The "L" Word.

George Carlin once uttered the 7 (or 11) words you could not say on television. He of course did so in a mocking monologue about how stupid we were to let words become so fraught with meaning that they can no longer be said among God fearing folk and children. How does a word become profane? Who decides the status of each word and deems it inappropriate? All of the words relegated to late night cable or bleeped out (or both in the case of The Daily Show), have meanings and usages that come up in day to day conversation....therefore, their absence from the permissible lexicon leaves a hole in our ability to converse. We need to be careful about adding words to this list, lest we run out of words and become an entirely mute society.

Happily, sometimes words can be redeemed. When Ronald Reagan was elected to the presidency in 1980, a perfectly reasonable word began the ominous slide into profane status. Sadly, to be attacked with this word was to suffer ridicule and perhaps worse, irrelevance...and yet those afflicted with this status could no more help themselves than they could change the color of their eyes or skin. Can you imagine, being verbally assaulted for something as personal as your hair color, or in this case, their capacity for compassion? To be a "liberal" in this country was to be in effect a person without a country, or so said the numerous babble heads on Fox News.

How could being labeled a "liberal" become such a toxic description...I mean what does the word really mean to begin with? How could it become such an insult?

lib-er-al ; adjective: (from Dictionary.com)

1) favorable to progress or reform, as in political or religious affairs.
2) favorable to or in accord with concepts of maximum individual freedom
possible, esp. as guaranteed by law and secured by governmental protection of
civil liberties.
3) free from prejudice or bigotry; tolerant: a liberal attitude toward
foreigners.
4) favoring or permitting freedom of action, esp. with respect to matters
of personal belief or expression: a liberal policy toward dissident artists
and writers.
5) open-minded or tolerant, esp. free of or not bound by traditional or
conventional ideas, values, etc.
6) characterized by generosity and willingness to give in large amounts: a liberal donor

I am happy to report, though, that that there are signs indicating that to be a "liberal" is no longer cause for shame or banishment to Madison, Wisconsin or forced to pay the ridiculous housing prices in Berkeley. Instead, there are indications that we, as a nation, can now openly become "favorable to progress or reform" and that it will now be acceptable to appreciate "maximum individual freedom" without reprisal. In time, one hopes, we might even be "free from prejudice or bigotry", because instead of parroting the drivel from the conservative talking heads we are becoming "open-minded or tolerant". In the end, don't we all want a nation that is "characterized by generosity and willingness to give"?

Perhaps part of the reason our country has strayed so far from the path is that we lost our liberal voice. Perhaps balance is what has always been called for...to hear, and assign relevance to all of the voices from all over the political spectrum as our nation solves the great problems of the day. The voices that once would make “liberal” a slanderous charge now find themselves feeling the effect of banishment, or at least failing to be re-elected, and yet I cannot help but think that we will need them. To solve the problems this nation faces, we will need the great minds from all over the political spectrum, to sit down, work side by side, without derision or contempt.

I am hopeful that the liberals, having their status restored and no longer treated as if their very opinions are profane or sacreligious, will exercise restraint as they assume the levers of power. The leadership our country needs just now will keep in mind that “favoring or permitting freedom of action, esp. with respect to matters of personal belief or expression” will be what leads us back to greatness in the days ahead.