it means in the presidential election of 1960.

In short, having set forth my view -- I hope for all time -- two nights ago in Houston, on the proper relationship between church and state, I want to take the opportunity to set forth my views on the proper relationship between the state and the citizen. This is my political credo:

I believe in human dignity as the source of national purpose, in human liberty as the source of national action, in the human heart as the source of national compassion, and in the human mind as the source of our invention and our ideas. It is, I believe, the faith in our fellow citizens as individuals and as people that lies at the heart of the liberal faith. For liberalism is not so much a party creed or set of fixed platform promises as it is an attitude of mind and heart, a faith in man's ability through the experiences of his reason and judgment to increase for himself and his fellow men the amount of justice and freedom and brotherhood which all human life deserves.

I believe also in the United States of America, in the promise that it contains and has contained throughout our history of producing a society so abundant and creative and so free and responsible that it cannot only fulfill the aspirations of its citizens, but serve equally well as a beacon for all mankind. I do not believe in a superstate. I see no magic in tax dollars which are sent to Washington and then returned. I abhor the waste and incompetence of large-scale federal bureaucracies in this administration as well as in others. I do not favor state compulsion when voluntary individual effort can do the job and do it well. But I believe in a government which acts, which exercises its full powers and full responsibilities. Government is an art and a precious obligation; and when it has a job to do, I believe it should do it. And this requires not only great ends but that we propose concrete means of achieving them.

Our responsibility is not discharged by announcement of virtuous ends. Our responsibility is to achieve these objectives with social invention, with political skill, and executive vigor. I believe for these reasons that liberalism is our best and only hope in the world today. For the liberal society is a free society, and it is at the same time and for that reason a strong society. Its strength is drawn from the will of free people committed to great ends and peacefully striving to meet them. Only liberalism, in short, can repair our national power, restore our national purpose, and liberate our national energies. And the only basic issue in the 1960 campaign is whether our government will fall in a conservative rut and die there, or whether we will move ahead in the liberal spirit of daring, of breaking new ground, of doing in our generation what Woodrow Wilson and Franklin Roosevelt and Harry Truman and Adlai Stevenson did in their time of influence and responsibility.

Our liberalism has its roots in our diverse origins. Most of us are descended from that segment of the American population which was once called an immigrant minority. Today, along with our children and grandchildren, we do not feel minor. We feel proud of our origins and we are not second to any group in our sense of national purpose. For many years New York represented the new frontier to all those who came from the ends of the earth to find new opportunity and new freedom, generations of men and women who fled from the despotism of the czars, the horrors of the Nazis, the tyranny of hunger, who came here to the new frontier in the State of New York. These men and women, a living cross section of American history, indeed, a cross section of the entire world's history of pain and hope, made of this city not only a new world of opportunity, but a new world of the spirit as well.

Tonight we salute Governor and Senator Herbert Lehman as a symbol of that spirit, and as a reminder that the fight for full constitutional rights for all Americans is a fight that must be carried on in 1961.

Many of these same immigrant families produced the pioneers and builders of the American labor movement. They are the men who sweated in our shops, who struggled to create a union, and who were driven by longing for education for their children and for the children's development. They went to night schools; they built their own future, their union's future, and their country's future, brick by brick, block by block, neighborhood by neighborhood, and now in their children's time, suburb by suburb.

Tonight we salute George Meany as a symbol of that struggle and as a reminder that the fight to eliminate poverty and human exploitation is a fight that goes on in our day. But in 1960 the cause of liberalism cannot content itself with carrying on the fight for human justice and economic liberalism here at home. For here and around the world the fear of war hangs over us every morning and every night. It lies, expressed or silent, in the minds of every American. We cannot banish it by repeating that we are economically first or that we are militarily first, for saying so doesn't make it so. More will be needed than goodwill missions or talking back to Soviet politicians or increasing the tempo of the arms race. More will be needed than good intentions, for we know where that paving leads.

In Winston Churchill's words, "We cannot escape our dangers by recoiling from them. We dare not pretend such dangers do not exist."

And tonight we salute Adlai Stevenson as an eloquent spokesman for the effort to achieve an intelligent foreign policy. Our opponents would like the people to believe that in a time of danger it would be hazardous to change the administration that has brought us to this time of danger. I think it would be hazardous not to change. I think it would be hazardous to continue four more years of stagnation and indifference here at home and abroad, of starving the underpinnings of our national power, including not only our defense but our image abroad as a friend.

This is an important election -- in many ways as important as any this century -- and I think that the Democratic Party and the Liberal Party here in New York, and those who believe in progress all over the United States, should be associated with us in this great effort.

