[Vision2020] Foreman was half right

[Moscow Cares]

Courtesy of today’s (May 22, 2018) Moscow-Pullman Daily News with thanks to Al Poplawsky.

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Letter: Foreman was half right

This is a letter regarding Sen. Dan Foreman's recent characterization of Moscow as a "cesspool of liberalism."

I think he has it half right.

The word liberal can be traced back to the Latin word liber, which means free.

Our country has always cherished freedom for all, thus liberal can only have a positive connotation. Listed synonyms of liberal include enlightened, flexible, humanistic, tolerant, rational, understanding, broad-minded, reasonable, generous, unbiased and unbigoted. These are all principles that Jesus taught and are at the root of modern Christianity. I think Moscow exhibits these positive attributes, and our city leaders strive to embrace them.

Antonyms of liberal include narrow-minded, bigoted, reactionary, miserly, intolerant and greedy - all negative characteristics not typical of our city.

Thus, Mr. Foreman's description of Moscow as liberal is a very positive thing. I agree with him on this and hope to keep Moscow that way.

However, Mr. Foreman connected liberal with the word cesspool when describing Moscow. Cesspool is "an underground container for the storage of liquid waste and sewage," or "a disgusting or corrupt place" - a word with very negative connotations. Combining one word with very positive connotations and a second with very negative connotations makes no rational sense. The thesaurus had trouble providing antonyms to cesspool that would make sense when combined with the word liberal, except for a reference to "heights." Although Moscow is not particularly high geographically, it does exhibit heights from the social perspective since it promotes the positive liberal tendencies described above.

Thus, using half of Mr. Foreman's description, I suggest a more appropriate characterization of Moscow would be as a "liberal paradise." Let's all work together to keep Moscow a paradise of liberalism on the Palouse in the spirit of the definitions I have provided above - tolerant, rational, flexible, broad-minded and generous.

Al Poplawsky
Moscow

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CRANK IT UP . . . because 

“I’m a Card-Carrying, Bleeding-Heart Liberal”
http://www.tomandrodna.com/Songs/Im_a_Card_Carrying_Bleeding_Heart_Liberal.mp3

Seeya 'round town, Moscow, because . . .

"Moscow Cares" (the most fun you can have with your pants on)
http://www.MoscowCares.com
  
Tom “Bleeding-Heart, Card-Carrying, Tree-Hugging Liberal” Hansen
Moscow, Idaho

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