The funniest thing since a late term abortion procedure

Clarence Page is upset that capons, aka Democrats, have let Republicans define the national debate. If the Democrats would just stand up and use the language themselves, their ideas would win in a cakewalk. And in the middle of this, Page says, without irony:

By dictating the terms of national debate, conservatives have put progressives firmly on the defensive.

(Psst. Clarence? You're a liberal. Go ahead. You can say it. Take control of the debate, man.)

LAGuy adds a note of historical interest: Plenty of smart liberals I know are convinced the public prefers their ideas--they just don't know it yet. Ditto for conservatives. (Hence the post ColumbusGuy linked to above). It's always touching to see yet another article out of thousands explaining to the converted that the problem is cosmetic.

Anyway, someone should do an historical study on the world "liberal." A hundred years ago, a "liberal" was someone who'd be considered a conservative today--or, perhaps more likely, a libertarian (who are considered "right" these days anyway). A "liberal" was someone who believed in the individual, which not only meant freedom of speech and conscience, but also a hands-off approach from government to let you run your business and make contracts.

Liberals split off into other directions (just like parties do) and it's funny, now that the word has been so damaged, that much of the Left in the 60s considered liberals the wishy-washy types who believe in working within the system--they're bigger enemies to genuine change than anyone. (You still get this from radicals.)

But it wasn't merely clever Republican maneuvering that made the word persona non grata--in fact, there used to be plenty of Republicans who didn't mind being called liberal. It was "liberal" programs themselves, especially starting with Lyndon Johnson's Great Society, that helped things turn the corner. (A JFK Democrat is, in many ways, more conservative than a Nixonian Republican.) The word, with some fairness, became associated with high taxes, massive social engineering, and, above all, sympathy for criminals. (Popular liberal ideas, on the other hand, have been embraced by both parties--liberalism is a victim of its own success as much as anything.) To this day, these issues help identify the Democratic party, and prevent many "mainstream" Americans from voting for them--it's not just the word, it's the substance.

A lot of Dems seem to have settled on "progressive" to take away the stink of "liberal." This always cracks me up. When I was in college (in the 80s), "progressive" meant "far to the left of liberal"--essentially it meant communist.