'Unapologetically liberal'

The Tomorrow Majority 

By TIMOTHY EGAN, NYT

Oh, the horror: a gay bar mentioned in the same sentence as Selma and Seneca Falls, a call to fix a gasping planet, a stirring defense of health care for the elderly and citizenship for 11 million people living in the American shadows. And now, women in combat. What's become of this country?

"One thing is clear from the president's speech: the era of liberalism is back," said the perpetually puckered Senate minority leader, Mitch McConnell.

"Unapologetically liberal," was the takeaway quote in a video sent out this week by Karl Rove's Crossroads GPS.

Liberal, liberal, liberal! The wedge label is the last weapon of people who are out of step with their era. Rove and company are betting that "liberal" still has the power to scare. But did you notice that these opponents of President Obama's Inauguration Day aria didn't take issue with the substance of what he said? Are they for a legal system that excludes gays from rights that other citizens share? Do they favor global warming? Do they intend to deport the millions of immigrants without papers, and further alienate the fastest-growing block of voters?

(More here.)