Why are liberals so scary?

We’ve all heard about the nine Republican state Senators who decided they were going to start voting their conscience, only to be censured by their own party. As if they would somehow become contagious. 

This series of events reminded me of something I’ve been wondering about, which is: Why it has become so fashionable to present ‘liberals’ as if we are dangerous, scary people. It is now one of those labels that Republicans throw around in order to discredit a person’s character. It showed up on every other flyer that I received during the last election cycle. And of course it’s one of those terms, for example “communist,” that most people probably wouldn’t be able to define if you asked them, even liberals themselves.

So I thought about the qualities that most of my friends have in common. And the top thing on that list would probably be curiosity. I hang out with people who always want to learn more, whether it’s about you, or about the history of the region where they live, or about whatever hobby they’re interested in. And of course that also means that they are readers. Because what is the best way to learn? 

Another thing that most of my friends have in common is that they love people. They love meeting new people, they like to be in small groups where they can have discussions. They like to connect. And they like to help. I feel fortunate to know so many people who believe that helping others helps them become better people. And it also helps make the world a better place.

So far, I’m not seeing a lot to be scared of. But let’s keep looking.

Most of my friends love the arts. They love how music and films and dance and visual arts force them to look at things a little differently. They love how songs and movies make them feel something, whether it’s warm or frightening or confusing or ecstatic, the arts bring strong emotional responses into our lives in a way that is always unpredictable and surprising.

Most of my friends also love to be outside. They love what the earth has to offer. They like the challenge of a long bike ride, or a hike into the mountains. They like to hunt and fish, or float one of the incredible rivers that flow through our beautiful state. They value having access to the best that Montana has to offer.

A few days ago, Bruce Springsteen, who is only three years younger than Trump but looks at least 10 years younger, opened his latest tour in Manchester, England by sitting down at the front of the stage and delivering a calm, measured criticism of the current president. He didn’t make anything up or call him a bunch of juvenile names. He didn’t threaten him. He just laid out his opinion of the man’s actions in a way that was thoughtful and most importantly, factual. Here’s how he opened his speech, and it’s pretty brilliant:

“In America, my home, they’re persecuting people for their right to free speech and voicing their dissent. That’s happening now. In America, the richest men are taking satisfaction in abandoning the world’s poorest children to sickness and death. That’s happening now. In my country, they’re taking sadistic pleasure in the pain they inflict on loyal American workers. They’re rolling back historic civil rights legislation that led to a more just society. They’re abandoning our great allies and siding with dictators against those who are struggling for their freedom. That’s happening now. They are defunding American universities that won’t bow down to their ideological demands. And they are removing residents off American streets without due process of law and deploying them to foreign detention centers and prisons. That’s happening now.”

So maybe that’s it. It’s the honesty.

Most of my friends have never been convicted of a felony. Most of them have never been accused of rape, especially by multiple sources. Most of my friends wouldn’t think of referring to another country as a “sh–hole country.” They wouldn’t think to lump an entire race of people into one group and make sweeping generalizations about those people. Most of my wealthy friends wouldn’t think of rubbing their wealth in your face, or bragging about the fact that they don’t pay taxes, because they do. Most of them wouldn’t brag about going into the dressing room of a bunch of teenage girls while they’re getting ready for a pageant.

Most of my friends wouldn’t encourage people to beat the crap out of other people. Most of them wouldn’t make up lies on the spot just to make others look bad because they got their feelings hurt.

So the only thing that I can think of that makes liberals scary is that they try like hell to be honest, and if there’s one thing that scares Republicans at this moment in time, it’s the truth. Springsteen is fortunate to be huge enough that he can lose a huge chunk of his fan base without worrying about his career going off the rails. 

But of course that doesn’t stop Donald Trump from trying his damnedest to discredit the man. And among other things, that means hitting him over the head with the dreaded “liberal” label. It didn’t stop Springsteen from doing the same thing at his next few stops, to the dismay of many of his long-term fans, and as someone so accurately pointed out, have they not been paying attention to what this man has stood for from the beginning?

The saddest part about Trump’s tantrums is how utterly childish they are. He always resorts to the most basic insults, saying he never liked Springsteen and that he has no talent—a meaningless insult coming from a guy who pals around with Kid Rock and Ted Nugent. Trump has and always will resort to the lowest form of attack, and that is exactly why he is so threatened by someone like Bruce, who did just the opposite.

So I guess I’ll keep doing what most of my friends have been doing, trying to become better people, failing here and there, but always striving to improve. Telling the truth as well as we know how, without resorting to hissy fits when someone offers constructive criticism. And hopefully it will continue to scare the hell out of these people.