The reason that Woodrow Wilson and Franklin Roosevelt and Harry Truman and Adlai Stevenson had influence abroad, and the United States in their time had it, was because they moved this country here at home, because they stood for something here in the United States, for expanding the benefits of our society to our own people, and the people around the world looked to us as a symbol of hope.

I think it is our task to re-create the same atmosphere in our own time. Our national elections have often proved to be the turning point in the course of our country. I am proposing that 1960 be another turning point in the history of the great Republic.

Some pundits are saying it's 1928 all over again. I say it's 1932 all over again. I say this is the great opportunity that we will have in our time to move our people and this country and the people of the free world beyond the new frontiers of the 1960s.

SOURCE:

http://www.cjnetworks.com/~cubsfan/whatis.html

I'm proud to know you, my Friend opihimoimoi - a man who is proud to call himself "Liberal," in good times and in conservative.

It should be obvious to them, but they are so ungrateful: Most every good thing to happen in this country is due to Liberals.

May we soon be joined by many new Liberal friends and live, again, in good times.

[opihimoimoi]

56. What a moving post Octafish...you is Da Man....JFK....I can say proudly i shaked his hand

in early 60 when he came to Hawaii as a Senator...heard him speak at one of our Hotels...shit, i was only 19 ...damn...how time flies...

To be Free from Dogma, from stupid laws and codes, is the beginnings of a good life...

Press on, we almost got this locked.

Opi

:toast:

[Octafish]

54. mistaken post nt

[Juche]

33. What would the country look like if conservatives had won every battle

What if they and their allies (wealthy, established corporate entities) had gotten their way every time this country had a battle?

Slavery would still exist
Jim Crow would exist
No medicare
no social security
child labor would still exist (FDR finally abolished it in 1938)
women's rights (voting, holding careers) wouldn't exist
No minimum wage
Weaker environmental standards
Being gay would still be a crime punishable by jail time
No right to form a union
Far fewer consumer protections and regulations



If you read history you see where social & political conservatives stood on these issues. However you can't use labels (republican or religious) to identify the conservatives. In the 19th century religious people and republicans tended to be more liberal and progressive while the democratic party was more conservative.

Keep ramming these facts down their throat on the history of progressives vs. conservatives. Just as they opposed these things in the past now they oppose universal healthcare, fighting global warming, progressive taxation, middle class tax relief, civil unions, etc.

The psychology of conservatism is basically a tolerance for inequality, a fear based worldview full of overreaction to threats and being overly obedient to authority. People should think of that when they think of conservatives. Fear driven, xenophobic, dogmatic wingnuts who have opposed most of the reforms that made America great.

[FatDave]

37. Damn right!

They call us progressive because we push progress. And no matter how much conservatives fight it, progress always happens. Gays will marry. There will be universal health care. We're the gas and they're the brakes. They are frightened by change and anyone or anything slightly different than them.

And that's no fucking way to run a country.

[opihimoimoi]

42. Too scared of the Future...wimps and panty asses...the average Pub is afraid of the TRUTH

It means exposing their lives I guess...so rather than admit...they delve in Fantasy/Denial

[FatDave]

36. For this to work...

...we have to say it like it's a dirty word. If somebody asks you if you'd vote for McCain, you have to say, "Me, vote for a conservative???!!! You must be joking!" Not that we disagree with his policies. Not that he has a temper. Just the fact that he's a conservative is reason enough.

And for the best effect, our candidates need to do it too.

And that's the problem. Our candidates, and we ourselves, are most likely too good to do that.

And honestly, there's no need for us to stigmatize the word. Republicans had to stigmatize the word "liberal" because the policies were sound. We can easily stigmatize conservatism itself, as it's been proven to be a dismal failure at least 2 times, more like 3 if you count the Bush I recession. And I think in the long run, discrediting the philosophy is the better bet.

Conservative policy has very predictable results: Consolidation of wealth to the wealthy at the expense of the middle class, and bigotry of every conceivable form. America is too good a place for either.

Conservatism failed. Miserably. It's over.

[opihimoimoi]

43. I wish I could send you the Whole Damn Luau...with the Dancing Girls too

Damn, ya got it right

:toast:

[FatDave]

53. OK, but don't tell my wife about the dancing girls!

[opihimoimoi]

60. Maybe we should bring some sword dancers for her...lol

:toast:

[and-justice-for-all]

45. Neo-Conservative = Fascist..

These people whom call themselves 'conservatives', are NOT conservative. They are Social Dominist and Authoritarians.

[opihimoimoi]

49. Yup, Control Freaks is whad they are...McCain still using the term LIBERALISM

to describe Obama/Democrats...

Thats all he seems to do...call us names...just like a neener neener school kid...Did he ever grow up??

