What is a Liberal?

[QueenOfCalifornia]

John F. Kennedy Said it best -

What do our opponents mean when they apply to us the label "Liberal?" If by "Liberal" they mean, as they want people to believe, someone who is soft in his policies abroad, who is against local government, and who is unconcerned with the taxpayer's dollar, then ... we are not that kind of "Liberal." But 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."

[zabet]

1. One of my favorite quotes!

I also think this post by an aol member is great:

LIBERAL IS NOT A DIRTY WORD





Liberal is not a dirty word. It is not evil to insist that all Americans have affordable health insurance, to decry the ever-widening gap between the richest and the poorest, to demand a decent living wage, to insist that corporations must balance concern for the environment with the bottom line, to ensure that all Americans have the right both to vote and to have those votes counted, to guarantee that women have the right of reproductive choice without government interference, to stop the obscene influence of soft money bribery of parties and candidates, and to restore human dignity to all Americans regardless of race, gender, age, sexual orientation, or disability. It is not "fringe" to think that the way we treat one another and other people is more important than the way we express our beliefs; to find more grace in the search for meaning than in absolute certainty, in the questions than in the answers. We see ourselves as a spiritual community in which we discover the resources required for our work in the world: striving for justice and peace among all people. Liberals are motivated by Love, not by religious intolerance, insufferable arrogance and disdain of those deemed "different".

I am Catholic, I am Christian. I am a mother, a grandmother, a sister and a daughter, a nurse. I am an American.. and I am proud to say, I am a liberal.

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What do our opponents mean when they apply to us the label "Liberal?" If by "Liberal" they mean, as they want people to believe, someone who is soft in his policies abroad, who is against local government, and who is unconcerned with the taxpayer's dollar, then the record of this party and its members demonstrate that we are not that kind of "Liberal." But 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." - John Fitzgerald Kennedy-

http://members.aol.com/kgar41/liberal.html

:toast:

[QueenOfCalifornia]

2. ¡¡¡ YES !!!

Most excellent!

I have been happy to say that I am a liberal - I know there is nothing wrong with wanting to be all the things JFK said. The Limbaugh's, Coulter's and Hannity's out there try to make it a dirty word -

Here's a crowd pleaser:
Liberals become indignant when you question their patriotism, but simultaneously work overtime to give terrorists a cushion for the next attack and laugh at dumb Americans who love their country and hate the enemy.
Ann Coulter

[Deep13]

3. Someone who hates America, right?

Well that's what I heard on AM talk radio. :evilfrown:

[Totally Committed]

4. This is a good one, too:

Edited for an even better passage:

The other night, when you were on Bill Maher's show, he began by reading to you a quote from... where (he) tried to run away from the word "liberal." Maher said to you, so, General, do you want to run away from that word? Without missing a beat, you said "No!" and you reminded everyone that America was founded as a "liberal democracy." The audience went wild with applause.

http://www.oilempire.us/clark.html

TC

[DeSwiss]

5. Proud To Be A Liberal!!!

:D