Blue Mass Group

Reality-based commentary on politics.

Say it loud — I’m Liberal and Proud

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Thank you, Bob Herbert, for reminding me why I’m proud to call myself a liberal. Here are a few snippits from the Times — you owe it to yourself to read the entire thing:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09…

……Without the extraordinary contribution of liberals – from the mightiest presidents to the most unheralded protesters and organizers – the United States would be a much, much worse place than it is today….

The liberals who didn’t have a clue gave us Social Security and unemployment insurance, both of which were contained in the original Social Security Act. Most conservatives despised the very idea of this assistance to struggling Americans. Republicans hated Social Security, but most were afraid to give full throat to their opposition in public at the height of the Depression.

Humiliation imposed by custom and enforced by government had been the order of the day for blacks and women before men and women of good will and liberal persuasion stepped up their long (and not yet ended) campaign to change things. Liberals gave this country Head Start and legal services and the food stamp program. They fought for cleaner air (there was a time when you could barely see Los Angeles) and cleaner water (there were rivers in America that actually caught fire)…..

It would take volumes to adequately cover the enhancements to the quality of American lives and the greatness of American society that have been wrought by people whose politics were unabashedly liberal. It is a track record that deserves to be celebrated, not ridiculed or scorned.

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Comments

  2. I do think of my self as a liberal and yet most of my political colleagues use the term progressive to describe themselves and their politics. Haven’t spent much energy thinking about the difference other than speculating about our respective ages.  

  3. 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.”

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    p>JFK, September 14, 1960

  4. Bob Herbert’s column was like cool salve on a burn. I’m so tired of the other side trying to make me feel ashamed for my political leanings. Enough already, to paraphrase Obama.

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