"The American people will never knowingly adapt socialism, but under the name of liberalism they will adopt every fragment of the socialist program until one day America will be a socialist nation without ever knowing how it happened"

Norman Thomas,
Socialst Party presidential candidate and one of the founding members of
the ACLU

As every socialist government has been an abject failure and/or inhumane instrument of tyranny why are you a liberal?

Liberalism has not made any nation a place where people will literally risk their lives to go to, with only the clothes on their backs, only America has that distinction. Liberals, whats so bad about America?

Because my wife told me to be.

The American people will never knowingly adapt socialism, but under the name of liberalism they will adopt every fragment of the socialist program until one day America will be a socialist nation without ever knowing how it happened.

--Norman Thomas

That's a bogus quotation, dude.

That's a bogus quotation, dude.

Not necessarily. That quote has been attributed to him for nearly 50 years now.

Upton Sinclair, the muck raker who wrote "The Jungle", was progressive, and ran for Congress as a socialist wrote to Thomas and said:

"The American People will take Socialism, but they won't take the label. I certainly proved it in the case of EPIC. runing on the Socialist ticket, I got 60,000 votes, and runing on the slogan to 'End Poverty in Californi' I got 879,000. I think we simply have to recognize the fact that our enemies have succeeded in spreading the Big Lie. There is no use attacking by a front attack, it is much better to out-flank them."

So, it's entirely possible that Norman Thomas shared the opinion and made note of it in a speech during on of his runs for the Presidency. Or that the quote was based on Upton Sinclair's letter.

Either way, the sentiment of the quote is very valid.

who you calling liberal....thems is fightin werds

25 years ago, someone knew exactly what was going to happen.

YouTube - Ronald Reagan Speaks out Against Socialized Medicine (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BnLa1BvtaxM)


To get ourselves out of this mess, (I mean come on, even Western Europe is giving up on socialism and electing conservative leaders and here we sit going in the opposite direction), we need to elect another Ronald Reagan type.

Is Jim Pawlenty the guy that can Re-Reagan America and save us from the Obamonation?

http://www.startribune.com/politics/state/63085602.html?elr=KArks7PYDiaK7DUvDE7aL_V_BD77:Dii UiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUU

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0909/27785.html

Liberalism has not made any nation a place where people will literally risk their lives to go to, with only the clothes on their backs, only America has that distinction. Liberals, whats so bad about America?

The unique type of liberalism that this country was founded on has made us great. But modern liberalism is liberalism in name only. Substantively it is more of a benevolent, "feel-good" socialism/fascism then it truly is liberalism.

There is a distinction between classical liberalism and modern "liberalism".

YouTube - Reagan responds to Obama and his supporters (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yS4yf723kmY)

It's bogus quotation. Some say that Ronald Reagan just made it up.

25 years ago, someone knew exactly what was going to happen.

YouTube - Ronald Reagan Speaks out Against Socialized Medicine (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BnLa1BvtaxM)


To get ourselves out of this mess, (I mean come on, even Western Europe is giving up on socialism and electing conservative leaders and here we sit going in the opposite direction), we need to elect another Ronald Reagan type.

Is Jim Pawlenty the guy that can Re-Reagan America and save us from the Obamonation?

http://www.startribune.com/politics/state/63085602.html?elr=KArks7PYDiaK7DUvDE7aL_V_BD77:Dii UiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUU

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0909/27785.html

Ronald Reagan was a right wing nut job in the 1960's when he opposed Medicare and said it would end all freedom in America if it was passed. Fortunately, he converted to Socialism when he became President and rode to the rescue of Socialist Security when it was threatened in the early 1980's. In the end, Reagan was a good, but not a great, American Socialist.

Ronald Reagan was a right wing nut job in the 1960's when he opposed Medicare and said it would end all freedom in America if it was passed. Fortunately, he converted to Socialism when he became President and rode to the rescue of Socialist Security when it was threatened in the early 1980's. In the end, Reagan was a good, but not a great, American Socialist.

I suppose there's no zealot like a convert.

It's bogus quotation. Some say that Ronald Reagan just made it up.

If he said it then it isn't "bogus".

I suppose there's no zealot like a convert.

Don't start buying into the Jagger-bot's lies. He is intentionally distorting Reagan's record through oversimplification and hyperbole.

It's bogus quotation. Some say that Ronald Reagan just made it up.


Be that as it may the question remains;

WHY ARE YOU A LIBERAL ?


And, the quote aside, what of the other comments? Anyone trying to get to Cuba?

Don't start buying into the Jagger-bot's lies. He is intentionally distorting Reagan's record through oversimplification and hyperbole. It appears to to me that the quote in question should actually be attributed to Ronald Reagan, not Norman Thomas.

It's well documented that the words came of Reagan's mouth. There is no evidence that Thomas ever said it.