{"id":1875391,"date":"2023-03-13T08:11:49","date_gmt":"2023-03-13T12:11:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/they-are-intolerant-divisive-and-anti-liberty-call-them-leftists-not-liberals\/"},"modified":"2023-03-13T08:13:27","modified_gmt":"2023-03-13T12:13:27","slug":"they-are-intolerant-divisive-and-anti-liberty-call-them-leftists-not-liberals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/they-are-intolerant-divisive-and-anti-liberty-call-them-leftists-not-liberals\/","title":{"rendered":"They Are Intolerant, Divisive, And Anti-Liberty \u2014 Call Them Leftists, Not Liberals"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fthey-are-intolerant-divisive-and-anti-liberty-call-them-leftists-not-liberals%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1875391&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div>\n<p>Democrats have moved so far to the\u00a0left\u00a0in recent years that they should no longer be called \u201cliberals,\u201d unless the true liberals among them start to stand up to the leftists who have taken over. The term is misleading, giving the impression that Democrats support individual freedoms and accept people of different viewpoints, when increasingly they do not. The word \u201cliberal\u201d gives yet more power to those who seek to take more of our liberties.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2023\/02\/14\/liberal-lies-on-racist-doctors-and-nurses-threaten-everyones-health\/amp\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Right-leaning<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/amp.washingtontimes.com\/news\/2023\/feb\/13\/george-soros-backed-global-disinformation-index-un\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">publications<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/restoring-america\/community-family\/liberalism-is-systemic-racism-liberals-complain-about\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">often<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2023\/02\/20\/woke-city-policies-in-austin-texas-blamed-for-street-racing-chaos\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">use<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/amp.washingtontimes.com\/news\/2023\/mar\/6\/bad-blood-between-donald-trump-fox-news-colors-202\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">the<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/washington-secrets\/exclusive-cpac-theme-protecting-america-now\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">term<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/restoring-america\/community-family\/the-associated-press-has-lost-its-brain-to-gender-ideology\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">\u201cliberal\u201d<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/restoring-america\/fairness-justice\/criminal-justice-reform-fades-as-rallying-cry-for-democrats\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">when<\/a> \u201cleftist\u201d would be better. On the other hand, left-leaning newspapers such as The Washington Post and The New York Times like to use the word \u201cliberal\u201d to describe their own illiberal political views. It obfuscates how Democrats and their media allies have become more extreme, supporting censorship, authoritarianism, and racial division: Twitter staff who denied conservatives their right to free speech and eagerly complied with censorship demands from the federal government were <a href=\"https:\/\/archive.is\/WZ7Hi\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">described<\/a> by the Post as milquetoast \u201cliberal employees.\u201d MSNBC <a href=\"https:\/\/www.msnbc.com\/rachel-maddow-show\/maddowblog\/house-republican-created-anti-woke-caucus-rcna70563\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">says<\/a> those pushing the tyranny of wokeness are just naughty-sounding \u201cliberal rascals.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>To see how so-called liberals view themselves, we can look at The New York Times <a href=\"https:\/\/archive.is\/https:\/www.nytimes.com\/2023\/02\/04\/books\/review\/michael-walzer-struggle-for-decent-politics.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">review<\/a> earlier this year of Michael Walzer\u2019s book \u201cWhat Does It Mean to Be Liberal?\u201d It concludes the word is \u201can adjective, describing a state of mind common to people who think of themselves as liberals: \u2018open-minded, generous and tolerant.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s almost laughable. Does \u201ctolerant\u201d describe people who try to \u201ccancel\u201d those of different views, shouting them down, encircling their homes, and calling them disparaging names? Is it \u201copen-minded\u201d to try to force people to use so-called preferred pronouns as part of a transgender agenda? Or to block or hide conservatives\u2019 social media accounts? Crisis pregnancy centers have been firebombed. A Christian cake artist in Colorado is still defending his right not to make a cake that celebrates transgenderism. Conservative scholars have even been physically attacked on college campuses. Last week, students at Stanford University disrupted a conservative judge\u2019s speech with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/politics\/stanford-dei-dean-slams-federal-judge-face-campus-event-free-speech-worth-it.amp\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">heckling<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s correct that the\u00a0dictionary\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.merriam-webster.com\/dictionary\/liberal#h1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">defines<\/a><strong>\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cliberal\u201d as \u201copen-minded\u201d and \u201cbroad-minded.\u201d But that\u2019s hardly the right word for\u00a0people who do not tolerate conservatives\u2019 views on Covid-19 policies, abortion, climate change, transgenderism, and much else \u2014 this despite the fact there\u2019s a growing consensus that state-mandated lockdowns don\u2019t work, and that plying children with cross-sex hormones and cutting off their body parts is bad for their physical and mental health.<\/p>\n<p>Even the Times\u2019 article acknowledges, \u201cThat\u2019s the idea, anyway, but we live in a world in which the illiberal right \u2014 and increasingly the left \u2014 no longer accept difference as legitimate.\u201d But the conflation here is a lie; the right isn\u2019t pushing for censorship or shouting down campus speakers. And it\u2019s not just a few extremists within the ranks but the leadership of the Democrats who are <a href=\"https:\/\/tennesseestar.com\/2022\/11\/01\/commentary-the-difference-between-free-speech-and-violent-rhetoric-its-not-what-you-think\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">condoning intimidation tactics and destruction of property<\/a> \u2014 Vice President Kamala Harris and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer among them.<\/p>\n<h2>Democrats Headed Further Leftward<\/h2>\n<p>As the Times notes, the left is \u201cincreasingly\u201d intolerant. Part of why \u201cliberal\u201d no longer works to describe Democrats is the party has moved leftward, as many have noted, including The Wall Street Journal\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/articles\/our-political-parties-are-struggling-republicans-democrats-gop-wokeness-election-george-santos-elected-11675374507\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Peggy Noonan<\/a>, comedian and commentator <a href=\"https:\/\/www.newsweek.com\/bill-maher-says-liberals-have-changed-rips-left-free-speech-more-1686924\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Bill\u00a0Maher<\/a>, and Arkansas Gov. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/livecoverage\/state-of-the-union-2023-president-biden\/card\/sanders-said-she-didn-t-believe-much-of-what-biden-offered-1J4iPODYS89QNmzR6eQ7\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Sarah Huckabee Sanders<\/a> in her State of the Union response.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Since at least 2020, Noonan wrote, Democrats \u201chave aligned with or allowed themselves to be associated with \u2026 the identity politics-wokeness regime. (It\u2019s amazing we still don\u2019t have an agreed upon word or phrase that fully captures this program.)\u201d That regime consists of transgenderism, climate alarmism, and so-called anti-racism. \u201cThe Democrats are the party of the left. Progressive pathologies morph into Democratic ideologies, tagging the party as radical. Why do the Democrats allow this to continue? Why don\u2019t they push back, hard \u2014 as a party?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Maher <a href=\"https:\/\/www.newsweek.com\/bill-maher-says-liberals-have-changed-rips-left-free-speech-more-1686924\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">makes<\/a> a similar observation:\u00a0\u201cThere is that faction of the left, that we will call woke, who\u2019s gone off the deep end,\u201d\u00a0as he\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.thewrap.com\/bill-maher-says-woke-liberals-have-gone-off-the-deep-end\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">described<\/a>\u00a0it. As Maher <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2023\/03\/02\/bill-maher-says-woke-community-wants-to-shut-down-debate-on-trans-issues\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">told<\/a> CNN\u2019s Jake Tapper last week, the woke \u201cwant to shut down debate,\u201d and that\u2019s how they differ from his idea of a liberal. The <a href=\"https:\/\/transcripts.cnn.com\/show\/cg\/date\/2023-02-28\/segment\/01\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">woke<\/a> \u201clove diversity except of ideas.