by Jeffry R Fisher

Created on: November 07, 2010

Though I frequently see conservatives bash democrats as "liberals", I rarely see democrats label themselves that way anymore. These days, a democrat is much more likely to parade around as a progressive, or even own up to being a socialist.

I think it's time for America to realize that democrats never were real liberals; they only appeared that way after claiming the label long enough to warp the definition of the word itself. We need to remember that "liberal" was derived from "liberty", so it originally meant to foster, respect and defend freedom (all kinds of freedom, both at home and in commerce). It did not mean to micro-manage everything from eating habits to health care, nor did it mean to tax 50% of GDP so that politicians can have lots of money to spend buying votes via patronage schemes (pork and "earmarks").

Republicans are into original meaning these days, so I think it's high time that they stopped labeling Democrats as liberals. Indeed, since so many Democrats seem to have run away from the label themselves, I think that Republicans should just declare victory and then take it back. Yes, once upon a time, the Republicans were known to be the liberals in America, from the post-Civil War era when they wrote the 13th, 14th and 15th amendments until at least the roaring 20s when Coolidge was vetoing price controls.

Republicans should remind themselves, and then remind the rest of America, that they still can be (and always should have been) the true liberals in America. They are the party defending rather than assaulting free speech on radio and Internet, and they are the party that should be rolling back the progressive conquest of industry by government.

Yes, the Republican Party is a place that true liberals (as champions of liberty) can call home. So let's rehabilitate the label "liberal" (along with the Republican Party itself!) to its original meaning and then apply the term to the Party once again. If we do that, then maybe we will attract more honest liberals into the Republican party. Then maybe the Republican Party could nominate more candidates worth voting for: candidates who would stick to small-government principles once in office... candidates who would, as much as possible, stay out of both the boardroom and the bedroom.

Okay, what I'm asking for is probably impossible. But at least such ideas should make people think!

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