The following column was published by the Huntsville Times on March 3, 2010. No part may be republished without the permission of the publisher. The title has been changed to the original submission title.
Comrades and Fellow Travelers. You know who you are. Or maybe you don't, because you have not been labeled yet. On Feb. 21, my second Community Columnist column ran in the Times. The column itself was as I wrote it, but there was a little problem with the verbiage after the article. It listed me as a "Communist Columnist" rather than "Community Columnist". Ouch. I had not noticed, but on Monday at work, I started to get some strange greetings.
"Hello Comrade!" seemed to follow me around the office. Finally, someone showed me a copy of the column cut from the newspaper. My co-workers and I got a good laugh and I got some good natured ribbing such as "I thought you were a socialist and not a communist" but to people that don't know me, these labels could be taken seriously. The power that a label carries can make or destroy. In politics, labels are weapons to use in attacks or shields to show one's virtues. For example, if I were to call you a socialist, you may be offended. But if I were to ask you if you supported government-provided police, fire and military protection and you said yes, I have just proved that you are, at least in part, a socialist, because you believe that these are proper activities to be provided socially. To paraphrase Winston Churchill, we have defined what you are; now we are just negotiating on price.
Do I really believe that most of you are socialists? Don't be silly, of course not.
In Alabama we are already suffering though a season of political ads. Our congressman informs us 20 times a night that he is fighting for our "conservative values." What values are those? I want details.
He labels the president a "radical." OK, what, specifically, makes someone a radical? He tells us that he is opposed to the deficit, but he does not tell us what he would do to balance the budget, because he knows it can't be done without massive cuts in spending and tax increases.
It's easier to paste on the label of deficit hawk than for that bird to fly.
In Alabama, candidates have rallied around "family values" for a generation. In this election year, I'm sure that we will be hearing more of the same. But what does that label mean? What have any of the family values candidates done to promote families? Have divorces been averted? Have broken families been reunited? Have troubled youth been turned away from drugs and crime? There are heroes in every community working to achieve these goals, but rarely do you see our state politicians making a real difference in these areas. I'm sure there are exceptions to my cynical point, but a label that a politician puts on himself should be earned, not merely pasted on for effect.
Likewise, a label put on another person should be based on facts and not merely to smear. Therefore, I challenge you, the reader, to set aside labels and to do some homework. Find out what is really going on in our government, locally, in Montgomery and in Washington. Then let's have a real discussion on the role government has in providing its citizens protection, whether that be national defense, local police, protection from disease or protection from hunger for the poor.
Reject labels and learn. Because no one and no issue can be reduced to a label.
Finally, "I am not a communist, nor have I ever been a member of the Communist Party". Thank you, Sen. McCarthy. This concludes my testimony.
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