What's a Liberal ?

Well this is the very first time I ever got on a blog. First time for everything I guess. I'm sure all this predjudice, labelism, hatred, wailing and nashing of teeth is of the spirit....... but not the one I would like to be associated with.... God bless you all.:) ...Good by.

"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 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." JOHN F. KENNEDY, Democrat

Andrea, from both liberal and conservative, it is the people who need the help most that get denied. We need education, a sense of self worth, a purpose and we need to help those in need. We do not need to create dependents by mailing millions of checks every month to people who could work but won't. Without any budget impasse, then billions of dollars could be put into health care. We are entitled to the same health care our public "servants" get. We do not receive it because once they are elected they become elitists. We the peasants end up serving the same people we elected. Time to show them who runs the country.

Vince I am glad to see you realize the evil on both sides. That might be one of the few things we see eye to eye on! LUv, Andrea

Sue is right. There are no parties anymore. The ultra rich take care of the ultra rich, using tax dollars to do so. The right wing gave billions in bailouts. Now the left wig presents a 4 trillion dollar package for the sam people who blew the billions. All done with money coming from me and you. We don't need change in Washington, we need to relive 1776. Congress is too far gone and detached from the populace to properly serve the people. We still have a choice. We can become enslaved by the liberals or victimized by the conservatives.

I suppose you would call me a liberal since I am a strong Democrat. The far right had eight years to show us the way, why are they not giving our president a while to straighten it out? My definition of a liberal (not the extreme who turn it into a hating game) is much as Deborah explained. One not set in a narrow way with no room for understanding or compassion or new ideas. Joyce

Deborah, rock on!!!

LOL...well...my son (who's very politically correct) says we are called Progressives now since the rightwing gun toting oil rich republican spoilers of the planet have MADE Liberal a bad word. To me Liberal means. I care what happens to those less fortunate than me. I don't assume the reason a person is not wealthy is because they're stupid and lazy. I'm willing to give of myself and my earnings and possesions to help those you need help. (Underpayed women with dependant children, the aged and the sick.) So call me a bleeding heart if you want...the Christian God was a bleeding heart liberal too so I guess I'm in good company?

Also repugnant to the Far Right is the progressive group, MoveOn.org. Here are exerpts of what they sent me today: Last month, the Obama administration announced a new tax on the biggest banks to get our bailout money back. It's a relatively small fee, but Wall Street lobbyists are already railing against it. They're claiming that if banks have even slightly lower profits, they'll stop loaning money to small businesses.1 That claim's pretty hard to swallow—especially since the banks just paid out billions in bonuses.2 But a new report shows that the banks are funneling millions in campaign contributions to Republicans, who they hope will protect them from any new rules. (take note who the lobbyists are targeting!) andrea

HURRAH, you people who are speaking out for the good that is in the Liberal party. I am an Independent now, and I quit the Republican party because what I was seeing(particulary in this last decade) nauseasted me, I saw better treatment of the rich than ever before, at a time when their tax dollars were much needed to fund an unrighteous war, and I saw many things I valued being trampled. AFFORDABLE health care being just one of them. (and universal is the only way I can see to make it fair.) I echo frank's sentiments. Not all liberal ideas are cool, but the ones he cited are of paramount importance. A definition for liberal could be: What the far right wing deplores!

There are extremists on both ends. JFK and Jimmy Carter were liberals. Two of my most admired people. The extreme liberal created dependency. The extreme conservative is heartless. I am not a fan of the extremists and my votes are usually split. I fear extreme liberalism and I fear extreme conservatives. We need a balance and we need to instill pride, not dependency. More could be given to those who need if we can eliminate the ones milking the system from the rolls. We don't do enough for the ones who need it most.

Anyone you speak to that hates a liberal should be avoided at all costs. It means this persons mind is closed to all forward thinking and their thinking involves only themselves. People who think liberally think of the global picture: who needs better education, healthcare, health benefits etc. Think of it this way: the greedy people who brought down the banks and companies like AIG and got and accepted huge bonuses this year are NOT liberals. They are thinking only of themselves. Beware.

Liberalism is the belief in the importance of individual liberty, and was recognized as an important value by many philosophers throughout history. The Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius wrote praising "the idea of a polity administered with regard to equal rights and equal freedom of speech, and the idea of a kingly government which respects most of all the freedom of the governed". In Englands history we have had many famous liberals and my poem 'Pamphlet' is about one such man - John Lilburne who along with his 'leveller' followers spoke out against Cromwell and the government of the day. His belief was that power should belong with the common man and that all men were equal and printed pamphlets that incited many to rise up against the government - to his cost.