Trend Watch -- Are we officially replacing "Liberal" with "Progressive"?

[El Fuego]

I keep hearing and seeing the buzzword "Progressive" in reference to liberal causes. I just read an article where a Clear Channel executive said, "There is a tremendous appetite out there for progressive talk."

So I'm wondering, is this because the right-wing has been successful in totally sullying the word "liberal"? They've managed to turn the word "Liberal" into a derogatory epithet. My freeper colleague likes to call me a "liberal" in the same contemptuous tone a racist would use the N-word. It is now apparently the L-word.

And yet, Roget's thesaurus gives us the following synonyms for Liberal:

altruistic, beneficent, benevolent, big, bighearted, bounteous, bountiful, casual, charitable, eleemosynary, exuberant, free, generous, good Joe, handsome, kind, lavish, loose, munificent, open-handed, open-hearted, philanthropic, prince, prodigal, profuse, Santa Claus, soft touch, softie, unselfish, unsparing, unstinging

Yes freepers, that is what we are. Since you could not change that, you you felt the need to hijack the word itself and turn it into something perjorative.

If we're going to fight back by calling ourselves progressive, I'm on board with that. As American society under * sinks into the mire, I think they're going to find "progressive" a harder word to tear down.

[Alex146]

1. No, I am now and always will be Liberal.

[apple_ridge]

2. We should. The right has done an effective job of demonizing

the word "liberal". "Progressive" has a more inherantly postitive connotation.

[Bronco69]

3. I always refer to myself as a liberal,

but every now and then I like to use the word, "progressive" because I think it better describes our cause.

[smoogatz]

4. It's not too late

to resuscitate the word "liberal"--but it'll take a concerted effort. I think liberal/progressive can be used interchangeably--the only problem with "progressive" is that it opens the door to opposition labeling, i.e.: "he calls himself a progressive, but he's REALLY a got-dern liberal." I'm a loud, proud liberal and I'm perfectly willing to stand up and say so.

[necso]

5. The use of the word "progressive" is on the rise.

But no, it's basically hopeless.

[etherealtruth]

9. I'm 43...

I was born into a liberal family, have been liberal all my life and will probably die a liberal.

I won't flinch if labeled "progressive," but in my heart I'm "liberal."

[necso]

19. Ok,

I can appreciate the spirit.

But I still contend that there are many who can't see -- or who refuse to see -- the importance of this kind of "game-play"... much less knowingly and effectively participate in it.

And even if we completely replace "liberal" with progressive, this will score us no huge points. If we completely abandon the term, then the RW crazies will just accuse us of abandoning it -- in shame and in fear. Having both words to use has it's advantages -- and it makes progressive seem like an alternative to liberal (the difference is certainly debatable -- as this thread demonstrates). One can spin all sorts of illusions from this position -- and who knows, the talking heads just might seize on something that works for us. ("Progressives take control of the Democratic Party from the Liberal Old Guard, bla-bla-blah" -- and I'm just saying, you understand -- it's mostly just bullshit anyway.)

But my cynicism extends more broadly -- to the use of new ways of looking at things generally.

Nothing personal, you understand. Nothing personal.

And let me give an example of game-play.

When * said that he supported the AWB (as I recall -- and I have been known to err), the people who supported him knew that he was (for most intents and purposes) lying. (In the first place, the Bill was never going to make it to him.) -- And, of course, we also knew that he was lying.

But had Kerry said that he was opposed to the AWB (whether he meant it or not), our side would have been all over him. And the other side would have probably been convinced that he was lying -- or so would have been quickly convinced by their various propaganda masters. (A way to deal with this is to have clear policies, ones that are held to long-term -- and to cut our own a little slack. Of course, in the case of AWB, this policy was, generally, that we supported it. But that is another matter.)

This puts us at a tremendous disadvantage. We cannot compete on any kind of equal terms when we play by a more naive form of the rules than the other guys do.

Nothing personal, you understand. Nothing personal.

[etherealtruth]

23. I had meant to reply to the original message...

..and was explaining how I think of myself.

Your comments go to a much larger issue. One of which I agree with 100%. Frank Luntz has assisted the * and his administration (the right in general) passing hideous policy with benign sounding names, Clear Skies and whatever his forest initiative is called, are but a few examples. I realize the word "liberal" has negative connotations with moderates, or middle America. I also realize that the right is always going to vote with the repub's and that the left with the Dem's, so it is very important what the "middle" thinks.

The "right" has used rhetoric far more effectively than the left. Going back to the oft referred to Dukakis example, liberal is considered a negative term.

We need to effectively stop the right from characterizing us by effectively characterizing ourselves in a way that resonates with Joan Q. Public. I wish I could come up with an effective plan to do this; I can not. I will support a plan that tries to do this.

Call me progressive if you like, I'll even call myself progressive, but I'll smile knowing, deep down, I'm a liberal

[merwin]

6. I consider myself a Progressive Liberal Democrat.

It's the same concept as naming the far right Neo-Conservatives. There are different factions of any party. There are many ideas about what a Democrat or Republican is.

[brainshrub]

7. I prefer the word Liberal, but if people want to use "Progressive"

that's okay with me.

[cloud75]

8. i'm a "progressive liberal" ha ha ha ha n./a

[ulTRAX]

10. I use the term Progressive because.....

I think it was Chomsky who said that in the US there's a single pro-corporate party... and the Democrats make up its liberal wing. I agree that there are numerous hidden assumptions both parties share such as refusing to reform our anti-democratic federal system and support for free markets even as Americans are being hurt by corporate abuse. Democrats now actually stand in the way of true Progressive reforms seen in other advanced industrialized democracies. I use the term Progressive to distinguish myself from philosophic mushiness and obstructionism of Democratic Party.

