Yesterday was Constitution Day and keeping with the thought I decided to post this draft I have had for some time and could not decide when to post it……..A title many have sought, but few can claim……..NOW is as good of a time as any……

With the death of Ted Kennedy many have been calling him America’s liberal lion….a good title for a man that work tirelessly for the middle class and the poor his whole career and did so with the help of many Repubs in the Senate…….he deserves the title….but was he America’s “real” liberal lion?

There have been many Americans that could claim this title….How about FDR?  Regardless of what you think of his politics, he was and is an American liberal lion.  His policies did more to help the American people cope with a massive depression and still be able to look to the future, even when all was bleak.  Without his policies there would be many more Americans living in poverty than there are today and we have way too many doing so these days……but does he deserve the title of “American Liberal lion”?

Or….let us step back a little further into our history……how about Woodrow Wilson as the American Liberal lion?  I know…I know…he got us into WWI….but there was more to him than that….besides being the only president that had a PhD……….he gave us many liberal policies, unfortunately most have been totally crap on in the years afterward…policies like the Fed (who many think is some sort of anti-Christ)….or the Federal trade commission….or the income tax (which he is being demonized for)…..or Clayton Anti-trust Act…….or the Federal Farm Program (which is a buzz kill for conservs)……and the League of Nations, forerunner of the UN, was his idea (which is being crapped on from all quarters)……whether you believe in his policies or not….they were very liberal for the day and in some cases liberal by today’s standards as well……with all his accomplishments can he wear the mantle of American Liberal Lion?

Another step into history……how about our Teddy Roosevelt?  Yes!  I said TR was a liberal!  Not while he was president but later when he and Taft had the split in the GOP.  Why would I say he was a liberal?  The Progressive Party that he founded for the 1912 election….some could say that his battle with Taft gave Wilson the presidency….that would be his detractors……but a liberal?  Believe it or not…a liberal!  Some of the policies pursued by the Progressive Party……national health insurance, women’s suffrage, workers compensation, limits and disclosure of campaign donations, just to mention a few of the ideas……so yes….very liberal ideas….but a liberal lion?

Let me stop pussy footing around……we can look at each of the so-called “liberals” through our history but the one true American liberal lion is……Thomas Paine!

Why would I say that?  After all he was a Brit that came to the Colonies for a job in printing…..good one!  But shows a serious lack of American history….

Before the publishing of  “Common Sense” which Paine wrote about the colonies should declare independence and establish our own country….most of the so-called revolutionaries were more concerned with reconciliation with Mother England than declaring independence…..even the “hero” of the revolution, Washington once wrote to a friend….

If you ever hear of my joining any such measures, you have my leave to set me down for everything wicked.

And then there is everybody”s “hero”,  Jefferson…….

“Believe me , dear sir, there is not in the British Empire a man who more cordially loves a union with Great Britain more than I…..It is neither our wish or our interest to separate from her (England).  ……Let them name their terms and let them be just….”

As you can see most of the Founder’s were more concerned with reconciliation than independence….all that changed after the publishing of  “Common Sense”….once the common man heard what Paine was saying the movement for independence became more common place…..Paine’s very liberal concept…..but it did not stop there…..

Paine was the first person in the colonies to talk about ideas publicly like….

He proposed the Abolition of Negro Slavery; proposed Arbitration for International Peace; advocated Justice for Women; pointed out the Reality of Human Brotherhood; suggested International Copyright; invented a suspension bridge and smokeless candle; proposed the Education of Children of the Poor at public expense; suggested a Great Republic of All Nations of the world.  He urged the Purchase of the great Louisiana Territory.  He proposed pension payments or Old Age Pensions.  He also suggested protection for dumb animals.

All ideas are LIBERAL….he was very outspoken on these issues…..and because he was so outspoken….he deserves the title,  American Liberal Lion……all others that came after Paine are just pale imitations of a TRUE Liberal Lion…..if we had listened to the others then our independence would have been a long time coming and we would look more like Canada…….

We should honor him for what he was……THE TRUE FOUNDER OF THE USA…..Why?  He was even the FIRST person to use the title United States Of America………and AMERICA’S ORIGINAL LIBERAL LION!