[Sheepshank]

47. "Conservative" has come to mean certain things to me.

to me, "conservative" means, unyealding
to me, "conservative" means, corrupt
to me, "conservative" means, stuck in a time warp
to me, "conservative" means, judgemental
to me, "conservative" means, myopic
to me, "conservative" means, lack of progress
to me, "conservative" means, unable to change
to me, "conservative" means, hate filled
to me, "conservative" means, someone on the losing team.

[opihimoimoi]

57. Simply put...very immature

LOL

[Forkboy]

50. One of the many reasons I've always loved Kennedy...

..is that he's one of the few Dems who didn't run screaming from the L word over the last 20 years. He always embraced it, as I have. As someone else stated, most of the blame lies with the Dems who did run. The only one who defines us is ourselves. If one allows others to do so it's often no one else's fault but their own.

[opihimoimoi]

58. Yup....his book...is Profiles of COURAGE...something he had...unlike Bush

[upi402]

51. Thank you! k/r actually REPUBLICAN would make me

:bounce: Happier yet!!!

[votetastic]

52. Liberal became a dirty word when I was 13 years old

and George Bush sneered that Michael Dukakis was a "liberal"... and Dukakis denied it like it was the worst thing imaginable, damn it. That was his opportunity to defend liberalism, and it's been a dirty word ever since.

[opihimoimoi]

59. Its our turn...The asshole Conservatives have fucked up the Nation and our Future

They screwed up so much its now gonna kill the GOP

and McMoot is not helping either....he is passe.

[ecstatic]

61. GOP/republican/right wing are easier to turn into dirty words

but "conservative" can't easily be turned into a dirty word because of it's other positive meanings, unfortunately.

[opihimoimoi]

63. I like the term GOOPers...LOL

:beer:

[ShadowLiberal]

64. To do that we need harsh words that sum them up

The GOP sums up liberals with terms like this.
-Out of touch
-Tax and Spend (this one doesn't even make sense, how else can the government earn revenue other then taxing it? And what else is the government supposed to do other then spend it)
-Big government
-Activist judges (in reality conservative judges 'legislate from the bench' much more then liberals, because they're they're the ones overturning things lately)

And I'm sure I'm missing some GOP bogeymen phrases about us.

I've got some ideas that we could use to label the GOP and conservatives, some of them direct responses to the GOPs label of liberals.

-Out of touch (No need to change this one, just insert an issue after it and label it an area conservatives are out of touch)
-Spend and don't pay for it (or possibly this) Spend and borrow (Not sure how to phrase this one exactly, but a good use of it is saying something like "Conservatives call themselves fiscally responsible, but their whole tax and spend policy can be summed up like this. Spend lots of money, and borrow billions of dollars a week to pay for irresponsible tax cuts that weren't paid for with spending cuts")
-Judges for the rich elite and not the commoners (there's a goldmine of GOP judges decisions to paint a link towards this.

Off the top of my head, that black guy who had consensual sex with a girl like a year younger then him when he was 16 and she 15 that got charged and convicted of rape. A number of conservative judges in that deep south state refused to step in and say "calling this kid a rapist and sentencing him to jail time is going way over the line". Worse yet, when the state legislature (dominated by republicans I'm sure) changed the law that convicted the guy they refused to write it in such a way that freed that guy who's conviction under the law caused the publicity that got the law changed in the first place. Also bad is when the guy did finally get freed by the state's supreme court it was in a narrow 4 to 3 decision

Also remember that recent Supreme court ruling that over turned the millionare's amendment that let poor candidates raise three times the legal limit of money from their donors if they were facing a rich opponent pouring millions of their own money into the campaign? Another decision that met it's harder for an average Joe with no money to make it to Washington DC.

Another case, the court's decision ruling against that woman who sued for equal pay for equal work. It was a sexist decision that helped big business and hurt average Janes'.

Also the republicans attacks on new voters and voters more likely to be liberals and vote for democrats, trying to rob them of their vote and keep the entrenched elites and voters who will favor them and their candidates as the only ones who can vote)

[opihimoimoi]

69. Some mighty fine points ya got there Shadow...It is McMoot who is out of touch and it was he who

voted with Bush to increase our National Debt...10 Trillion and growing.

It he that is dangerous to America...and in his last speeches....he smells of being Old and in the Way....

Its OVER...The Conservatives have DOOMED themselves...its the LIBERALS who look good now....He who laughs last laughs best...

The Pubs got had by their Masters

[ihavenobias]

65. K & R

[opihimoimoi]

70. mahalo.....

:toast:

[kevinbgoode]

68. I personally prefer "con-artist con-servative"

hehehe. . .

[opihimoimoi]

71. Yup...They been Conning people no end for years..They get the good people to lie cheat and steal for

them....the GOP

Thats how they win...they scam and CON Peeps....but look at the damage when it goes too far....the cronyism and the Peterism under BUSH/CREW really showed itself ....

LOL

:toast: