My "liberal manifesto"

Over at Firedoglake I read the following"

While conservatives revile liberal philosophy, we should all contemplate just what it is that liberal governance has gotten for us. Bob Herbert had a great op-ed on this, and this stuck with me:

Civil rights? Women’s rights? Liberals went to the mat for them time and again against ugly, vicious and sometimes murderous opposition. They should be forever proud....

Liberals (including liberal Republicans, who have since been mostly drummed out of the party) ended legalized racial segregation and gender discrimination.

...Liberals gave this country Head Start and legal services and the food stamp program. They fought for cleaner air (there was a time when you could barely see Los Angeles) and cleaner water (there were rivers in America that actually caught fire)

It got me to thinking about a poem I wrote in 2004. I just reread it and share it with you here. I still feel this way.

If being a liberal means that:
you love liberty and freedom
instead of “Patriot Acts” and trampled rights.

you care for people
instead of corporations

you support education, teachers and free public schools
instead of religious indoctrination and acts that
leave many children behind

you care for children and their well-being
instead of corporate CEO’s and their fancy lifestyle.

Fine, then call me a liberal!

If being a liberal means that:

you believe in religious freedom
instead of “everybody think alike” doctrines

you believe women are equal and should be treated (and paid) as such
instead of being “subordinate” barefoot and pregnant

you believe in supporting our troops
instead of the lies that put them in harm’s way

Fine, then I’ll take the name liberal and be proud of it!

If being a liberal means that:


you don’t believe that oil should be purchased with blood
or that greedy corporations should get rich from war

you want to preserve and defend our environment
instead of raping the land so nothing will remain for our future.

And
you believe that some forests should be saved for the animals that inhabit them
instead of destroyed for big business profit.




you believe in clean air
instead of pollution and acid rain from factory smokestacks


Then, I’ll be a liberal!

If being a liberal means that:

you believe in families no matter of whom they are composed
instead of divisive (so called) defense of marriage legislation.

you know that some folks are different from others

not through choice but because they were made that way

you know that God made Adam and Eve
as well as Adam and Steve and Ellen and Eve

And

you believe that everyone has a right to live a life free from harassment and hate
instead of living with humiliation and fear

If being a liberal means all that- then I am a liberal, an American liberal, and proud of it!

Jay Cole Simser
July 7, 2004