\u201d Asked to define wokeism, Maher said, \u201cI think it\u2019s this collection of ideas that are not building on liberalism, but very often undoing it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Maher, Noonan, and Sanders all use the word \u201cwoke\u201d to describe leftists, but it\u2019s too vague a term. Noonan notes that term doesn\u2019t quite nail it, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.al.com\/life\/2022\/01\/bill-maher-on-why-he-actually-loves-red-states-and-why-democracy-is-in-big-trouble.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Maher<\/a> says it\u2019s \u201cbroad.\u201d Meanwhile, the Merriam-Webster <a href=\"https:\/\/www.merriam-webster.com\/dictionary\/woke\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Dictionary<\/a> says \u201cwoke\u201d is still considered slang and has two definitions, one that a leftist would consider positive and another negative. The first is \u201caware of and actively attentive to important societal facts and issues (especially issues of racial and social justice)\u201d and the second, \u201cdisapproving:\u00a0politically liberal (as in matters of racial and social justice) especially in a way that is considered unreasonable or extreme.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>Dems Are Not the Dictionary Definition of \u2018Liberal\u2019<\/h2>\n<p>The term \u201cliberal\u201d has some additional definitions that also don\u2019t fit Democrats. Liberalism \u201cemphasizes individual autonomy, equality of opportunity, and the protection of individual rights (primarily to life, liberty, and property),\u201d the Encyclopedia\u00a0Britannica\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/topic\/liberalism\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">explains<\/a>.\u00a0The Merriam-Webster Dictionary\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.merriam-webster.com\/dictionary\/liberalism\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">defines<\/a>\u00a0liberals\u00a0as \u201cstanding for the protection of political and civil liberties\u201d\u00a0and \u201cnot bound by authoritarianism.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Should those Americans who have supported censorship, lockdowns, masking, and vaccine mandates be described as protecting individual autonomy and rights?<\/p>\n<p>On a simple level, \u201cliberal\u201d sounds like the related word \u201cliberty.\u201d It shouldn\u2019t be used to describe those who are against basic rights. Of course, \u201cliberal\u201d already has a negative connotation to many, but it still has many positive associations.<\/p>\n<p>On a philosophical level, the word \u201cliberal\u201d is a bad fit for Democrats because the evolution of its meaning creates confusion. When the term was\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/topic\/liberalism\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">first used<\/a>\u00a0in politics in the 18th century, it referred to what we now call \u201cclassical\u00a0liberals,\u201d who regard the state as the primary threat to individual freedom. (Former House Speaker Paul Ryan, a Republican, recently <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/podcasts\/opinion-free-expression\/paul-ryan-on-populism-and-the-return-to-conservatism\/6ff27333-3398-4ffb-a910-2d676a5a467e\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">characterized<\/a> himself as a \u201cclassical liberal.\u201d) \u201cLiberal\u201d is also confusing because it has little in common with laissez-faire \u201ceconomic\u00a0liberals,\u201d who want limited regulation of the economy. That\u2019s why some people specify that they\u2019re \u201csocial liberals,\u201d not economic liberals.<\/p>\n<h2>\u2018Leftist\u2019 Is a Better Term<\/h2>\n<p>In contrast, a\u00a0\u201cleftist\u201d\u00a0is \u201cusually characterized by desire to reform or overthrow the established order,\u201d\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.merriam-webster.com\/dictionary\/left\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">according<\/a>\u00a0to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary. This is an apt description of the divisive \u201ccritical race theory\u201d and \u201cdiversity, equity, and inclusion\u201d that teaches a misreading of our nation\u2019s founding and society and is infiltrating schools, universities, and the workplace.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>This definition also describes those who\u00a0are breaking down our society with a transgender ideology that erases the boundaries of male versus female, requiring females to compete with biological men who identify as women and to share bathrooms and locker rooms with them.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLeftist\u201d sounds like the climate alarmism being used to radically restructure our society, and the push to take away parental rights in schools.