MSNBC: Cronkite Was A Leftist, Not a "Liberal"
“I suppose in all honesty, I’m a liberal,†said the late Walter Cronkite in a snippet of a 1996 interview that Chris Matthews played last night on his program Hardball. “But I would like to define liberal,†Cronkite continued. “I think that the great problem with this label is it has been seriously misused for political purposes.â€
It was, to be sure, a meritorious assertion, but exactly how Cronkite meant it was not at all clear. To shed light on the matter, Matthews turned to his guest, longtime newsman and political partisan Dan Rather, who explained:
“Keep in mind that he [Cronkite] wanted to redefine liberal as it’s used in today’s political context. He meant that he was liberal in the sense that he was in favor of preserving those things worth preserving but changing those things that needed changing.â€
How did Rather know this, you ask? Well, he didn’t know. In fact, he made it all up, every word of it. Cronkite’s definition of liberal bore no resemblance whatsoever to Rather’s purported summation of it. We know this because in 2004, Cronkite explained for himself, quite clearly, what he meant by “liberal†— when he criticized Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry for not confidently embracing the “liberal†label, which the newsman equated with being “progressive,†“broad-minded,†“unprejudiced,†and “beneficent.â€
In other words, Cronkite saw “liberal†as a broad term meaning essentially everything good, kind, sweet, and fuzzy. And in that regard, he didn’t know what he was talking about any more than Rather did.
When the term “liberalism†(from the Latin word liberalis, meaning “pertaining to a free manâ€) first emerged in the early 1800s, it was guided by a four-pronged value system that embraced individual rights, the rule of law, limited government, and free markets based on private property. These would remain the defining characteristics of liberalism throughout the liberal epoch (generally identified as the period of 1815-1914).
This leads to a point where Cronkite was right on target. The term “liberal†has indeed been corrupted and misused for political purposes – by the socialist Left. Portraying themselves as the agents of enlightened commitment to “liberal†or “progressive†causes, leftists in fact stand for the antithesis of each of the foregoing liberal ideals. Contrary to their self-identification as “liberals†and “progressives,â€Â leftists are neither “liberal†nor “progressive,†but rather reactionaries seeking to resurrect the traditions that characterized the epoch which preceded the rise of classical liberalism.
Consider these easily verifiable truths. The modern Left is the stalwart champion of:
1) group rights rather than individual rights, as exemplified by its support for collective preferences—affirmative action—based on such categories as race, ethnicity, gender, or national origin;
2) the circumvention of law rather than the rule of law, as exemplified by its support for the edicts of activist judges who legislate from the bench, and by its opposition to the enforcement of laws pertaining to immigration and nondiscrimination;
3) the expansion of government rather than its diminution (by means of ever-escalating taxes to fund a bloated welfare state, and to authorize government control over virtually every aspect of human life—education, health care, day care, energy, etc.); and
4) the redistribution of wealth (through steeply progressive taxes and mushrooming welfare programs), rather than its creation through free-market capitalism.
By calling themselves “liberals†or “progressives,†leftists have entirely redefined the terms of debate. And as noted earlier, the media and the public have largely gone along with this fraudulent self-identification, as evidenced by the fact that few people nowadays draw any distinction between liberalism in its original and authentic sense, and leftism—or socialism posing as “liberalism.†Thus we witness the travesty of the “liberal†label being routinely attached to far leftists like the anti-capitalist filmmaker/multi-millionaire Michael Moore, the anti-capitalist multi-billionaire George Soros, the Marxist historian Howard Zinn, and the America-hating linguistics professor Noam Chomsky. Yet the ideals of each of these individuals are utterly antithetical to the tenets of classical liberalism as outlined above.
So, too, were the ideals of Walter Cronkite, the late leftist who advocated a “marvelous middle ground between capitalism and communism,†and who called for a “guarantee that each of our citizens will have equal resources to share in the decisions of the democracy, and a fair share of the economic pie.â€
This is a truly excellent, fantastic post. I really wish more conservatives would start using “leftist” instead of “liberal” and work to reclaim the liberal political tradition. They’re it’s rightful heirs.
Interesting take on the definition of liberal and how it has changed of the years.
Thanks for saying the obvious.
Also mention how this idiot lost us the Vietnam war after our astonishing and great victory after the Tet offensive, and this idiot said (taking off his glasses) ‘we have lost the war’ – f–k him.
Authentic old-fasioned classical liberals have the responsibility and duty to reclaim their heritage, by speaking out vigorously against the leftists or openly Marxist-communists who have taken over so many of their institutions — such as the various “Human Rights” groups, the “Environment” groups, and so on. I put those into quotes, because they no longer are about the original issues which led to their creation, but instead are devoted only to advancement of communist agendas and regimes. Ergo the quack-science of CO2 being used to push for World Socialism, or the chronic avoidance of the abysmal situation of women in the Islamic world, or how the Islamic fanatics typcially butcher their prisoners in front of cameras, with an hysterical preoccupation instead about water-boarding or Guantanamo — or similarly ignoring the use of children as homicide bombers, the abject Jew-hatred from the Muslim world, but only Israel is singled out. These are Marxist radicals, friendly to Islamic tyranny, and every decent liberal should work to throw them out!
You know, Black Eagle, this is the reason why I refuse to identify myself as a member of any of the parties in America or elsewhere.
Even though some human rights and environmental groups have been corrupted by those in power, and though some bills, such as Waxman-Markey’s recently passed by the House, have also been destroyed, it is not limited to any one side or group.
Republicans and Democrats, Capitalists and Socialists, they all have their own problems, and rather than working through feedback and complaints or improving their policies and stances, they simply attack the other side to destroy trust.
Why do some people fear a government-subsidized health care system? Taxes? Is that the problem? You’re already paying an arm and leg with private insurance premiums. “A bureaucrat between you and your doctor?” You have that already with private insurance, too.
If anything, I vote Democrat for the most part because I think they’re far more likely to allow myself and my boyfriend the rights to marry and be treated equally, as this country’s founders intended. I thought maybe if we made this a profitable transaction for them, their minds would change. Unfortunately, California is evidence to the contrary.
These people need to be slapped in their faces with books about ethics and logic.
Michael, you’re warped!!!!!!! It’s true that the democ-rat party is the Party of perverts.
In regard to ol’ Walter (the commie) Cronkite…some years ago a fellow VN Veteran told me that when Cronkite died he was going to go piss on his grave. I told him, not me, that I had made myself a promise that when I mustered out of the service I would never stand in line again. I hope the Devil is poking the bastard in the ass as we speak.
Finally, people who understand the damage that arrogant, elitist, and self-absorbed dilettante foisted upon our nation! Cronkite was the founding father of biased talking heads spewing leftist bile over our airwaves. I agree with the George Diogenes post…..f–k him!!! Every Vietnam vet who took part in the Tet Victory should make a pilgrimage to Cronkite’s grave and leave a Cleveland Steamer on that bastard’s head.