When the POTUS makes a comment such as, “Liberal Jones would be BAD!”, it makes one wonder, “What exactly is a liberal and why are they bad?”

Positions espoused by those who call themselves liberals include such ‘heinous’ beliefs as:

• Treating all people equally and that matters such as, but not limited to, gender, race, ethnicity, and sexual preference should not enter into the discussion.
• Presuming the innocence of all people, until proven otherwise, including those who wish to visit our country from any other country in the world.
• Supporting a free and unfettered press, knowing that a free press is the bedrock upon which a democratic society is built.
• Ensuring access to quality, public education for all citizens.
• Conferring jail sentences that befit the crime committed, with those whose crimes are more injurious to others spending more time in prison.
• Assuring a person’s right to do with their own body as she, or he, so desires; including a woman’s right to dictate the course of her pregnancy.
• Guaranteeing that all citizens can vote in elections, without being encumbered with burdensome registration processes and ensuring that the ratio of voters to polling stations is approximately the same throughout the country.
• Ensuring that essential needs, such as shelter, food, and medical care, are affordable for all citizens.
• Recognizing that corporations are artificial entities whose being is allowed by the State, and as such, the State dictates the rights granted to corporations.
• Electing government officials whose primary focus is working for the betterment of all citizens and not simply themselves and/or a select few.
• Establishing a fair system of taxation, one that is structured such that those who are fortunate enough to receive more from our society pay proportionally more in support of our society.
• Creating voting districts that are not gerrymandered – ones that represent the people, not the politicians creating them.
• Protecting shared public resources, such as air, water, and land, with the understanding that we are merely custodians of these resources for future generations.
• Ensuring the integrity of our election process by establishing nationwide standards for voting systems.

When someone echoes a sentiment similar to that of the president’s, ask him, or her, with which of these principles they have a problem. More importantly, ask them why. Because, these principles do not define liberalism, they define Americanism.

I am not a liberal – I am an American.