We seem to have a small contingent of citizens that believes the conservative agenda is the only hope for America. Their belief that conservative Republicans in public office will save them from the horrors of the liberal left.

After 12 years of conservative Republican rule I would think they would be intelligent enough to take a solid look at what the conservative reich has given us such as large doses of corruption, closeted homosexuality, tax breaks that are meaningless except for the rich, preemptive war without any justification other than big oil, and a president that has, through 177 signing statements, taken away many of the constitutional rights of the American people.

If this is the meaning of being a conservative then I can understand why we now have a Democratic House and Senate. In actuality the term liberal applies to most of the Democrat and some in the Republican parties. Liberal politics have an alternative that is slowly replacing both liberal and conservative principles with a more progressive style that strives to provide: A representative electoral system that money can’t buy, protection and financial support for all children, affordable, quality health care for all, the unalienable right of workers to organize, higher taxes for higher incomes, guaranteed work and a livable income for all, an economy that provides clean air, pure water and safe food. There are more principles that are somewhat controversial and too radical for my taste.

President John F. Kennedy made a speech on what it means to be a liberal. He made this speech at the national convention when he accepted their nomination on July 15 1960:

”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.”

I am also proud to be a liberal. Being liberal is only a dirty word in the view of conservatives, it is against their closed, corrupt, big money, do as we say not as we do government style.

Donald Bettner

Oak Harbor