[ulTRAX]

13. If Liberals Become Progressives... then Progressives will have to...

become Leftists just to make a clear distinction.

[seabeyond]

11. i wont give up liberal

i called myself liberal and my rush right wing brother said, you called yourself that not me. first time i realized, the right has made it into a dirty word literally. what i say, the same as conservative. you know conservative/liberal. no he says, is like kkk/liberal.

so from here on out, i will use liberal. let all hear it a lot

[GoCubsGo05]

12. Alan Colmes...

...though a little weak-kneed at times, wrote an excellent book about this very subject. It's worth a read if you haven't read it already. Red, White & Liberal is its title. It also has a great chapter on how Jesus was a Democrat. There's lots of good ammo you can use to fight the Christian right. I'd post some of the lines and ideas, but I loaned it to my mother and she has yet to return it.

[Warren Stupidity]

14. I'm a progressive.

The image I get of 'liberal' these days is somebody who is pro war on drugs, pro war on janet jackson's nipple and howard stern's mouth, confused about the war in error, unsure about what to do with the mess in iraq, in favor of some complicated mess instead of expanding medicare to everybody, not sure if social security is an investment plan or an insurance/annuity plan, and unclear about the difference between fair trade and free trade.

[oldfogey]

15. They have

turned the term "liberal" into what most of us have turned the terms republican, right-winger, and conservative. Calling ourselves progressives now is akin to labeling them all cave men. Let's keep up the insults, only more subtle this round. Oh boy. When will we start ignoring them and stop letting them think their usage of terms matters? Just call a spade a spade.

[El Fuego]

21. I see it as more of a public relations battle

I think we are trying to win back the hearts and minds of the non-political, non-aware types*. We know who we are without labels, but after all these years of rush et al. it has been driven into to a certain segment of the public conciousness that LIBERAL=BAD.

And they probably don't even know what a liberal truly is. It is ironic that some very ignorant people don't realize that the lifestyle they enjoy and take for granted is largely the result of historical liberal efforts.

*stupid people.

[NJmaverick]

16. We have to reclaim the word liberal

From the slimy conservatives. Otherwise we will constantly be on the defensive. In fact we need to make the word conservative a derogatory term, like they did with liberal.

[oldfogey]

17. Instead

perhaps we can reclaim the respect the term liberal deserves by being the example rather than following suit. If someone calls us liberals the response should be, "And we're damn proud of it." Not this title of the month crap.

[OffWithTheirHeads]

18. Dunno but I don't call them Conservative

I call them Regressive

[Frances]

22. Progressive versus Regressive

That is a good way to put the conflict.

[usregimechange]

20. Yes, better conotations.

[iverglas]

24. I *am* a progressive; I am *not* a liberal

And I wish you people down there would stop mucking with words and making them mean things they don't mean.

Below, I shall once again reproduce the words of the dearly departed Phil Ochs, who said exactly what I thought then, and have always thought, about "liberals". Obviously, there are people who do not fall into the class he refers to who nonetheless call themselves "liberals", but I've just never been able to figure out why.

No one in the rest of the universe (the part outside the borders of the US) who espouses progressive causes like women's rights, workers' rights, ethnocultural and racial and sexual minorities' rights, and so on, would ever consider calling him/herself "liberal".

And lordy, those things called "Jeffersonian liberals" in the US are what we'd pretty much call right-wing assholes.

Progressives want reform. We value not only individual liberty, but also actual opportunity for individuals to exercise their liberty in meaningful ways. We want not just liberal democracy, we want social democracy. We want a society in which people aren't just free to buy health care, they have health care; in which people aren't just free to rent housing, they have housing; in which people aren't just free to get an education, they get an education. We regard measures that enhance the benefits that people actually have, from membership in their societies, as progress.

And anybody who does is welcome to join us progressives over here on our side of the fence -- but not to hijack our word to describe something quite different!

And over to dead Phil.
http://www.cowboylyrics.com/lyrics/ochs-phil/love-me-im-a-liberal-11453.html

Love Me, I'm a Liberal

I cried when they shot Medgar Evers
Tears ran down my spine
I cried when they shot Mr. Kennedy
As though I'd lost a father of mine
But Malcolm X got what was coming
He got what he asked for this time
So love me, love me, love me, I'm a liberal

I go to civil rights rallies
And I put down the old D.A.R.
I love Harry and Sidney and Sammy
I hope every colored boy becomes a star
But don't talk about revolution
That's going a little bit too far
So love me, love me, love me, I'm a liberal

I cheered when Humphrey was chosen
My faith in the system restored
I'm glad the commies were thrown out
of the A.F.L. C.I.O. board
I love Puerto Ricans and Negros
as long as they don't move next door
So love me, love me, love me, I'm a liberal

The people of old Mississippi
Should all hang their heads in shame
I can't understand how their minds work
What's the matter don't they watch Les Crain?
But if you ask me to bus my children
I hope the cops take down your name
So love me, love me, love me, I'm a liberal

I read New republic and Nation
I've learned to take every view
You know, I've memorized Lerner and Golden
I feel like I'm almost a Jew
But when it comes to times like Korea
There's no one more red, white and blue
So love me, love me, love me, I'm a liberal

I vote for the democratic party
They want the U.N. to be strong
I go to all the Pete Seeger concerts
He sure gets me singing those songs
I'll send all the money you ask for
But don't ask me to come on along
So love me, love me, love me, I'm a liberal

Once I was young and impulsive
I wore every conceivable pin
Even went to the socialist meetings
Learned all the old union hymns
But I've grown older and wiser
And that's why I'm turning you in
So love me, love me, love me, I'm a liberal