Has the word 'liberal' become a swear word amongst conservatives?

Question

Because I know that the word liberal does indeed have a bad connotation to it, while conservative has a good one in comparison. Just listen to Rush. He sounds disguisted every time he says it and that doesn't seem very fair.

Edit: I am not a conservative. In case you were wondering.

I don't listen to Rush, but my dad does. So when we're in the car, its hard to block out.

Answer 1

Do not be fooled by any of the rhetoric, either from liberals or conservatives. It's not about the word "liberal." This is a struggle for power. And it is a very old struggle, much older than the U.S. Each side tries to define the other side, and maintain control of as much of the conversation as possible.

If your political argument is weak, you can still prevail by claiming the opposing ideas are weaker, whether or not it is true. The goal is not to lie, necessarily, but to actually re-define truth itself. Define yourself and your ideas as good, and define the opposition as evil, lazy, stupid, ad nauseum.

Every day I live, I am shocked that people do not see this. We think we are discussing ideas, but the terms we use for discussion are tainted by the eternal political redefinitions, and the endless ulterior motives.

It looks unforgivably stupid to me. It makes me think we will not last as a species, and that we might not deserve to last.

Answer 2

Liberals ended slavery in this country. A Republican President nonetheless, but a liberal Republican.

What did liberals do that was so offensive to the liberal party? I'll tell you what they did. Liberals got women the right to vote. Liberals got African-Americans the right to vote. Liberals created Social Security and lifted millions of elderly people out of poverty. Liberals ended segregation. Liberals passed the Civil Rights Act, the Voting Rights Act. Liberals created Medicare. Liberals passed the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act. What did Conservatives do? They opposed them on every one of those things... every one.

"Liberal" is a bad word only to those who miss the Good Ol' Days when the government still possessed the right to dictate who got the right to vote, be educated and given opportunity in this nation. It's the same reason why my Caucasion mother used to get spit on back in the late fifties. Because she actually opposed segregation and others felt she was the problem, not the ignorant racism behind segregation in the first place.

Rush should be more disgusted by the fact that he's a racist, xenophobic, homophobic hate-monger conservative with a serious weight problem. Also, if he hates liberals so much, someone should remind him that the portion of his rehab stint for his drug addiction that was paid by the insurance company was made possible by a liberal President.

Answer 3

How about liberals who made an insult of the word 'conservative' and made this word a synonymous of racism, homophobia, intolerance, and war-mongering?? Recently I was a liberal, but after turned my logic on I had to become a conservative (independent though). To me, present-day American liberalism is often associated with big government and retarded social policies like outlawing guns and imposing a racist program known as 'affirmative action'. It totally pisses me off when liberals are whining about so called 'inhumanity' of death penalty. It seems to me that libs are more concerned about the lives of murderers than the lives of innocent human beings slaughtered by those murderers. I hate when libs are complaining about so called 'immigrant rights'. How the hell can you have rights when you come to the country ILLEGALLY and rip the benefits from hard-working tax payers?? It makes me sick to my stomach when liberals demonize police. If a police officer kills a dangerous armed suspect, libs automatically accuse an officer of being inhumane and cruel. WTF? An officer saved the lives of innocent civilians, so how the heck he can be inhumane and cruel??? It's impossible for a reasonable, intelligent and decent human being to be a liberal.

Answer 4

I think it is more important to do some reading about what these terms mean.

I don't recommend wiki as source for this. I don't personally listen to Rush, either. But I support the right of Americans to be disgusted with modern Liberalism.

Answer 5

Liberal, neo-con, far-left, Christian-right, conservative, limp-wrist-liberal and so on and so on. We seem to have labels for everything in this country, and depending on who it is that hurls them at you, a lot of the time it's done with hatred or simply in a condescending way.
You're right, Rush Limbaugh treats the word 'liberal' like a vulgarity just as Al Franken says 'conservative' like he's choking on a matzah ball. I'd like to drop the two of them on a deserted island for a year or two and see what happens.

Answer 6

People who use liberal in a negative context and conservative in a positive context or visa verse enjoy stereotypical, illogical arguments that are weak and unsubstantiated by facts, truth, and logic. For example, if you see a man in a red Honda speeding on the expressway, is it a fair statement to say that all men who drive red hondas speed on the expressway.
These stereotypers are making assumptions about people they have never met because it is easy and everybody else is doing it, even though the argument is illogical and invalid.

Answer 7

Yes, with venom dripping from the word. Here's the problem the "conservatives" using the term, aren't conservatives in the Goldwater sense of the word conservative, smaller, less intrusive, fiscally responsible government, otherwise known as true conservatives. Today's conservatives are social and christian conservatives, the ones who want the government to pass legislation against gays, abortion and anyone questioning them or their motives as in the Patriot Act. I despise this type of conservative, they are much more like fascists. Most Goldwater conservatives don't think our President is doing a very good job. Don't sweat the small stuff or the small minded people of the world. They may mess things up for a while, but then most of America gets tired of the mess they create.

Answer 8

it all seesm so funny...

in australia the conservatives are the liberal party ...lol...

and they are in power federally ....

it confused me initially (years ago...sigh..) when I started reading american politics as who were these liberals ?! - aren't they the conservatives... but no - the conservatives are the republicans....

now I know better - or at least understand more...

it is just a few words - they can mean whatever you want and it makes it easier to use than a sentence describing your enemies....

time will change as will the meaning behind the words...

Answer 9

Rush Limbaugh is the what really has a bad connotation to it! Liberal is not a bad word, and I don't give a diddly squat, what that @$$ Rush Limbaugh thinks about anything! *sm*

Answer 10

I know many liberals who consider "conservative" a swear word. It's not fair and its not even a very mature way to deal with debate, but it's not one sided.