In what will be a total waste of time, I hereby stage a minor rebellion against the twisted semantics of our day. Then I will quietly accept the new definitions of terms and go my way.
I consider myself an historic liberal, which usually puts me in the camp labeled conservative in current US categories. The US Constitution is one of the most liberal documents in world history, and we should be grateful. It was a radically liberal notion to give power to the people. It still is. In 1776, King George and crew were the conservatives, holding on to (conserving) power and the status quo, and the US patriots were the liberals of their day. Men like Washington and Jefferson broke free from authoritarian rule and were liberal enough to entrust real power to citizens, and restrict the power of government.
By any historic definition of the word, what is liberal about modern US political liberals? Nothing. They are libertine fascists, draconian conservatives hording power to the government, coercive socialists, but not liberal. What is liberal and generous about taking money from people and giving it to others by force of law? What is liberal about taking or restricting property rights of citizens, whether the property is land or guns? A truly liberal firearms law would allow any citizen to own full auto machine guns and anything else he wanted.
A parenthetical note on gun law: The first shot of the American Revolution was over gun control. The king wanted to conserve his power and not let anyone but his paid army to own guns. That was a conservative position. It�s over simplifying but the Americans wanted to liberalize his gun laws to include broader gun ownership
Liberal is(was) a beautiful word, connoting generous, tolerant, open in one�s dealings with fellow men, allowing individuals great freedom, a frightening word to kings and despots. Modern US political liberals have stolen a fine word and use it to cover policies opposite to its historic meaning. Tell me one thing that is liberal about Teddy Kennedy by any historic definition. He is about government control, taking power from the people and giving it to a government elite, retaining power for his inside group (Democratic party) and silencing any opposition. Modern American political �liberals� are totally intolerant of any view or free speech that does not agree with them and do all that they can to suppress it by law. In Canada they have succeeded by passing �hate speech� laws. What is hate speech? Anything the government does not like at the moment.
I believe Patrick Henry gave us the famous quote, �I disagree with everything you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.� Now that is a truly liberal statement in a historic sense.
Yes, I am able to read a newspaper and understand what nearly everyone means by terms and epithets like liberal. I have only voiced my amused perspective on the 180 degree reversal of definitions on one other private occasion. This isn�t a hobby horse. I do not expect to reverse history and common usage. Just as I have resigned myself that it is now correct to use a plural pronoun with a singular antecedent, that gay is no longer a bright and cheerful word, I can concede here. I feel myself letting go the hand of this fine old word, and letting liberal flow into the maw of the sewage drain. It is sad. You may fire at will.
