As anyone who reads this site regularly knows, I wouldn't by any means classify myself as a full-fledged liberal. (Just look back to last week: In a period of five days I went from being called a "heartless neo-con Republican" by some to a "typical whiny Democrat" by others.) That said, I think that anybody who's interested in a certain amount of equity in politics would agree that for far too long "liberal" has been a dirty word. For most of my lifetime, I've rarely heard the word used as a positive descriptor; in fact, quite the opposite -- it's almost always had a negative connotation attached to it. This is incredibly unfair, if only because the term "conservative" seems to have never been tagged with such an obvious Mark of Cain in the mainstream discourse or the public consciousness.
Basically, the word was hijacked by the right a long time ago and for years even liberals themselves were afraid to identify themselves as such.
Well, this morning quite a few avowed liberals are saying that whatever you thought of Obama's lofty rhetoric toward the end of his speech last night, it amounted to a vigorous defense of liberalism. If you'll forgive the inappropriately low-brow reference: In the words of Randal in Clerks 2, Obama's "taking it back."
Think what you want -- balance in politics is good for the country.
Bob Cesca's Awesome Blog! Go!: The Return of the Liberal/9.10.09
The Huffington Post: Rachel Maddow: Obama Offers Formal Defense of Liberalism/9.9.09
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