Why be a liberal

I think that the comment left on my blog about Liberals and God sums up the current Democratic Party - except I would substitute liberal/liberalism with Democrat or Democratic Party:

I reject the belief that the future is better than the past is the definition of liberalism.

Liberalism seems to thrive of doomsday paranoid prospects such as the shaky science of global warming etc.

I find that conservatives have a better outlook for the future even when confronting a gloomy world forecast such as terrorism.

I find modern liberalism to be defined by a sense of paranoid victim hood of self loathing emotional lemmings.

I do NOT think that the current leadership in either party is loyal to its true core beliefs.

Some small examples of how things have changed:
The Democratic Party caters to Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson while the Republican Party catered to Jerry Falwell and caters to Dobson.

The Democratic Party uses global warming hysteria (Al Gore) and the Republican Party uses gay marriage hysteria(Ann Coulter).

This is a radical departure for both parties in that they are using media whores and sideshow acts rather than IDEAS to attract (or repel) voters.

It has inspired me to think of the IDEAS of liberalism from days of yore.

1. Liberalism does have a populist streak without being socialist. Liberalism should acknowledge that the government has a vested role to arbitrate between the various factions of society (i.e. business, military, the public, etc). This role of arbitration derives primarily from the voters as these are actual people. This is what happened in the 2006 midterm elections - the people spoke and the Democratic Party has NOT acted for the people - the Democrats are REALLY fucking up right now.

2. Liberalism should acknowledge that while businesses are made up of people, they are indeed not people. Businesses do not vote. Businesses should have limited role in setting policy - for, in a democracy, the people will make the decision of how to set regulations by voting. Democrats are whoring themselves to K Street just as avidly as the Republicans are and there is no evidence that the voters are controlling businesses - rather it seems to be the other way around.

3. Liberalism should acknowledge that in order for each person to do his or her civic duty, they must be educated. The basis for a free and universal education is this: the more educated the citizens are, the stronger the Republic will be. The Democratic Party panders WAY TOO MUCH here to the teacher's unions and Dept of Education instead of the parents of the kids who have to go to public school.

4. Liberalism should acknowledge that there are inequalities in the country. But those inequalities should never hinder a person's chance to succeed. Equal access to equivalent educational opportunities is the mandate to attempt to mitigate the effects of actual inequality. Here the Democratic Party has really failed - totally and completely.

The main points of liberalism are simple and can be translated easily to anyone. Liberalism is about fairness and equality which is arbitrated by the government and the government is controlled by the voters. At its core, liberalism holds that the country we get is the country we vote for. If the country shuns the value of education for TV and shuns the entrepreneurial system of small business for Wal-Mart and cowers in fear of corporations instead of controlling this horrible globalization effort - the country will get what it deserves. Collapse.

Neither the Democrats or Republicans are working for the common man. The term "liberal" is now one of slander based upon my limited encounters with talk radio....liberal is just like commie or homosexual or socialist or populist. I say the Democrats should take back the discussion of ideas and take on the Republicans by using the traditional liberal views. The Democrats have their mandate - it is time to start using that power!