Stealing Words

Since Obama just got re-elected in a decisive victory (or what passes for that these days) I’ve been doing some thinking and reading about the right wing. Their struggle with coping with this reality has been fascinating.

I don’t get the feeling that these people (in general) have a nuanced vocabulary. They run the ‘plain talk’ Joe the Plumber kind of rap pretty strongly. They toggle between calling liberals “uneducated welfare losers” and “over educated pinheads” but I think it’s mainly projection.

If you can stand to listen to the right wing media, start mapping out the logical base of their argument and it usually falls right apart. The common reaction is “Huh?”.

I can’t stand their code words anymore. Here’s some dictionary definitions just so we can all work on sharing these words:

Patriot -a person who vigorously supports their country and is prepared to defend it against enemies or detractors.
Values -a person’s principles or standards of behavior; one’s judgment of what is important in life.
Freedom -the power of self-determination attributed to the will; the quality of being independent of fate or necessity.

I support my country vigorously (does a near fistfight with an Irishman count?) and I defend against detractors in all kinds of situations. My family has several years of military service in the states going back to world war 1. I have music, movies, pictures, and posters featuring our flag. I am a liberal patriot.

I definitely have principles and standards of behavior. I judge certain things important in life, others not so much. I consider anything regarding love/sex/feelings to be private and no business of the government.

I also think my fellow taxpaying citizens should not die on the streets or be left with no affordable way to take care of themselves. I stand for worker’s rights, women’s rights,entrepreneurs, and offering the poor ways to improve. These are my liberal values, and I am a values voter.

Self-determination is critical to my worldview. Our lives, since day 1, have provided us a path of least resistance. Our parents help us through the first 20 years and then it’s up to us to make our way.

Hopefully most of us are loved and respected, and some of us find money success or do amazing, out of the ordinary things. But all Americans should determine how and where we live, and how we treat others.

This freedom includes the freedom to be an ass, but our society does not let you decide you are done paying taxes.

You do not have freedom from the government – the government is what is guaranteeing your basic freedoms.

You can’t legitimately vote against freedom, so I am a freedom-loving liberal, and I vote for my freedom.

Don’t run from words, and don’t secede code words to your political enemies.