"Those Dang Liberals!"

[olddem43]

The following is an excellent op-ed piece written by Jack Buescher and published in today's Cincinnati Enquirer.

Those Dang Liberals!

Those dang Liberals. They sure have screwed things up. Every Conservative knows it. Just ask Rush or Hannity or O’Reilly. They talk about it all the time, 24/7. Just the word “Liberal” fills us with fear and loathing thanks to Newt Gingrich and the Fox network.

Those dang Liberals; just look what they did to our country: FDR, the worst, nastiest of all Liberals is responsible for pulling our country out of the Great Depression when us Conservatives wanted to “Stay the Course”.
Liberals are responsible for all kinds of expensive legislation that ended up protecting our investments, our environment, our air, road, and railroad safety. Dang Liberals ended Prohibition that was brought on by our good Conservatives. And they inflicted rural America with electricity and built the TVA with those dang lakes and dams too.

And just look what they did to our work and families. Those dang Liberals made America a middle class country, made work conditions safer, created jobs where there were none, ended sweat shops, and fought for a living wage. They provided housing for the poor and under-employed. And some of their worst ideas were Social Security , Medicare, and veteran’s benefits. We would rather have our seniors and vets begging on the streets than collecting from these “socialistic” agencies.

You have to watch out for Liberals. They think about people first. We took the word “compassionate” from them. Imagine, the concept of fair pay, the 40 work week, paid vacation, medical coverage and an inheritance tax on the super wealthy that tries to level the playing field. No self respecting Conservatives would embrace these expensive programs and little by little we are taking ‘em back.

We called ‘em “tax and spend” Liberals, and it stuck, even after Reagan tripled the national debt. Clinton tried to make us Conservatives look bad by paying down the debt and running a surplus. The surplus is gone now and our big spenders got big tax cuts. And Bush2’s war to settle the family score has generated billions for his chums. If the dang Liberals get in again they have to pay the bills we ran up. The joke’s on them. If we stay in, the sky’s the limit.

I could go on but I’m sure you get the point, us Conservatives like the “good old days” and those Liberals dream of moving forward. Dang ‘em.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

1. Excellent points!

I believe, however, that conservatives have no concept of history and don't really like to think beyond their pre-conceived talking points. Sometimes I lurk at sites that allow both liberals and conservatives to post, and frankly I just get sick. The conservatives don't want a dialog, don't want to be polite, just want their agenda shoved down everyone's throat. And if a liberal tries to be fair-minded, he gets contempt instead of respect. Guess that's why I stay here at DU. But I applaud folks that can tell it like it is to a mixed crowd.

[Green Lantern]

2. Good ole days

Maybe we should yearn for the return of the good ole days like the conservatives!
Just think-back to the genteel 1950's where we find a President actually elected by the people, one who didn't desert his country in time of conflict, and whose pay records could be found without a counterfeiter.
We would have regulated utility monopolies, regulated airlines, safe banking, finance, credit and insurance laws. Money was not the be all and end all of politics and you knew your vote got your Congressman's attention, not the money of some PAC.
People looked out for their neighbors, not their neighbors wallet. Kids got a good education in a public school. The CEO only earned 20 to 30 times the wages of Willie Welder or Wanda Waitress.
Hmmm-so many more pieces to this puzzle. But this is a good start.

Come to think of it, if you served in the US military, you were treated by a universal single payer health system and so were your dependents. What a criminal liberal socialist conspiracy that was!

Just think-a return like this would turn back the evils of modern conservatism for decades.

[AlecBGreen]

3. that gets to me...

how liberal is now a dirty word. I just say im progressive...it saves a lot of explaining

[fr3]

6. But now we can't say Progressive

Guys like John and Ken in Los Angeles have dirtied that word up.

I say Independent. Then they have to pay attention to me ;)

[Th1onein]

4. Copied and sent to friends..........thanks!

This is a great piece. Thanks for posting it!

[struggle4progress]

5. link

http://www.enquirer.com/editions/2004/07/24/editorial_ed1v.html