alternative hippopotamus

progressive cyberdadaism from our nation’s capital

February 6, 2008

Card-Carrying Progressive

by AltHippo @ 7:18 pm. Filed under Uncategorized

I’ve heard many progressives/liberals/lefties/Dems argue to the effect that the word “liberal” needs to be reclaimed. For instance, Matt Yglesias writes:

“Liberal,” by contrast, is an important term with a noble history and a contested legacy. I think the notion that something like contemporary American liberalism is, in fact, the correct instantiation of the historic liberal project for our times is a proposition that’s worth fighting for.

My first thought is: lots of luck with that taking back the 18th century meaning of the word “liberal.” I mean, you could say the same thing about the swastika. You could walk around with a swastika on your chest, and if anyone asks what’s up with the nazi thing on your chest you could say: “What, this? This isn’t a nazi swastika, this is a Kuna Yala swastika.” And then, they’d say something to the effect of most people find swastikas offensive. Then you could point out that you’re taking back the original meaning of the swastika, and if they can’t deal with that, they must hate America.

If that’s how you want to spend your time, I’m not going to stop you.

I actually like the word “progressive.” To me it implies someone who makes progress. Now, it may be true that there was some group 100 years ago that called themselves Progressives. With some ideas that were not particularly “progressive.” The thing is, there’s no connotation attached to the word. Because no one remembers these people.

I haven’t witnessed the whole history of the rebranding of the word “liberal.” I do remember the RNC ad for Bush 41’s 1988 campaign where he accuses Dukakis of being a “card-carrying member of the ACLU.” Was that a cheap shot? You bet. Cheap, but effective.

I also hear people use the word “liberal” in conjunction with the word “hawk.” As in Liberal Hawk. I want to put as much distance between myself and this group as possible.

Bookmark on del.icio.us

Leave a Reply

*
To prove you're a person (not a spam script), type the security word shown in the picture.
Anti-Spam Image

« Nobody Expects the Bush Administration
Rockville Commuters Seek Metro Alternatives »

[powered by WordPress.]

hip·po·pot·a·mus n. A notion, perhaps distinct from conventional wisdom, that needs to be verified by reality-based scrutiny.

contact

TBA 2008

The Alternative Hypothesis

the elephants of anwr

issues and insight

capitolists

alt media

sounds

critical resources

flora and fauna

law & order

events

cinema

literati

propaganda

use with extreme caution

internal links:

categories:

search blog:

archives:

February 2008
M T W T F S S
« Jan   Mar »
 123
45678910
11121314151617
18192021222324
2526272829  

other:

95. Cogito cogito ergo cogito sum (I think that I think, therefore I think that I am.)
— Ambrose Bierce, The Devil's Dictionary

comments

Recent Comments

HippoWire

  • Recent Trackbacks:

    • 27 queries. 0.631 seconds