THEM GAH DAM LIBBERULS

Back in the 1940s, between his two Republican nominations for president, New York Governor Thomas E. Dewey warned his party in a speech that if the Democrats always ran as liberals while the Republicans always ran as conservatives, the Republicans would always lose and the Democrats would always win.

Shows you how drastically the nation's outlook has altered. Try to imagine any Republican offering that assessment now.

Then, liberals were the nation's heroes: the ones who had tackled the fierce economic problems and the chronic injustices on behalf of a stricken and anxious people and had given it vital aid and hope and means of helping itself. The liberals are still the ones who do those things, but they no longer get credit for it because most Americans identify with those who have more than themselves rather than with those who have less. By doing so they make oligarchy possible and democracy harder to sustain.

Soon our economic heft began shifting to the Sunbelt, the most reactionary part of the country. And the conservatives used their infusion of new wealth to do what they do best: destroy things. In this case they launched an historic propaganda offensive that over time succeeded in turning "liberal" into a four-letter word. It succeeded so well that for decades the righties required no other term of opprobrium while often liberals denied being liberal.

But in the 2008 election it became evident that "the L word" had lost its punch. People would no longer automatically vote no when "liberal, liberal, liberal" was chanted. The Republicult had been in power for 8 years and had wrecked the economy, started two wars, and generally made a mess of things while spending all kinds of money. Even conservatives were disgusted. So it was time for the Dems, liberal or not.

"Socialist" or "communist" has to be used on a regular basis these days, upping the ante. These labels formerly were reserved for partisan events where being over the top would add a little something. But styles change fast nowadays; through repetition, these labels, too, are ceasing to mean anything.

What can the Republicult turn to for a term that will really get folks going? Let's help them out, shall we? How about Marxist-Leninist-Stalinist? "Barack HOOSAIN Obama is a Marxist-Leninist-Stalinist president and is a-tryin' to enslave us all."

Sounds pretty lame, I'm afraid. Looks like they're just out of luck. Tragic.

But I, for one, won't be satisfied till "conservative" is understood rightly, and is more unpopular than "liberal" ever was. And that day must come, because reality cannot be denied forever!