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• Thursday, November 20, 2008 07:52 PM

  I'm an American

  re: "Liberal" comes from the Latin word for "free."

  In the real world, however, it has come to mean many different things to many different people, in large part because of the fact that individual political leaders who have proclaimed themselves to be "liberal" or "conservative" have diminished the brands, so to speak.

  Bush calls himself a "conservative", for example, yet he pursued blatant wars of aggression, ran up trillions of $ in debt and increased "big guv'ment" in size and scope more than any previous President. Hardly conservative positions by any definition of which I am aware.

  Conversely, LBJ lied us into the nightmare of Vietnam and indiscriminately murdered millions in the process, which is hardly something I would associate with the term "liberal".

  This is why I simply refuse to be labeled as anything other than an American.

  I love The Constitution. I respect others' right to dissent, no matter what the issue. I believe in a free and open society, with equal opportunity, liberty and justice for all. I hate political correctness. I have no problem whatsoever with law-abiding Americans owning firearms, or with people smoking in public places. I believe that we have a moral obligation that is also a Constitutional one to "promote the general welfare". I believe in as much personal freedom as possible, limited only by those actions that may endanger the peace and freedom of others. I believe that America should practice what it preaches...

  Sorry. I didn't mean to get carried away. It's just that labels are far too confining and confusing. Am I a "liberal"? Or a "libertarian"? Or even a "conservative"? Depending upon the issue, some may even categorize me as a "socialist".

  I'm just an American.

  —Scorpio69er Read Scorpio69er's other letters
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