The Good Fight

This column originally appeared in the Williston Observer on December 13, 2007.

The Good Fight

Liberals these days have a lot of mixed feelings.

We support the troops fighting in Iraq, but we don't support the fight in Iraq. Within the liberal ranks, we vary from demanding immediate withdrawal from Iraq to realizing that moving too quickly could be just as bad as doing nothing.

We want to unify strongly behind a presidential candidate, but there are too many good ones to choose from.

We don't like the Swift Boating that John Kerry was subjected to in the last election, but from Mitt Romney's flip-flops to Rudy Giuliani's trysts on the public's dime, we feel the temptation to do a little Swift Boating of our own.

We think that President Bush has committed acts that violate the Constitution and amount to more "high crimes and misdemeanors" than Bill Clinton's lies about sex in the Oval Office, yet we know the impeachment is a big step to take and conviction a high hurdle to jump over.

That's all national - it is another question altogether about how we feel about state politics. Incumbent governors have a hard time losing elections in Vermont, so do Democrats waste money and talent challenging Jim Douglas?

We want Vermont to be more green so lots of wind farms sound like a great idea, but we also love Vermont's pristine views and would hate to despoil the windiest parts of the state with giant monuments to technology.

More basic, do we support the Progressive Party because they share some of our values or do we support the Democrats because we want to win?

And locally, there are still more questions. What's more important to a liberal in Williston - your property tax bill or the programs that our schools provide to prepare our kids for the future?

Do we support safety and landowners' rights or the oft-overlooked and important rights of gun owners when it comes to the question of hunting in the town limits?

Is there even a "liberal" position on such local issues?

Of course, I can only write about my own thoughts and feelings on any issue. People speak of a liberal position on this or a conservative position on that, but these are general labels, and just as some conservatives support gun control or abortion rights, there are some liberals who support the war unconditionally or don't believe in global warming.

My own personal beliefs are tend to be on the left of center. This might have been surprising to some people who knew me in high school, when I supported Reagan for President and touted the logic of Mutually Assured Destruction.

Hopefully, when you read the words I put on these pages, you will nod your head with me one week and shake it in disagreement the next. This is one of the most wonderful things about America and American politics. Though we apply labels to ourselves and each other, we rarely live up to the label in ways that they do in other countries.

I will say up front that there is one thing that I do use to guide me, and that is my faith and belief in our constitutions. The constitutions of Vermont and the United States are wonderful and extraordinary documents. Constitutions can be unwieldy and untidy. Ever tried to read the Constitution of China or that of California?

The best constitutions give guidance only, but they also allow you to see, at a relatively quick glance, that which we hold most dear. I hope to explore some of that guidance, and how we handle it when reality conflicts with those ideals.

I hope you will take the journey with me.

Welcome

Welcome to Liberally Speaking. This blog will republish columns written by Steve Mount for the Williston Observer for the column named, aptly, Liberally Speaking. This column is a counterpoint to the Right to the Point Column written by Chris Roy.

This blog is a chance for anyone to catch up on my old columns and to engage in dialog. Enjoy.