<\/p>\n<p>Another\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/dictionary.cambridge.org\/us\/dictionary\/english\/left\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">definition<\/a>\u00a0of\u00a0leftists, from the Cambridge Dictionary, says they believe \u201cwealth and power should be shared between all parts of society\u201d and \u201cgovernments should provide a higher level of social services and support laws to bring about greater economic and social equality.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Democrats\u00a0under President Biden have massively increased government spending, contributing to record national debt. They have tried, but failed, to create\u00a0universal preschool and expand government housing. They are pushing for student loan forgiveness.<\/p>\n<h2>Hard to Capture in One Word<\/h2>\n<p>\u201cLeftist\u201d is a better descriptive than \u201cliberal,\u201d but it should be noted that political beliefs don\u2019t really exist on a neat spectrum of \u201cleft\u201d and <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2022\/10\/20\/we-need-to-stop-calling-ourselves-conservatives\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">\u201cright\u201d<\/a>\u00a0and are difficult to capture in one word.<\/p>\n<p>In addition to \u201cwoke,\u201d \u201cthe left,\u201d and \u201cradical,\u201d Noonan used the word \u201cprogressive.\u201d It\u2019s not as good a word as \u201cleftist\u201d because it implies progress is being made. In fact, Democrat politicians have\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/archive.ph\/2021.09.14-171236\/https:\/www.npr.org\/2021\/09\/13\/1035971261\/more-and-more-democrats-embrace-the-progressive-label-heres-why?t=1631639592469\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">increasingly<\/a>\u00a0been using the word \u201cprogressive\u201d to describe themselves.<\/p>\n<p>The donkey in the room here is that we call Democrats by that name, giving\u00a0leftists\u00a0a word associated with democracy, a word most Americans see in a positive light. But dropping \u201cDemocrat\u201d as a term is not as easy as with \u201cliberal,\u201d given its use by the Democrat Party.<\/p>\n<p>Freedom-loving Americans should not give leftists the power of the word \u201cliberal.\u201d Even the term \u201cleftist\u201d is generous to describe people who want to silence those with whom they disagree.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p>   Eleanor Bartow is the features editor at The Federalist. Bartow was editor-in-chief of the American Enterprise Institute\u2019s magazine, an editor and investigative reporter at the Daily Caller, and a reporter for Congressional Quarterly. She received a Fulbright grant in journalism. Follow her on Twitter at <a href=\"http:\/\/twitter.com\/elliebartow\">@elliebartow<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/p>\n<hr>\n<p>&#8220;From <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2023\/03\/13\/they-are-intolerant-divisive-and-anti-liberty-call-them-leftists-not-liberals\/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=they-are-intolerant-divisive-and-anti-liberty-call-them-leftists-not-liberals\">They Are Intolerant, Divisive, And Anti-Liberty \u2014 Call Them Leftists, Not Liberals<\/a>&#8221;<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p><span style=\"font-size:11px\"><em>&#8220;The views and opinions expressed here are solely those of the author of the article and not necessarily shared or endorsed by Conservative News Daily&#8221;<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Democrats have moved so far to the\u00a0left\u00a0in recent years that they should no longer be called \u201cliberals,\u201d unless the true liberals among them start to stand up to the leftists who have taken over. The term is misleading, giving the impression that Democrats support individual freedoms and accept people of different viewpoints, when increasingly they &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":686,"featured_media":1898097,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[546],"tags":[21450,21451,21452,5965,6069,3618],"class_list":["post-1875391","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-federalist","tag-anti-liberty","tag-divisive","tag-intolerant","tag-leftists","tag-liberals","tag-riot"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1875391","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/686"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1875391"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1875391\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1898097"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1875391"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1875391"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1875391"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}