The Uncomfortable Truth

I received a comment last week calling me a “foolish liberal wacko.� Some people think that being liberal in your outlook automatically qualifies you as foolish and wacko. And why not? Our corporate media have made a sport of misrepresenting liberalism to such an extreme that there is little good to be said about it—by those in the corporate media or the fools that listen to them.
(For those who think the media is run by those evil liberals, stop, think, and ask yourself: why would liberals give airtime to liberal-bashers?)
Liberalism has been so misrepresented that there are far too many people out there who actually believe we have liberals in government! Do we?
Is Ted Kennedy a liberal? Is Hillary?
According to http://www.answers.com/topic/liberalism, liberalism means “A political theory founded on the natural goodness of humans and the autonomy of the individual and favoring civil and political liberties, government by law with the consent of the governed, and protection from arbitrary authority.�
I suppose some could argue that people are not naturally good, but what is wrong with wanting autonomy for one’s self? What is wrong with wanting civil and political liberty? How can any thinking person define “government by law with the consent of the governed� to be evil? Aren’t these the principles on which our country was founded?
Egads! Does that mean that Adams, Jefferson, Madison, et. al., were foolish wackos? Even ignorant Dittoheads don’t believe that.
That’s right, the United States was founded on liberal principles. What I find most amusing is that so-called conservatives are trying to conserve liberal principles—or are they?
The great, liberal Roman statesman, Cicero, said “The noblest goal is the public good.�
The “public good� is not served by big government! “That government is best which governs the least� (Thoreau, oft quoted by Rush Limbaugh!). So how can those who would intrude upon every aspect of our lives; those who think “government is the answer� to all our problems be correctly called “liberal?� They cannot! This of course includes the aforementioned Senators Kennedy and Clinton.
So why does corporate media portray them as liberal? My guess is that it keeps us divided. When labels are assigned to people, other people use them as a device to shut them out, to ignore them—or worse, insult them. Labeling lowers the bar for public discourse.
Labeling is a useful tool to keep people from thinking. After all, when you teach someone to think, there’s a good chance they will become a revolutionary. And who would lose in a liberal revolution?
The corporate media.

Posted by Quentin Colgan at 01:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

I was dismayed last week when I heard the news about Ford and GM. It’s never a good thing when icons of American industry teeter on the edge of bankruptcy. I mean, we all grew up with GM being “number 1� And Ford in the number 2 slot. They were always there and always would be. I was sad hearing news of their potential demise.
Sunday, I went to the Pageant and watched “Who killed the Electric Car?� It seems GM and Ford had a lot to do with it. Their greed—and the greed of the oil companies, along with the current administration’s obliviousness to the needs of Americans—have all worked together to make sure Americans will be choking on exhaust fumes for decades to come.
After viewing the film, all I can say is good riddance!
As I mentioned, “Who Killed the Electric Car?� names all the usual suspects, but left out the most culpable: the voters. The voters are the ones who keep returning the same corporate whores to Congress every two years.
In our own Second district, does anyone doubt that Wally Herger will be reelected? Does it matter that the man has taken money from Enron? No. Are we upset with the fact that he panders to corporate greed instead of the interests of his constituents? No. He just keeps going and going like a prostituted Energizer Bunny.
When you take your child to the doctor for an asthma attack, just remember the part you played in his illness. If you do nothing to change corporate rule in America, you’re as guilty as Ford and GM.

Posted by Quentin Colgan at 06:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)