Why is liberal a bad word...

[Rearden]

To some extent there is a movement to make "neo-con" the "liberal" for the right... But I think mostly its situational. A liberal would be proud to be called such a term just as some conservatives likely wouldnt mind neo-con. But from opposing sides its meant as more of an insult.

[bobman0330]

I don't see why we need another perjorative when we already have the delightful, but underused, "Dumb-ocrat."

[DVaut1]

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To some extent there is a movement to make "neo-con" the "liberal" for the right

[/ QUOTE ]

This is a good point, IMO. The left frequently uses the neo-con label with little care for the implications of such a use.

I hardly ever hear the left using it to mean:

neo con = "someone who is fervently anticommunist, supports social welfare spending and civil equality for blacks and other minorities; more inclined than other conservatives toward an interventionist foreign policy and unilateralism; usually associated themselves with radical leftist movements before becoming a neo-con, etc."

I often hear the left using to mean:

neo con = "right-wing bad guy"

I think it's perceived effectiveness lies in the 'neo' part of it, as most Americans only hear 'neo' with a negative connotation - 'neo-Nazi', for instance.

[DVaut1]

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I don't see why we need another perjorative when we already have the delightful, but underused, "Dumb-ocrat."

[/ QUOTE ]

Internet message boards are teeming with 'cleverly' worded political pejoratives - DIMocrats, REPUGNANTcans, democRATS, compASSionate conservative - to name a few. 2+2 is rather nice in that (at least I'd like to think) the 2+2 community doesn't seem to find that kind of stuff to be humorous.

I once had a conservative friend who really liked to listen to Rush Limbaugh - he claimed he listened because he thought Rush was funny. When I asked why he thought Rush was humorous, his example was that he thought it was funny "when he calls people femi-Nazis." I'm sure there were other things he thought were funny, but this is what he mentioned.

Anyway, I never understood why he found it funny. We were both college students in Ann Arbor, MI at the time - certainly a town with many people who fit the "femi-Nazi" stereotype; so I understood what Rush was getting it, but I just didn't get why it was funny - even though I think "femi-Nazis" are easily lampoonable figures, so to speak.

I think "Dumb-o-crats" and "REPUGNicans" are similar types of cheesy attempts at political humor that I'll probably never find funny.

[Phat Mack]

I've often thought that it was the Left, not the Right, that made 'liberal' a pejorative. Liberals were too moderate for the Left; witness Phil Och's song (and Zeno favorite), "Love Me, I'm a Liberal."

Currently, the Right seem in control of defining the terms; they call anything they don't like 'liberal,' and we have a big-government, interventionist national-ID-card-favoring "conservative" in the White House.

[2+2 wannabe]

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I don't see why we need another perjorative when we already have the delightful, but underused, "Dumb-ocrat."

[/ QUOTE ]

is "dumb-o-crat" the only thing you contribute to this forum?

[mackthefork]

[ QUOTE ]


CHICKEN SONG


It's the time of year, now that spring is in the air
When those two wet gits, with their girly curly hair
Make another song, for marronic holidays
that nausiate-ate-ates in a million different ways
From the shores of Spain, to the coast of southern France
No matter where you hide, you just can't escape this dance




Hold a chicken in the air, stick a deck-chair up your nose
Buy a Jumbo-Jet, and then bury all your clothes
Paint your left knee green, then extract your wisdom teeth
Form a string quartet, and pretend your name is Keith.





Skin yourself alive, learn to speak araphahoe
Climb inside a dog, and behead an Eskimo
Eat a Renault 4, wear salami in your ears
Cassarole your gran, dis-embowel yourself with spears





The disco is migrating, the sound is loud and grating
It's truly nausiating - let's do the dance again..





Hold a chicken in the air, stick a deck-chair up your nose
Buy a Jumbo-Jet, and then bury all your clothes
Yes you'll hear this song, in the holiday discos
And there's no escape, in the clubs or in the bars
You would hear this song, if you holidayed in Mars






Skin yourself alive, learn to speak araphahoe
Climb inside a dog, and behead an Eskimo
Now you've heard it once, your brain will spring a leak
And though you hate this song you'll be humming it for weeks






Hold a chicken in the air, stick a deck-chair up your nose
Buy a Jumbo-Jet, and then bury all your clothes
la la la la la la la....


[/ QUOTE ]

This was funny, I guess you had to be there.

Mack

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Because liberals are seen as pussies, thanks to Bush and his media machine. You don't want pussies running our country, do you?

[/ QUOTE ]

Liberals have done that to themselves. Let's face it, a bunc of effeminate NYC elitists sipping martini's and watching Broadway pretty much sells itself.

[DVaut1]

[ QUOTE ]
effeminate

[/ QUOTE ]

Gimmick account or not, clearly a severely under-studied phenomenon - gender, male anxiety/masculinity and political behavior.

[nothumb]

[ QUOTE ]
I've often thought that it was the Left, not the Right, that made 'liberal' a pejorative. Liberals were too moderate for the Left; witness Phil Och's song (and Zeno favorite), "Love Me, I'm a Liberal."

Currently, the Right seem in control of defining the terms; they call anything they don't like 'liberal,' and we have a big-government, interventionist national-ID-card-favoring "conservative" in the White House.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yep.

Anyone interested in the misuse and abuse of words in our political and cultural lexicon should check out "Keywords" by Raymond Williams. He does a great job of defining a lot of buzzwords and commonly misused words in much clearer ways. Book is 20 years old but still very relevant.

NT