thistlechaser (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
thistlechaser) wrote2011-03-08 01:54 pm
thistlechaser) wrote2011-03-08 01:54 pm
Entry tags:
The West Wing and RL
I'm nearing the end of The West Wing (TV show from quite a few years back). One of the things I like best about it is it has increased my previously mostly nonexistent interest in politics. Another cool thing about it is how timely it is -- even an episode that ran more than ten years ago has themes that could be happening right now; I've lost count how many times West Wing covered something that I saw in the news that same day.
But the ep I saw today (The Live Debate) covered something that's been bothering me for a while: Conservatives, right wing folks, currently toss "liberal" around like it's the most horrible of insults. Apparently this isn't a new thing, as it came up in this episode from 2005. The fictional Democratic candidate's reaction to it is so well done, I wonder why I never thought to put it this way myself?
Quoting the ep:
Republican candidate: "No. Of course you didn't say it. You're not an unthinking liberal. (pause, next words said in mocking/humor) Are you?"
Democratic candidate: "I know you like to use that word 'liberal' as if it were a crime."
RC: "No. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have used that word. I know Democrats think liberal is a bad word. So bad you had to change it. What do you call yourselves now, progressives? Is that it?"
DC: "It's true. Republicans have tried to turn liberal into a bad word. Well, liberals ended slavery in this country."
RC: "A Republican President ended slavery."
DC: "Yes, a liberal Republican, Senator. What happened to them? They got run out of your party. What did liberals do that was so offensive to the Republican party? I'll tell you what they did. Liberals got women the right to vote. Liberals got African-Americans the right to vote. Liberals created Social Security and lifted millions of elderly people out of poverty. Liberals ended segregation. Liberals passed the Civil Rights Act, the Voting Rights Act. Liberals created Medicare. Liberals passed the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act. What did conservatives do? They opposed them on every one of those things every one. So when you try to hurl that label at my feet, 'Liberal', as if it were something to be ashamed of, something dirty, something to run away from, it won't work, Senator. Because I will pick up that label and I will wear it as a badge of honor."
Compare that to what's happening today. Who is out for equal rights for gay folks? For same-sex marriages? Who stands against those things? Who is making progress? Who is against progress? How in the world did people get away with making 'liberal' into a bad thing to be? Why did we let them?
Edit: What the hell, LJ spammers. I just got a spam comment on a journal I forgot I had,![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
ed_the_hyena, a journal where the latest post was in 2004. Sheesh!
But the ep I saw today (The Live Debate) covered something that's been bothering me for a while: Conservatives, right wing folks, currently toss "liberal" around like it's the most horrible of insults. Apparently this isn't a new thing, as it came up in this episode from 2005. The fictional Democratic candidate's reaction to it is so well done, I wonder why I never thought to put it this way myself?
Quoting the ep:
Republican candidate: "No. Of course you didn't say it. You're not an unthinking liberal. (pause, next words said in mocking/humor) Are you?"
Democratic candidate: "I know you like to use that word 'liberal' as if it were a crime."
RC: "No. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have used that word. I know Democrats think liberal is a bad word. So bad you had to change it. What do you call yourselves now, progressives? Is that it?"
DC: "It's true. Republicans have tried to turn liberal into a bad word. Well, liberals ended slavery in this country."
RC: "A Republican President ended slavery."
DC: "Yes, a liberal Republican, Senator. What happened to them? They got run out of your party. What did liberals do that was so offensive to the Republican party? I'll tell you what they did. Liberals got women the right to vote. Liberals got African-Americans the right to vote. Liberals created Social Security and lifted millions of elderly people out of poverty. Liberals ended segregation. Liberals passed the Civil Rights Act, the Voting Rights Act. Liberals created Medicare. Liberals passed the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act. What did conservatives do? They opposed them on every one of those things every one. So when you try to hurl that label at my feet, 'Liberal', as if it were something to be ashamed of, something dirty, something to run away from, it won't work, Senator. Because I will pick up that label and I will wear it as a badge of honor."
Compare that to what's happening today. Who is out for equal rights for gay folks? For same-sex marriages? Who stands against those things? Who is making progress? Who is against progress? How in the world did people get away with making 'liberal' into a bad thing to be? Why did we let them?
Edit: What the hell, LJ spammers. I just got a spam comment on a journal I forgot I had,
ed_the_hyena, a journal where the latest post was in 2004. Sheesh!