By DAVE HAMRICK
Editor-at-large

If you were paying attention, you may have noticed that I recently labeled some gun control advocates “authoritarians” rather than the commonly used label, “liberals.”

That's because I think the word “liberal” has lost any meaning, especially to those who would describe themselves with that term.

Authoritarians believe in power, especially government power. They also are opposed to spreading power around. If an authoritarian is employed or elected at the local level, he or she is opposed to allowing individuals, businesses, churches and other entities to make decisions for themselves, preferring instead to invest all of that decision-making power into city hall.

At the state level, such a person works to make sure that local counties, cities and school boards must check with any of a few dozen state agencies before bending to tie their shoes.

At the federal level, the authoritarian ignores the Constitution of the United States and works diligently to increase the size, scope and power of the federal government to rule not only the states but also counties, cities and individuals.

Authoritarians also are collectivists. They abhor the concept of individual liberty, individual achievement, individual autonomy, individual identity. To them, there are no individuals, only groups.

You say this doesn't sound like any of the political philosophies espoused in the United States? Think a minute.

If you're black, you are required to be “liberal,” in the authoritarian's view. If you're black and vote for anything other than a Democrat, you must be an uncle tom.

I know a lesbian who votes Republican. Aren't you shocked? It's the group that matters, not the individual. That's the message.

I apologize right now for all the years that I have called Bill Clinton a liberal. That's an insult to liberals. I disagree with most parts of liberal philosophy, but most of the truly liberal people I know don't spend their lives trying to figure out how to destroy the freedoms we enjoy.

Yet the people that liberals follow (in the blind belief that having a “D” after your name on the ballot guarantees a certain mind set) are often authoritarians in liberal clothing.

I'm beginning to see that the most difficult task for anyone trying to persuade people to quit voting for the Clinton/Carvill/Kennedy crowd is shining the light of truth on the fact that the national leaders of the Democratic Party are not liberals — they're authoritarians.

Yes, it's true that there are authoritarians in the Republican camp, too. The difference is that in the Democratic Party, at the national level, the authoritarians have achieved iron-fisted control over the party machinery, and they are served by a panting, sycophantic national press corps whose members are taken in by the idea that the only reason these people want to crush our freedoms under their fists is because they care about us so much.

But, as I have pointed out in recent columns, the authoritarians on the other side of the aisle bear watching just as much.

For instance, I can't tell you how disappointed I am that, with Republicans in control of Congress for six years, we haven't made more progress toward a balanced budget amendment and a flat tax or sales tax to replace the current, oppressive income tax system. I've been blaming it on Clinton's Br'er Rabbit tactics (“Please don't throw me in that government shutdown briar patch!”), but I can't help but wonder whether the ease with which the GOP has been distracted from its goals has more to do with its own love of power than with its powerlessness against Clinton.

But, back to labels. I've always called myself a conservative, though I took the Libertarian Party's test and my scores showed up as just to the right of center with libertarian tendencies.

I've looked at the Libertarian Party platform, and I could support most of it. I just never voted that way because when too many people vote for third and fourth party candidates we usually end up with Democrats.

In the end, the only way the majority in this country are going to get what we want is to rise up and demand it.

If the Republicans don't get on the ball, it's not enough to simply vote Libertarian or Reform, thus guaranteeing a return to Democratic authoritarian rule. We've got to get the nation's leaders, Democrat and Republican, by the scruff of the neck and make them listen.

With the Internet now serving as a very speedy conduit by which we can convey our feelings, I can only hope that people will start making some demands.

If we don't get control of this monster government we've created pretty soon, it's going to be too late.

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