What it means to be liberal

Here's a little excerpt from www.wake-up-usa.com

SNIP

Redefining the Name Game


Senator John F. Kerry (D-MA) appeared on Tim Russert's Meet the Press program today to reflect on the 2004 presidential campaign and to discuss his views on the Iraq election, Social Security, abortion among other issues. He warned that while the Iraq election was significant, it should not be interpreted as an end to the difficult challenges that Iraqis and coalition forces face in stabilizing the country. When asked by Mr. Russert about whether Iraq was more of a terrorist threat now, Mr. Kerry stated without equivocation, “I believe the world is less safe today than it was two and a half years ago.” With militant violence on the increase in Iraq and bin Laden still on the loose, more and more people are beginning to adopt that view.


Later in the interview, Mr. Russert asked whether the Senator would support the hypothetical nomination of Antonin Scalia as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. He firmly responded “No”. The moderator then presented Mr. Kerry with text from his own 1986 Senate speech supporting Mr. Scalia's nomination to the Supreme Court and that referred to him as “a man of principle and integrity”. Instead of attempting to laboriously explain away this contradictory statement, Senator Kerry merely replied, “I was wrong”. This brief exchange fundamentally explains what it means to be liberal. When George Bush and the Republican Party label John Kerry and other Democrats as too “liberal”, they should not run away from that description. Rather they need to embrace it as a symbol of strength. The very definition of liberal embraces an open mind, tolerance, and reform. Being liberal enables one by definition to tackle a problem thoroughly because they are more willing to examine the issue from all points of view. It enables a leader to be stronger and more effective. Also, it makes someone more willing to admit a mistake, as John Kerry did on the program. With all the serious blunders and mistakes in his policies at home and abroad now apparent, it makes one wish that President Bush was just a little more liberal.

WakeUpUSA: Daring to Think

'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 … 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 F. Kennedy, September 14, 1960
http://www.americanprogress.org/site/pp.asp?c=biJRJ8OVF&b=131981