I don't get it: Why is it okay for Repubs to make liberal a dirty word

[Th1onein]

And Dean is villified for doing the same thing with the Republicans? These people have been talking about liberals for years as if they were the enemy, instead of the opposition party, and when one of our leaders raises the rhetoric to the same level, all of a sudden it's an outrage?

No. Dean DOES speak for me. And it's about damned time someone did.

[Frances]

1. I put my money where my mouth is

and sent a small check to the DNC. I wrote: In Honor of Howard Dean

[Democrats_win]

2. Think of all the dirty words the repubs use. bush used a**hole before he

stole the election.

[wvaprog]

3. When has it ever been OK

for the Repubs to do any of what they've done? They don't care about 'OK,' they never have and they DON'T have a 'fair play' attitude, so just ignore any outrage on their part when the truth is brought to light.

I support Dean also, it's about time the Dems suspended politeness for some frank talk.

[billbuckhead]

5. Let's just cede the white Chrsitian vote to the Republicans

Afterall, Dean failed to win over the Confederate flag on the pickup truck voters in the primaries, so let's just piss on all white Christian voters.

If Dean is such an awesome potent political force, why does Vermont have a Republican governor?

[wvaprog]

9. That's not how it will happen and you know it

You sell the white, Christian voters too short. The ones around here aren't reacting that way and neither are the guys who drive pickups with Rebel flags, the buzz I hear is they agree with Dean and seem pleasantly surprised at what he's saying and the backbone the Dems seem to be growing.

[billbuckhead]

12. We will know soon enough. If the Republicans start calling Dean out

every day like Cheney just did then Dean will have to go. It's become obvious that when Dean has become the issue then he becomes counterproductive.

[Skidmore]

14. Says who?

So we let them pick leaders us too? Should we just jump when they say "Boo." Hell, no.

[wvaprog]

16. You're already giving up,

ceding the ground we're fighting for, don't give legitimacy to the Republicans' behavior nor defer to their opinion by imploding in the face of a little criticism. Cheney's reaction was a given, and boooring!

While we're between election cycles why not have Dean stir it up a little and have them try to make him the issue? If they're trying to make him the issue his comments are more likely to get into the media and have more impact.

The time for 'pretty' has passed for now.

[mike_c]

10. umm-- because Dean ran for president-- remember 2004...?

Here's some information about "the longest-serving governor in Vermont's history (five terms):"

http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/Howard-Dean

Vermont political career

In 1980, Dean spearheaded a (successful) grassroots campaign to stop a condominium development on Lake Champlain, instead favoring the construction of a bicycle trail. The effort succeeded, and helped launch his political career. That same year, he was also a volunteer for Jimmy Carter's re-election campaign. In 1982, he was elected to the Vermont House of Representatives, where he remained until being elected lieutenant governor in 1986. Both were part-time positions which enabled him to continue practicing medicine.

On August 14, 1991, Dean was examining a patient when he received word that then-Governor Richard A. Snelling had died of a heart attack while cleaning his swimming pool. Dean assumed the office, which he called the "greatest job in Vermont." He was subsequently elected to five two-year terms in his own right, making him the longest-serving governor in Vermont's history. From 1994 to 1995, Dean was the chairman of the National Governors Association.

Dean was faced with an economic recession and a $60 million dollar budget deficit. He bucked many in his own party to immediately push for a balanced budget (Vermont is the only state whose constitution does not require one), an act which marked the beginning of a record of fiscal restraint; during his tenure as governor, the state paid off much of its debt, balanced its budget eleven times, raised its bond rating, and lowered income taxes twice.

Dean also focused on health care issues, most notably through the "Dr. Dynasaur" program, which ensures near-universal health coverage for children and pregnant women in the state; the uninsured rate in Vermont dropped from 12.7% to 9.6% under his watch. Child abuse and teen pregnancy rates were cut roughly in half.

By far the most controversial decision of his career, and the first to draw serious national attention, came in 2000, when the Vermont Supreme Court ruled that the state's marriage laws unconstitutionally excluded same-sex couples and ordered that the state legislature either to allow gays and lesbians to marry or create a parallel status. Facing calls to amend the state constitution to prohibit either option, Dean chose to support the latter one, and signed the nation's first civil unions legislation into law, spurring a short-lived "Take Back Vermont" movement which helped Republicans gain control of the State House.

Dean would receive some flak during his 2004 presidential campaign for another decision related to the civil unions. Shortly before leaving office, he had all his Vermont papers sealed for at least the next decade, a timeframe far longer than most outgoing governors use. He claimed he was protecting the privacy of many gay supporters who sent him letters about the issue. On the campaign trail, he demanded Vice President Dick Cheney release his energy committee papers. Some accused Dean of hypocrisy.

As governor, Dean was endorsed by the National Rifle Association several times, furthering his moderate image.

Elections as Governor of Vermont
Year Democratic Percent Republican Percent Other (>5%) Percent Other (<5%) Percent
1992 Howard Dean 74.73% John McClaughry 23.04% N/A 0% Scattering 3%
1994 Howard Dean 68.6% David F. Kelley 19% Thomas J. Morse (Independent) 7% Scattering 5.4%
1996 Howard Dean 70.5% John L. Gropper 22.4% N/A 0% Scattering 7.1%
1998 Howard Dean 55.6% Ruth Dwyer 41.1% N/A 0% Scattering 3.3%
2000 Howard Dean 50.4% Ruth Dwyer 37.9% Anthony Pollina (Progressive) 9.5% Scattering 2.2%
Source: Vermont Secretary of State

http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/Howard-Dean

[billbuckhead]

11. And the present governot of Vermont is a ..........................?

REPUBLICAN!

[mike_c]

15. are you suggesting that Howard Dean is somehow responsible...

