No Shame in Being a Liberal

Dated: 12 Dec 2008

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No Shame in Being a Liberal

By Frank Schiavone

I’m not crazy about labels, but I guess I’m a Liberal. Now, there’s been a lot of Liberal-bashing in recent years. Apparently, we are to blame for most of the evils that have befallen this country. (I’m also an environmentalist - a double whammy).

What does it mean to be a Liberal? I believe honor, commitment, fidelity, sacrifice, compassion, fairness, and stewardship are cherished American values. I believe in God and am devoted to my family. I do not hate America or have any fondness for Hugo Chavez or Iran’s Armadinejad. I believe our Constitution, although not perfect, is a masterpiece.

American presidents I most admire are Jefferson, Lincoln, Teddy and Franklin Roosevelt, and JFK - three Republicans and two Democrats. Martin Luther King is deservedly a national hero and one of the greatest transformative figures in recent American history. I also have a deep and abiding respect for Rachel Carson whose groundbreaking Silent Spring raised awareness of the damage we were doing to the planet and ourselves.

In the words of John F. Kennedy, “But if by a Liberal they mean someone who looks ahead and not behind, someone who welcomes new ideas without rigid reactions, someone who cares about the welfare of the people — their health, their housing, their schools, their jobs, their civil rights, and their civil liberties — someone who believes we can break through the stalemate and suspicions that grip us in our policies abroad, if that is what they mean by a ‘Liberal’, then I’m proud to say I’m a Liberal.”

Our fallen 35^th President, in just a few short words, summed it up masterfully. Unfortunately, Camelot is a distant memory. America is in a different place and more needs to be said.

Now I don’t presume to be in JFK’s oratorical league but here’s my two cents anyway:

I am not a pacifist but if you are going to send my son and daughters to war you better have a damn good reason. Destroying countless lives to preserve our profligate lifestyles just doesn’t wash. I believe it is an absolute travesty that the only ones being asked to sacrifice in “a time of war” are military personnel and their families - while the rest of us shop.

A grateful nation should show it’s thanks to returning veterans by providing them with world-class healthcare, educational benefits, and loan guarantees.

Not surprisingly, I believe it is far more egregious to mislead the nation about reasons for going to war then it is to mislead it about an illicit sexual affair.

It is a national disgrace that many of our fellow Americans do not have health care, decent schools, clean drinking water, safe neighborhoods in which to raise their families, and equal opportunity.

As has oft been repeated, I do not favor hand-outs but hand-ups.

Corporations are not human beings and should not be afforded the same rights and privileges granted to We, the people.

We do not have an aristocracy in America. We are “born not to the blood of kings but to the blood of pioneers and immigrants”. An individual’s value is not determined by how much wealth they have amassed, how many titles they possess, how many powerful people they know, or how well-worn their Bible is.

A man’s measure is the goodness of his heart and the “content of his character”.

Taxes and regulation are not scourges nor are they overly burdensome. “Taxes are the price we pay for civilization.”- Oliver Wendell Homes.

It is unconscionable that middle class families and individuals pay higher taxes (in proportion to their incomes) than the wealthiest Americans. The rich do not need any more champions to stand up for them. Those that benefit most from America’s bounty should contribute the most.

I do not favor illegal immigration but I find the tone of our national conversation on this important issue deeply troubling. The vast majority of people who come here illegally are not criminals. They are escaping economic despair and seeking a better life, just as my grandparents (all four of them) did in the early 1900’s. If there were no Ellis Island, they and countless other Mediterranean peoples would have found a way to enter the US “illegally”.

I believe public assets are our commonwealth and I am deeply opposed to the privatization of the public trust. I do not agree with Adam Smith or Milton Friedman. The market has never nor will it ever achieve perfect “ecological” balance.

I have no doubt that both Liberals and Conservatives (Left and Right) are intent on perfecting America. We just have a fundamental disagreement about the how.