Given all this talk by Sean Hannity, Ann Coulter and other right-wingers regarding the "liberal" threat, I thought it would be wise to actually discuss the meaning of the word liberal. When Hannity, Coulter, etc use it, liberal is nothing more than a stand-in for Democrat.
This is an awful simplification of one of the most difficult to define words in the history of the English language.
First off, let us recall that in economic parlance more liberal means freer markets. That makes Bush & the Neo-Cons liberal.
To further muddy the waters, remember that the word "liberal" is often associated with progressivism and reform. However, Republicans have been as much for reform as Democrats have been. Bush, claiming to be a "reformer with results," has sized himself up for the liberal harness. Also, the progressives from early in the 20th century (such as Teddy Roosevelt and the folks that gave California the recall and initiative) consisted more of Conservative Republicans than Democrats. Of course there have been plenty of Democrats that have been reformers, too. Thus in the sense of reform, neither political party has a monopoly on liberalism.
The French Democrats from 1789 were radically liberal, but so were the French Communists that soon followed them. Fascism has been claimed as a liberal ideology, at the same time that FDR was introducing the New Deal.
That Sean Hannity is comparing liberals to terrorists and despots is bad for several reasons, but perhaps the worst is that he is trying to pigeonhole a rich and vibrant word into a ridiculously simplistic definition.
Bertrand Russell gives one of the few satisfying definitions of liberalism:
"The essence of liberalism is an attempt to secure a social order not based on irrational dogma, and insuring stability without involving more restraints than are necessary for the preservation of the community." (from A History of Western Philosophy, introduction)
In that sense, Hannity (one of the standard bearers of right-wing dogma) has much to fear from liberalism. The only thing is that, as usual, its for reasons he doesn't understand.
Can we start a discussion of the word "liberalism," what it means and who exemplifies it?