Just how liberal are liberals?

By Erik Rush

These colors don't run and we're speaking as one
When we say united we stand
When you mess with one, you mess with us all
Every boy, girl, woman and man

From "This Ain't No Rag It's A Flag"
by Charlie Daniels

I am often surprised at people who squirm when I identify myself as a conservative. The reason for my perplexity is not because I know going in that they're avowed liberal Democrats; it is because during the course of most conversations with these people I discover that many, I daresay the majority, hold the same core values as I do.

Practically none are in favor of unfettered abortion, porous borders, legalizing illicit drugs, a hamstrung criminal justice system, early sexualization of children, redefining marriage, religious intolerance, rampant taxation, weak foreign policy or social engineering in our schools. They don't get their political analysis from Rosie O'Donnell and Tim Robbins. They aren't sympathetic to al-Qaeda or child molesters. Hardly any honestly believe that the United States is an imperialist, racist nation, although they do hold that the Bush administration screwed the pooch relative to the postwar plan for Iraq and the Republican Party did similarly concerning the mandate they received when they became a majority (It would almost be irresponsible not to point out here that the latter two are beliefs to which quite a few conservative Republicans adhere as well).

The only thing these aforementioned liberal Democrats appear to hold in common is that they've been conditioned to squirm when they hear the word "conservative," i.e., sufficiently propagandized that they fear conservatives as socially retrograde, bigoted, soulless capitalists who wish to supplant our constitutional republic with a Christian theocracy.

I've been taken aback again and again by "liberal Democrats" who believe in raising children in much the same way I do (that being in a disciplined, traditional manner), the sanctity of marriage and classical American education. I was even more astounded when one advocated employing nuclear weapons against North Korea, Iran and Syria (It was, after all a Democrat president who chose that route against Japan).

It makes sense, though; this would be a lot less expensive in American blood and treasure than what's going on in Iraq right now. If one looks back in time, as it were, at what "liberal Democrat" meant in the 'Eighties, the 'Seventies and 'Sixties, the chasm between liberals and conservatives becomes narrower and narrower. In the main, I'd wager that some would simply rather be called such than "conservative" due to conditioning; the poor performance of Republican politicians in recent years merely lent credence to the ongoing effluvia of propaganda. Indeed, many Republicans are furious at the phenomenon of their leaders having followed the Democrat lead (of being spendthrifts, hypocrites and self-serving elites) when they finally actualized their long-sought majority.

My use of the reference to Charlie Daniels's song (written in response to the September 11, 2001 attacks) is meant to remind the reader of how widespread that sentiment was in America leading up to our invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq. It wasn't just conservatives. Granted, support for President Bush and the Republican Party has waned considerably since then, but I contend propaganda is more the culprit than the acknowledged poor performance.

The point is that liberals and conservatives at large aren't why there's so much dissent in America right now.

A minority of global socialists — they call themselves "Progressives" — in the political arena and the media are the ones who have given rise to this mental redirection, pathological cynicism and the cult of Bush hatred. They are not the opposition, but the enemy, and unfortunately are the only choice many liberal Democrats think they have in the voting booth.

The problem: Too many conservatives have come to use the terms "liberal," "far Left" and "Progressive" — and perceive them — interchangeably. This is a mistake.

I wouldn't suggest for a moment that conservatives change who we are; conservatism is the more mature, sane and prudent course, and the enemy will continue to operate at gutter level no matter what we do. I think, however that there are ways to bring a lot of liberal Democrats around, although this period in our history just might be the most difficult juncture at which to suggest or attempt such action.

One method I have touched on before is holding conservative leaders accountable. If Progressives lay claim to moral relativism and conservatives to moral grounding, then we must be willing to hurl the hypocrites among us directly under the bus with all due speed, laughing out loud as the wheels roll over them.

Two, we must intelligently and rationally call attention to the intellectual immaturity of the enemy's ideas (rather than the enemy himself) whether on a one-to-one basis or if we are fortunate enough to have access to larger forums. This ought to be relatively easy since we are exposed to a plethora of the far Left's half-baked ideas on an hourly basis.

Last, we have to stay out of the hater camp. Cliché as it sounds, if we do that then we've become what we behold. We've done a pretty good job of this inasmuch as the radical Right in America has been marginalized into near-insignificance, but I have seen frustration among some of us lead to imprudent, rash rhetoric and an abandonment of civility. This we cannot afford, since we are scrutinized to a far greater degree than are Progressives. One can be a classy killer like James Bond, ever-ready with a clever quip as his coup de grâce, rather than a scroungy gangbanging cussmonster.

If we look hard enough, we might just find that we have many more allies than we know...

© Erik Rush