The "L" word

I was watching the news this morning and heard that John McCalin is going to stress in his next debate that Obama is liberal and he is conservative. This is one liberal who wishes the "L" word was more descriptive and less pejorative.

I used to be more conservative than I am now. I cheered when Ronald Reagan was first elected (since I was too young to vote for him). I had witnessed our country lose (1) a war, (2) its standing in the world, and (3) its ability to provide energy to its own people. In case you are young and don't understand the references, we had lost and had to flee the Vietnam War, Iranian students had overtaken our embassy and held our citizens hostage, and gas lines had prevailed in the 1970s.

Americans were ready for a strong leader. We didn't like being made fools in the eyes of the world. We wanted someone who would not only be strong for us, but would strike terror in the hearts of our enemies.

Now that I am older, I look back at that notion and wonder if that is how the followers of Osama bin Laden feel. No, I'm not excusing the violence his followers use. I'm just hoping that if I changed, maybe they can, too.

What changed me? I'm not sure. I don't think it was just one or two instances. I think it was talking and listening to people who held views different from my own. I think it was reading world history and learning that we weren't always the good guys. I believe it was reading the news from another country's perspective. It was about moving beyond my "small town morals" and realizing that not everyone in the world thinks like I do or feels like I do.

I moved myself a little to the left, and then Bush 41 moved the Republicans more to the right. Where I had originally been a little right to the center, now I found myself more left. Did I move that far left or did the Republicans move that far right?

It took a while before I could embrace the word "liberal." And then I began using the word beyond politics. Would I like a liberal amount of ice cream or a conservative amount? Would I like to receive a liberal pay raise or a conservative pay raise? Would I like a liberal pharmaceutical coverage plan or a conservative one? See, when you move the word beyond politics, it has a very pleasant meaning.

To me, liberal means "more" and conservative means "less." Whereas that at one time referred to financial excesses, the present Bush administration has blown that idea right out of the water. The less in the Republican party means less able to see someone else's perspective, less able to consider an alternative to war, less able to embrace alternative energies.

I guess the McCalin/Pain ticket knows it has already lost my vote and will try to scare independents back into the conservative corral by chasing them with the liberal brand. I just hope people realize it's not the "L" word that should scare them. It's the pit bull and the tired old horse that are calling themselves mavericks, but are really a dog and pony show.