Right Wing Heroes Were Radical Liberals
By Mike Hersh, Mar 1, 2005

By any measure, right wingers' heroes including Jesus and the American Founders were radical liberals. Jesus was a peacenik beyond any dispute. (see: Can Christians Support Bush?) This holds despite efforts to misrepresent the famous metaphor about using the sword of righteousness as opposed to an actual sword and instructing "Zealots" in non-violence - points against what the "Fightin' Jesus" advocates try to claim. Then there's the massive weight of Jesus' Prince of Peace statements which overwhelm anything even slightly ambiguous on the "did Jesus favor war or peace?" issue.

Right wingers praise the founders, but try to revise history - and defy common sense - by calling them "Classical Liberals" when all known facts indicate the founders were students of the Enlightenment. They wrote and lived as radical liberals and would remain so no matter which context they lived in.

Their radically progressive views toward religion (against establishment of it) and government (against monarchy) were self-consciously and extremely liberal and radical. It's counter-logical to assume that had they lived in a more enlightened time they'd be less enlightened for some unknown reason. I've never seen anyone make that case based on anything other than out-of-context quotes and blind faith.

Much more likely they'd take the situation today and try to improve it - just as they did in their day. They'd be on the side of labor rights, civil rights, equality, against imposing religion and for freedom of conscience today even as they were in their day.

Revisionist right wingers revere the Founders but can't explain why they wouldn't be arch liberals - perhaps even what right wingers call "socialists" - today. Alexander Hamilton's Bank of the United States and his American Plan - both backed by President Washington, Vice President John Adams and other Founders - qualify as "socialism" under right wing definitions.

Some of the founders were arch-liberal or even radical ministers - like Jesse Jackson or Al Sharpton. There wasn't a Falwell type in the crowd. Others were "loud-mouth" lawyers like Ralph Nader and Ramsey Clark. None were anything like the monarchist/fascist Ted Olson or Ann Coulter types. Some were doctors like Dr. Howard Dean or even Dr. Spock. None were like Doctor Doom AKA Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, and HMO tycoon.

We get a lot of revisionism about the founders. Some would have us think that these revolutionaries would somehow be fuddy-duddy right wing reactionaries today. That makes no sense. They were radical then and they'd be at least liberal now. Let's get specific: We know they would line up with liberals against authoritarian, anti-free speech, dissent suppressing, empire building, privacy invading, Bible thumping, selfish self-righteous poseurs like Bush, Cheney and the not-very-Christian right.

After some argument, the Founders sided with Alexander Hamilton - the father of massive public investment for the public good. Even the main intellectual critic of Hamilton's federalism and public investment concepts - one Tom Jefferson - took the US into debt with the Louisiana Purchase. He also ended up favoring the liberal approach in government as President after articulating the liberal creed so well in the Declaration of Independence. Jefferson was no conservative and never could be seen as such, after all, he advocated watering the tree of liberty with the blood of tyrants. I think Bush would have Jefferson on a watch list if not in a cell in Guantanamo!

Yes, right wingers worship radical arch-liberal - maybe even "socialist" peacenik Jesus, and revere pro-big government anti-religion reformers like Thomas Jefferson. I wonder what right wingers would do to these heroes if they were around today? Based on how they treat those of us most like the Founders, pretty badly! Bottom line: right wingers don't know much about history - or about their heroes. If they did, they'd be left wingers - or at least liberals!

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