...for this? Dean NEVER lost a Vermont gubernatorial election. In the 2002 race, when Dean declined to run for a sixth term, presumably to focus on national politics, Racine (D) took 42 percent of the vote and Douglas (R) 45 percent. The campaign was largely about economic and environmental policy differences between the two, although the lingering effects of conservative homophobia from the previous election-- which Dean won regardless-- probably swung some voters to Douglas, despite his support for the Vermont civil unions law.

In any event, Howard Dean certainly isn't responsible for there being a republican governor in Vermont-- if you want to blame that on a democrat, blame it on Doug Racine.

[billbuckhead]

17. Absolutely, Dean is responsible for a Republican governor following him

Who else would have more responsibilty? What about Dean building up the Democratic party in Vermont?

Karl Rove couldn't get a better face of the Democratic party from Hollywood central casting. A blunt secular Ivy leaguer from a quirky postage stamp sized Yankee state known for gay tolerence and a socialist congressman.

[LastLiberal in PalmSprings]

13. It's foolish to waste our time and energy on the true believers

It's not white Christians we should ignore, it's the American Taliban. To "cede" their vote to the Repugs is to recognize that a rock is a rock, no matter how much you try to convince it to be a feather. The Taliban just..isn't..going..to..change.

The truth is that the vast majority of Americans identify with the Democratic position on the issues that directly affect them. Living wage, job security, an assurance that their pensions are safe, clean air, clean water, a good and affordable education regardless of your economic status, protecting the environment, preserving Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and Head Start...

There are 30% who will never vote for a Democrat, even if he was the only candidate on the ballot. Why waste our resources on them?

Our solution lies in educating the public -- through finding ways around the MSM -- and then motivating the vast majority who support liberal issues to get out and vote. One element of this is to restore the belief that their vote matters. Creating and using paper trails on election day is the first step. Presenting a clearly defined, positive agenda for America is another. We've got to stop trying to be "Republican Lite", like the DLC wants. We've got to offer voters more than just arguments (no matter how well reasoned) against the Repug agenda.

If you went into a store to buy an item you needed and there was only one shoddy one available, you'd hold your nose and buy it no matter how many defects your friend pointed out. Add a second, clearly superior item, however, and you now have a choice. And if the additional item's quality is far beyond that of the POS you'd even be willing to pay a premium to gain possession.

Dean is preparing to plant the seeds to give the American voter a choice once again. Right now he's tilling the ground; the Repugs are providing the fertilizer, whether they know it or not.

[Skidmore]

8. We have given them permission to do this over the years.

By not standing up and fighting for our beliefs, we armed them. We stood in line and waited our turn. We held the door open and showed them in. We did not chew gum in class. We didn't wear street shoes on the gym floor. We spoke only when spoken to. We followed the rules and allowed them to make the rules as they went along. They are still doing it, and many of our fine Dem legislators are still not chewing gum in class.

[KingFlorez]

4. Because they can't win

on the issues, so they resort to making liberals out to be some sort of villians to cover up for their flawed policies.

[Catherine Vincent]

6. With the help of the media some liberals bought into it.

[LastLiberal in PalmSprings]

7. The Repugs made 'liberal' a pejorative

because we let them do it. Every time they tried to re-define the word we should have slammed it back in their face, just as they are doing whenever Dean tells the world what they really are.

The Repugs do not see this as politics -- the process of multiple interests coming to a consensus result through discussion and compromise. They see it as war, and the spoils are power. Raw, naked power to force others to bend to their will. To that ends they will say and do anything -- even kill -- to win.

"All's fair in love and war," the old saw goes. Insofar as the Repugs are concerned, fuck love.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

20. That's for sure!

After the Republicanites started turning "liberal" into a dirty word, the very next Dem convention should have featured Jesse Jackson or someone leading the delegates in a few choruses of "Say it loud, I'm liberal and proud!"

[cestpaspossible]

18. Because they own the media?

Sometimes the obvious answer is the correct one.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

19. Well that's who the game is played in the MSM

Did you notice that there were no articles about "today's polarized and angry political climate" as long as the Dems were bowing and scraping and saying, "Nobody here but us moderates and bipartisans."

After Air America came on, suddenly the media were full of mainstream pundits deploring the "degraded political climate."

Having a bunch of scandalmongers circulating videotapes nationwide accusing Clinton of murder somehow didn't qualify as "degrading the political climate," but let Michael Moore make a documentary telling the truth about the BFEE and let Air America strike back at Limbaugh and company, and oh, my! Look how rude the Dems are!

[snowbear]

21. Try asking them sometime to explain what "Liberal" means to them...

They CAN'T answer. ...Seriously.. Do you have a rightwing wack-job Uncle who complains about "damn libruls" all the time?

Maybe a co-worker or neighbor who insinuates that ... "libruls ain't patriotic"

Or :shrug: even a close friend who loves using the phrase "librul" (liberal) at every chance they get.

~ Just once.. Ask that person to describe to you their definition of the word "Liberal".

Be prepared to watch them either ignore your request, or to try to stumble through some lame-brain nonsense explanation. Actually.. be prepared for them to spout off names instead of attempting to answer the question. ~~~ :tinfoilhat:

BTW.. Why do they avoid the term "Progressive"? By definition, they're basically one in the same.

~LIBERAL~

~~ Not limited to or by established, traditional, orthodox, or authoritarian attitudes, views, or dogmas; free from bigotry.

~~ Favoring proposals for reform, open to new ideas for progress, and tolerant of the ideas and behavior of others; broad-minded.

~~ Tending to give freely; generous: a liberal benefactor.

Sounds like all the qualities that a good person should strive for and be PROUD of... Sounds like us. ~~ :kick: