by Alan Colmes
Indeed, among the nineteen September 11 terrorists, two could have been denied entry because of prior visa violations, six should have been denied because they used false names, three were here longer than their visas allowed, two had student visas but didn't show up for class, and two were on an FBI watch list. This covers twelve of the terrorists, and some of these missteps apply multiple times to the same terrorists. But this is where our problems begin, and it underscores what should be our first line of offense against those who would do us harm.
Short of committing an enormous amount of resources, we can't fully control our borders. Do we post the military along both the Mexican and Canadian divides? I'm open to that idea. Of course, protecting American borders seems like a much better use of our military than invading Iraq or nation-building in Afghanistan, especially since it is the porous nature of our borders that make our country most vulnerable to infiltration. I don't think too many liberals are going to agree with me on this one.
It's not inconsistent to fight for humane treatment for everyone in America, both legal and illegal, while working to secure our borders for the safety of these very same people. Liberals can show they're bullish on security by drawing a line in the desert and acknowledging that it's time to stop the flow of illegal immigrants as conservatives have, but showing compassion for those already here. Republican Jeff Flake of Arizona favors granting guest worker status to illegals already here, allowing them to work toward citizenship. John Cornyn of Texas, another Republican, wants to give illegal aliens the opportunity to work here for three years if they are sponsored by employers, and then have their applications for permanent resident status expedited. Now that's compassionate conservatism. Or rational liberalism.
Left Plus Right Equals America
So sue me. I don't always agree with the party line. Truth is not the province of either side, and any thinking person will disagree with any other thinking person at least some of the time. Oscar Wilde said, "Whenever people agree with me, I always feel I must be wrong." I think this is quite a healthy attitude. We must always examine and reexamine our ideas and our feelings. That is the only way we can grow.
There's no reason for liberals to feel they have to disagree with conservatives simply because it hurts too much to admit they're right on some issues. Agreeing with the other side doesn't make you lose your liberal credentials. In fact, in the name of openness and tolerance, it strengthens them. Surely we can all agree that, left or right, we all want what's best for America; that we believe in the democratic ideals as laid out in the Constitution; that we owe a debt of gratitude to those who have sacrificed for America's honor; and that we should respect the office of the presidency along with the other branches of government. We recognize that these structures enable our democracy to flourish.
It's not important whether you're liberal or conservative. It's less important whether you're Democrat or Republican. It's most important that we're Americans. It is both conservative values and a liberal spirit that are the bedrocks of our nation, that sustain us with both a strong moral code and with liberty and justice for all.
For soaring words that capture the American spirit, it's hard to top what has become a conservative anthem, of sorts. Conservatives proudly embrace country music, and vice versa, but until America's first liberal country star emerges, I have to applaud Lee Greenwood, whose 1984 lyrics still make me quiver with love for my country:
I'm proud to be an American
where at least I know I'm free,
And I won't forget the men who died
who gave that right to me,
And I gladly stand up next to you
and defend her still today,
'Cause there ain't no doubt I love this land
God Bless the U.S.A.
TWELVE
Liberal Liberal Liberal Liberal
After Republicans gained control of Congress and swept a m majority of governorships in 1994, conservatives began crowing that liberalism was dead. They've continued to try to realize this prophecy by scheming to throw Bill Clinton out of office and, having failed at that, attempting to pin just about every American problem on our forty-second president in particular and on liberals in general. They've ratcheted up the rhetoric to a level so shrill I believe only canines have heard some of it. A generation ago, the political adman Arthur Finkelstein began using the term liberal like an epithet hurled by a schoolyard bully. He helped New York senator Al D'Amato defeat New York state attorney general Robert Abrams to win reelection in 1992 by calling Abrams "hopelessly liberal." When George Pataki became New York governor by defeating incumbent Mario Cuomo, it was with the help of Finkelstein's "too liberal for too long" slogan. "Dangerously liberal," "embarrassingly liberal," and "scarily liberal" became the mantras of Finklestein-consulted candidates. Many of these candidates, like North Carolina's Jesse Helms and Lauch Faircloth, New Hampshire's Bob Smith, South Carolina's Strom Thurmond, and Oklahoma's Don Nickles used Finkelstein's words to promote staunchly antigay platforms. No wonder Finkelstein is rarely photographed and never interviewed. It turns out he lives in Massachusetts with his gay lover and their two adopted children. It was humorous to hear senator and presidential candidate Bob Dole use Finklestein's tactics when he ran for president in 1996. Dole churlishly tossed the Finkelstein phrase at his opponent, Bill Clinton. Speaking at St. Louis University, Dole used the word liberal as a punch line for every public policy he opposed. As CNN reported,
Dole fired up the crowd with some never-fail give-and-take:
"What do you call someone who broke his promise and gave you the biggest tax increase in history?" he asked them.
"A liberal!" they replied enthusiastically.
"What do you call someone who tried to take over the nation's health care system and put the government in charge of it?" Dole asked.
"A liberal!" cried the crowd.
"What do you call someone who twisted arms in Congress to kill the balanced budget amendment?" Dole continued.
"A liberal!" came the response.
"What do you call someone who appointed a surgeon general who talked about legalizing drugs?"
"A liberal!" the crowd replied once more.
"You are right," Dole said. "Liberal-liberal-liberal Bill Clinton."
This is not only childish; it's also factually incorrect. The Center for Tax Justice asks, "Was the 1993 Tax Act 'the largest tax increase in history'?" Well, the Center points out that "the 1982 Tax Equity and Fiscal Responsibility Act (TEFRA) resulted in tax increases representing one percent of the GDP—half again bigger than the 1993 tax act." Guess who voted for that tax bill? That's right, Bob Dole. Furthermore, Bill Clinton tried to give us national health care and didn't succeed, but it wasn't as though he personally "tried to take over the system." As for the balanced budget amendment, Republicans must be happy they don't have one now. And "liberal liberal liberal Bill Clinton" beat Dole in the 1996 presidential election. Badly.
Conservatives have done such a good job on the word liberal that in some quarters only one letter remains, and it's called "the 'L' word." We're called "the loony left," "lying liberals," or the diminutive and demeaning "lib." I don't hear liberals referring to their opposites as "cons," even though enough of them have served prison time. The left is just not as nasty to the right. The word conservative has not been reduced to the "C" word. Liberals don't possess the kind of mean-spiritedness that drives them to try to eviscerate the other side. Unfortunately, liberals have for too long taken this lying down. They've taken to calling themselves "progressive," "moderate," or "independent," or they'll duck the issue entirely and say, "Let's stop all this labeling." Rarely do conservatives run away from this kind of truth in advertising; conservatives display their label with pride. It's about time that liberals stood up proudly, declared that their views are deeply steeped in fine American tradition, and stopped running away from what they are. I'm a liberal. What are you going to make of it?
It's time for libe
rals to stand up and embrace the very word that represents the core of who they are and what they believe. The activist and comedian Dick Gregory called his 1964 autobiography Nigger. Dedicating the book to his mother, he wrote, "Dear Momma—Wherever you are, if ever you hear the word 'nigger' again, remember they are advertising my book." Gregory shuns the phrase "The 'N' Word" declaring, "It's not the N-word to me. It's nigger, nigger, nigger, nigger." If Gregory can be this bold about "nigger," refusing to allow that word to be the sole property of bigots, liberals of conviction should not settle for "the 'L word" and proudly claim their liberalism.
The lack of self-consciousness among Republicans and conservatives has enabled them to do a better job of using the media and getting their message out, and liberals should learn from the conservative refusal to be cowed by the other side. Standing up for what you believe against a loud, dogmatic, well-organized opposition may seem forbidding, but it doesn't go unrecognized.
From: Peter
Sent: Saturday, February 15,2003 12:04 AM
To: colmes
Subject: Allen. First a comment then Kudos to follow.
Allen,
thank you for speaking your mind and for giving me a voice in the cable news debate ... it is encouraging to know i need only think it and soon you will speak it. Instead of exhausting myself through the many discussions i need only say "wanna know what i think? watch FOX's Hannity & Colmes and Pay close attention to the smart guy"
Peter
Derry, New Hampshire
In spite of today's incessant, denouncing rhetoric on the right, it's not difficult to understand liberal appeal. Liberals pride themselves—as they should—on being at the forefront of civil rights and gay rights, and of breaking through the glass ceiling that has held women back. Americans still perceive Democrats as being ahead on key issues. A CBS News poll conducted May 9-12, 2003, shows that Americans believe Democrats are better than Republicans at protecting the environment, making prescription drugs affordable, creating new jobs, improving health care, improving education, and even making sure our tax system is fair. Now, that's encouraging.
The American public may finally be recognizing the folly of the tax-cut cure-all for every fiscal woe. Conservatives call themselves fiscally responsible, but their one answer for every economic ill is a tax cut. When the economy was booming thanks to the Clinton years, Bush 43 rode his way to the presidency promising a tax cut. When the surplus evaporated and became a huge deficit, partly because of a failing economy, partly because of "The 'War' on Terror," and partly because of a tax rebate, the cure, according to the Bushies, was a tax cut. When I was a child at sleepaway camp, the doctor in the infirmary was famous for prescribing Sucrets. If you had a cold: Sucrets. Fever: Sucrets. Bad back: Sucrets. I'm glad Bush 43 is not an emergency room doctor. Sucrets might be good for a knife wound, but only if you've been stabbed in the throat.
Guess Who's Liberal
It shouldn't be surprising that Americans side with liberals on major issues. What were our forefathers if not liberals, fighting for freedom against tyranny, writing a Constitution that ensured basic human rights for all persons regardless of class, race, religion, gender, or sexual orientation. Indeed, our nation's founders were beyond liberal; they were revolutionaries. There is one thing they surely were not: conservative. Similarly, many legendary men and women who moved America forward on many fronts proudly wore the liberal label. Albert Einstein once referred to himself as "a Jew with liberal international convictions." I hope this self-description doesn't sit too poorly with my conservative friends, and that, armed with this information, they don't rush to deny that Dr. Einstein developed the theory of relativity.
