Prickly City by Scott Stantis for March 01, 2015

Dear bh12, why do I care what you want? You parrot the correct answer, seemingly reflecting knowledge that the Kennedy administration, in an attempt to perfume the skunk of leftist ideology, misappropriated the term “liberal” in a classic Orwellian move. “Liberal” always meant “small government” and “individual freedom” until modern leftists co-opted the term.

For the record, the ideology will always fall into disrepute no matter what term it embraces. The progressives of the Wilson era rebranded as Socialists. When that term grew an odious reputation, they returned to “progressive,” then “liberal,” and now “progressive” again. Americans are slow to learn, but every time they rediscover the dysfunction arising from the large government mantra, they re-embrace individual freedom. Would not want the burden of trying to make leftism make sense; obviously a futile effort dating to Plato. The inherent cultism that underpins elite government is its “Achilles.”