Red, White & Liberal

Alan Colmes wrote a book with the above title and the subtitle, How the left is right and right is wrong. I like Colmes as he is an unapologetic and downright proud liberal. He sees conservatives as mainly saying “no” and liberals saying “yes” at appropriate times. He looks at government not as an enemy as conservatives are prone to do (as they try to buy it), but as an agent that can do great good for the citizens it serves. He quotes Ron Brown (late Commerce secretary and former chair of the Democratic Party) as saying, “the common thread of Democratic history from Thomas Jefferson (founder of the Democratic party. ed.) to Bill Clinton has been an abiding faith in the judgment of hardworking American families, and a commitment to helping the excluded, the disenfranchised and the poor strengthen our nation by earning themselves a piece of the American Dream.”

Yet, like a number of us he prefers the term liberal to describe himself than the label of Democrat. And, like a number of us he gets irked with both parties but affirms the generally what Democrats do. He and I like progressive ideas, from Jefferson who stood up against the elitist Federalists for the Bill of Rights. He lifts up Woodrow Wilson as one who brought the League of Nations, the Federal Reserve Board, the first child and welfare laws. He affirms the leadership of Franklin Roosevelt who with the New Deal took to country from the Great Depression to prosperity for most citizens including creating Social Security. He talks of Kennedy and his vision and optimism the Peace Corp. Lyndon Johnson, who despite his foibles brought in the Civil Rights Act, created Medicare and Medicaid, declared war on poverty, knowing full well many of those actions would make him a one term president.

Liberals move the country forward and are known for their compassion. Conservatives…the conserve the past. I think most of us have a good deal of liberal in us despite what we say. And yet conservatives try to make the word liberal sound like a dirty word; I think they use it as a distraction to hide certain aspects of their party (primarily the wealthy) from seeing their real agenda. He likes the very sound and lilt of the world liberal in contrast to conservative.

I am often struck by the tone of statements of conservatives on Facebook (I don’t tweet or text). They often sound so mean and hateful and say things that you would never say to another person’s face; like drivers be rude on the roadway in ways they would never act while walking. They willingly toss of slogans and just plain mean statements about the President and liberals as though they were their mortal enemies and not the neighbors and fellow citizens. And, if you have the temerity to challenge their statements (I like to do it with humor) they take it as personal attacks as though what they say is gospel truth and any other views are demonic.

I have also found that many conservatives I know refuse to engage in meaningful discussion of ideas but like to do hit and run slogans. That is just cowardly. I applaud many conservative ideas and know history well enough to appreciate their contributions to our country in our nation’s history. I have always been a fiscal conservative, but what we hear today is false economic conservatism that in the long run is destructive to the country. We have to continually build the country or we go the other direction. The last 3 decades should have taught us that, but we seem to be slow learners.

I find it most interesting the Alan Colmes is a radio commentator for FOX news which I don’t listen to given the overall tenor of their companies very biased interpretation of what they call news. (I don’t listen to MSNBC either or Chris Matthews for similar reasons.) But there is Colmes in the lion’s den doing his thing, a courageous man who stand up for solid values.

Oh I am conservative when comes to the environment, we should “conserve” it. So, why don’t conservatives embrace that position?

Conservatives be warned; liberals will continue to work for your good as part of the common good whether you like us or not. Sorry, it is just the way we work.

P.S. In this article I’ve listed a number of progressive ideas that have come from Democratic leaders that have helped our country. I would absolutely love it for Republicans to come up with a similar list; it can be done but I just don’t see it done. I also applaud Republicans who promote progressive ideas for the common good; you can include them to get a start. Hint, look at the leadership of Eisenhower and Nixon as strange as that may sound to some. But as from Reagan to the present, good luck.