Carl Sagan was one of our greatest scientists and visionaries. He played a major role in the development of our space program and won awards for his work analyzing the atmospheres of Mars and Venus. His book Cosmos became the best-selling science book in the English language, ever, and the series of the same name on PBS was seen by a half billion people in sixty countries. He won a Pulitzer for his book Dragons of Eden, a seminal work on the evolution of the human brain. Sagan was a lifelong liberal who warned us about nuclear war and the "nuclear winter" that could result. Other Sagan passions included women's reproductive rights and social freedoms.
John Glenn, considered a hero to many, was the first American to orbit the earth. Even before this accomplishment brought him to international prominence, Glenn was a marine pilot who flew 59 combat missions in the South Pacific during World War II. Glenn then requested combat duty during the Korean conflict, where he flew another 63 missions. After a combined 149 missions in two wars, Glenn went to test pilot school, joined the Naval Air Test Center and, in 1957, set a speed record by flying from Los Angeles to New York in 3 hours, 23 minutes. As a senator, Glenn was the chief architect of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Act of 1978, which put strict controls on nuclear trade, helping to reduce the spread of nuclear weapons. Oh, and John Glenn was a member of that political party that has all those liberals in it.
Eleanor Roosevelt should be an inspiration for anyone who seeks to fight prejudice against groups that have been marginalized by society. She utilized the bully pulpit that comes with being First Lady to fight for women's rights, even holding news conferences just for female reporters. Roosevelt also conducted antilynching campaigns, advocated unions and fair labor practices, and battled for fair housing for minorities. It was Eleanor Roosevelt who made sure the New Deal programs her husband initiated were open to blacks as well as whites. She evolved a long way from the shy, lonely, young woman who once declared, "It was a wife's duty to be interested in whatever interested her husband." After her husband, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, was gone, Harry Truman chose Eleanor to head the United Nations Human Rights Commission. She was instrumental in drafting the Declaration of Human Rights, stating that recognizing "the inherent dignity and . . . equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world." While FDR proclaimed "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself," Eleanor Roosevelt applied this concept on a personal level. In her "If You Ask Me" newspaper column she wrote, "My greatest fear has always been that I would be afraid—afraid physically or mentally or morally and allow myself to be influenced by fear instead of by my honest convictions."
Eleanor Roosevelt is a wonderful example of someone who used the platform she had to make a difference. Another was the actor Gregory Peck. Peck's lifelong devotion to liberal causes was reflected not just in his personal actions, but also in the roles he played. As a member of the Hollywood Democratic Committee, he supported Roosevelt's liberal causes. Peck was named by actor Larry Parks as a Communist sympathizer to the House Un-American Activities Committee and signed a letter in 1947 denouncing this committee, at a time when many who spoke out were losing work because of their convictions. One of his most popular roles was that of the attorney Atticus Finch in the movie To Kill a Mockingbird. Released when the civil rights movement was in full bloom, Peck's Finch defends a black man falsely accused of rape in the 1930s rural south. "I put everything I had into it," Peck said of this role in 1989, "all my feelings and everything I'd learned in 46 years of living, about family life and fathers and children. And my feelings about racial justice and inequality and opportunity." Finch said a few things that could well improve today's political dialogue: "If you just learn a single trick," Atticus tells his daughter, "you'll get along a lot better with all kinds of folks. You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view... until you climb inside of his skin and walk around in it." In Gentleman's Agreement, Peck played a role his agent suggested he not take: a non-Jewish writer posing as a Jew to study anti-Semitism. Peck's character discovers the ugly truth about some of his own friends who, it turns out, weren't as liberal as they thought they were.
When he was president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Peck had the Oscar ceremony postpon
ed after the death of Martin Luther King Jr. When he learned that six hundred thousand jobs at Chrysler could disappear during the automaker's financial woes in 1980, Peck agreed to do commercials for the company without compensation, hoping it would help put them in the black. When he was offered the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award by the Motion Picture Academy in 1968 he said, "I'm not a do-gooder. It embarrassed me to be classified as a humanitarian. I simply take part in activities that I believe in."
Tomorrow Is Now
Is it nature or nurture? Does God create liberals in the womb or can one's environment grow one to the left? Einstein, Sagan, Glenn, Roosevelt, and Peck were certainly products of their times. But did the times also make them the accomplished and outspoken liberals they were and are? Whether it was that, or congenital predispositions to fight for basic human decency, these Americans should be an inspiration for anyone who hopes to make a difference, especially at a time when an opposing point of view isn't always welcome and is, in fact, derided.
I'm grateful for the opportunity to conduct my career on platforms that enable my voice to be heard. Thankfully, we live in an America where you don't have to stay silent, even when your views don't represent the flavor of the month. In fact, it is especially important that dissenting and minority views always remain an essential part of our American fabric. The majority isn't always right, which is why we live in a constitutional republic that guarantees certain inalienable rights that can't be erased by majority rule. As Benjamin Franklin said, "Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote!" And if you are a well-armed lamb, willing to participate in that contest, it won't be long before you find other like-minded lambs, perhaps enough to outnumber the wolves: