Speaking of Liberal vs. Conservative…

What’s quite amazing is how the AM radio conservatives of the past thirty years have turned “Liberal” into a pejorative word. It’s impossible to hear a political discussion, and not hear the word “Liberal” used in a context meaning something unfortunate or negative. Those who’ve claimed a “Liberal Media Bias” are the same individuals who make “Liberal” so negative.

Let’s see what we can do to disassociate this word with terms so negative. I am sure Derrida or Wittgenstein would have something to say on this. I digress, these days, when I hear the word “Liberal,” this is what I think. The United States is a “Liberal Democracy.” Adam Smith, John Stuart Mill, John Locke and Thomas Jefferson were all Liberals.

If the above four were Liberals and William F. Buckley is a conservative, I’ll take the former. Of course, this recent administration has been a betrayal of Buckley’s movement, which is to say that even those who argue on behalf of the Bush Administration, Cheney, Hannity, Limbaugh, McCain and Palin are opposing the political party’s legacy principled for which they singed up.

In short, being “conservative,” isn’t what it used to be, and I’d rather be fiscally conservative with our treasury, which means I’ll probably be voting the other direction than the GOP this year. My goodness…