Political Nomenclature; Or, Who Am I, Anyway?

Truth be told, I'm a progressive. Or am I a liberal? Or am I a socialist? I know I'm not a neocon or a conservative, but, on some issues I'm more conservative than others, so am I a progressive neocon or a social democrat or a democratic socialist with conservative leanings or what? Clearly, I'm not a neoliberal nor a libertarian, but I am liberal. So what am I? These labels get me so confused. Is there a slot for people like me? If I wear an American flag lapel pin, what does that make me? Reagan didn't wear one. Neither did Ike. Roosevelt didn't wear one either, but George W did. It's so confusing. Sometimes I wish I lived in Scandinavia which would make things politically a lot easier.

I rarely watch Fox (though their coverage of the Haitian earthquake was fairly well done), but read what they say. I've written too much already on Beck and Limbaugh and Palin and get tired of repeating myself. On the other hand, I watch CSNBC all the time. Matthews and Olberman and Maddow, but sometimes they piss me off. Of course, Matthews doesn't let anyone finish a sentence. It's a bit like not allowing the batter to swing at the hardball after the ball's been caught. You know, the batter is constantly check-swinging as Matthews answers his own question while waiting for the guest to answer the question he's already answered. What's the point? Just walk the batter and move on. It took me a long time before I could appreciate Olbermann as a political analyst and not a sports broadcaster. When that was finally accomplished, what tends to annoy me now is that he constantly brings the same people on his show. The Friends of Countdown. If I hear him pitch Richard Wolffe's book, Renegade: The Making of a President, one more time, I'll puke. Okay, I got it the 35th time and if I want to buy the book, I will. After all, it's been over a year since it came out. Then there's Chris Cillizzi who every time he's introduced gives a rather sheepish smile as if to say, "Look, mom, I'm on TV." Lawrence O'Donnell is more than an adequate replacement for Olbermann, especially when he gets indignant and you can see his jaw tighten as if he has a TMJ problem. I'm a big fan of Eugene Robinson, but I wish they'd quit introducing him as the Pulitzer Prize winning journalist for the Washington Post. It's almost as if they're pronouncing the fact that, "Look African-Americans can win Pulitzer Prizes too." Maddow is terrific except when she morphs into that schoolgirl giggle and declares she doesn't have an agenda (wink, wink, nod, nod) since everyone has an agenda even if they don't have one.

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