John F. Kennedy and Howard Dean, on being a LIBERAL

"I don't mind being called a liberal. I just don't really think it's true."

-Howard Dean

What do our opponents mean when they apply to us the label "Liberal?" If by "Liberal" they mean, as they want people to believe, someone who is soft in his policies abroad, who is against local government, and who is unconcerned with the taxpayer's dollar, then the record of this party and its members demonstrate that we are not that kind of "Liberal." But if by a "Liberal" they mean someone who looks ahead and not behind, someone who welcomes new ideas without rigid reactions, someone who cares about the welfare of the people -- their health, their housing, their schools, their jobs, their civil rights, and their civil liberties -- someone who believes we can break through the stalemate and suspicions that grip us in our policies abroad, if that is what they mean by a "Liberal," then I'm proud to say I'm a "Liberal."

-John Kennedy, Acceptance of the New York Liberal Party Nomination
September 14, 1960

NEVER let them make that word into something dirty.


Almost every good thing that has come about in this society for regular people, working people, is thanks to the efforts, the sacrifices, even of their lives, by LIBERALS.

It's a shame that so many have come to take the fruits of their labors for granted.

Apparently, most Americans now believe that business would pay a decent wage, grant weekends off, provide safe working conditions, etc. out of the goodness of their hearts.

I wish I could put them in a time machine and have them work for scrip for a week in a non-union shop or mine in say, 1920, and see what they thought about unions THEN.

night, and it SO applies to current events! Why is history so repetitive, and why can't we learn from it?

What kind of peace do I mean and what kind of peace do we seek? Not a Pax Americana enforced on the world by American weapons of war. Not the peace of the grave or the security of the slave. I am talking about genuine peace, the kind of peace that makes life on earth worth living, the kind that enables men and nations to grow, and to hope, and to build a better life for their children -- not merely peace for Americans but peace for all men and women -- not merely peace in our time but peace in all time.

John F. Kennedy American University Commencement Address, June 10, 1963

His words still bring tears to my eyes, even though I was born just as his dream of a man landing on the mood was being realized, six years after his assassination.

Audio and transcript here.

http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/jfkamericanuniversityaddress.html

I'm older than you, was 7 when JFK died, but I will never forget it. Thank you for reminding me why I thought politics was noble. We seem to have lost that, and perhaps that's why I...read DU so much.

we know how to use a dictionary and look up words like liberal and conservative.I call them turd maggots which may be over thier heads,it's childish but has a nice ring to it.

stunning.

His campaign speeches made an argument for liberalism that should put to shame every subsequent democratic nominee, including Bill Clinton.

His speech about the steel prices was an incredible articulation of the danger of concetrated economic power and the need for free but fair markets.

His first Oxford, Miss speech was milquetoasty, but lays the groundwork for the exasperation in his second Oxford, Miss. speech which lays out the liberal position on race that is still relevant today.

That man could give a speech.

NT

nt

It was floating around here a while back, but I can't find it anymore. It had all the stuff like a clean environment, minimum wage, safe food, etc.

http://www.liberalslant.com/liberalism.htm

John Kennedy's speech at the bottom.

Same with MLK, and other great leaders of their time. I swear more attention has been paid to their deaths than to their lives, and that is a problem.

Many tend to think of them as icons of an era, like musicians think of Jimi Hendrix or Janis Joplin...not enough people buy the albums or take notes.