They engage in self-aggrandizement when they refer to themselves as “liberal.”  In most cases, they are anything but “liberal.”  Names and labels provide initial impressions, but when they prove false, they should be discarded, especially by those who recognize the inaccuracy.

In Washington, the labeling of a piece of legislation, an agency or department, or a movement has tremendous marketing power.  The acceptance of the things promoted is immediate if properly adorned with the correct and accepted title.  As important, the name can make any opposition difficult and unpopular.

Yet, as we find out constantly in Washington, what is in a name is often a misdirection play.  And just as often, the name is a political hand grenade for any opposition.

Who could stand for election and allow your opponent to campaign against you with the charge that “He is against the Department of Education. He therefore is against education,” when in fact you merely wish the money to stay local and be spent more efficiently for the desired purpose?

The Affordable Care Act wasn’t.  Yet the imagery of opposition was that one who opposed it would be against affordable health care.  Who could be against “Leave No Child Behind”; Planned Parenthood; or, as noted, the Department of Education and have the time and patience to explain the position?

The naming shades and disguises and makes the item in question desirable and popular.  So it is with political movements.

The identification and aura acquired when declaring oneself a “liberal” is very attractive and adds to the movement’s popularity.  Liberal suggests free thinking, open-mindedness, generosity, and a quest for the truth.  Today, that suggestion is patently false.

But the game still applies.  You are in opposition to the liberal position?  You are against “liberals”?  You must be against free thinking, logic, and truth discovery.

Conservatives must contest the use of the name “liberal” when it has nothing to do with the qualities of being liberal.  Many declare themselves liberal for the sole purpose of imagery and the false assumption of intellect.  It feels good.  They cast aside the obligations of debate and discussion.

The Liberal Label

Begin with the ancient Greek definition of a liberal education, and compare and contrast to what the meaning bears today.

“Latin word ‘liberalis’ meaning “appropriate for free men,” a liberal arts education was a course of study considered essential for free citizens of Greece and Rome.”

“…liberal arts education, their education emphasized civic duty and the development of the whole human being to their full potential through the study of grammar, rhetoric, and logic.”

“In addition, a liberal arts education also takes root in the Socratic Method, named after the famous Greek philosopher Socrates. Socrates used a unique method of teaching in a question and dialogue format that challenged students to support their arguments and to stimulate critical thinking. In modern liberal arts colleges today, liberal arts colleges typically employ the Socratic teaching method which emphasizes discussion and feedback. Like Socrates who encouraged debate amongst his students, the faculty’s role in a modern liberal arts institution is to engage students in this creative process and encourage interaction and debate.”

Logic, interaction, encouraging debate, discussion, feedback, civic duty – are these the terms that leap to mind when we witness the shout-downs of opposing views and the destructive protests and riots?  Are the Rules for Radicals not in direct conflict with true liberal thinking and behavior?

No longer do we hear, “I disagree with what you say but will defend your right to say it.”

We should not allow those who call themselves “liberals” to get away with it anymore.  Accurate identification of what their “movement” truly is, their shunning of logic, reason, and fact, would remove the glamor of the false label.  You call yourself a “liberal” – do you even know what it means?  It is time for the shield of their false labeling to be removed.  Once it is made clear that the antics of this leftist movement really have nothing to do with liberalism, the ranks will thin.