I titled this email [Living] Liberally although the brackets really mean that you can put any word in there you wish. I was going to see if $uperbush had anything he wished to say, but he apparently has some kind of speech scheduled tonight so he claimed to be unavailable. I'll watch his TV appearance tonight and see if he has anything interesting to say. Well, given that it's $uperbush, I'm certain he'll provide us with some real pearls- even if they aren't pearls of wisdom. One prediction, $uperbush tonight will blame others for the failure that is our occupation of Iraq. O'Someone been Forgotten will not be mentioned. Saddam Hussein will be mentioned, although the reference will have no point.

Anyway, I was thinking about what a "Liberal" is. A liberal is a free-thinking person. Thank you. Please join us Thursday night on the back patio of Juanita Greenberg's on King Street for another exciting gathering of Drinking Liberally.

OK, a little more. Some Kennedy perhaps (paraphrased of course). If by "Liberal" you mean someone who looks ahead and not behind, someone who welcomes new ideas without rigid reactions, someone who cares about the welfare of the people -- their health, their housing, their schools, their jobs, their future, their civil rights, their civil liberties -- if that is what you mean by "Liberal," then I thing you've got a pretty good idea what a "Liberal" is. If you think a "Liberal" is someone who is weak on foreign policy and national defense, who is for big government and against local government, who is unconcerned with how tax dollars are spent, well, you just might want to come on down to Juanita Greenberg's on King Street on Thursday night, about 5:30 p.m., and have a drink with us and learn some truth.

I think Kennedy gave a pretty good response to those who would try to use "liberal" as a pejorative word. But I'm not sure that it's accurate to define liberal as someone who is concerned with the welfare of the people. Not accurate in as much as it would seem to eliminate the possibility that non-liberals could also be concerned about the welfare of the people; they are certainly are. Trying to define "liberal" or "conservative" as they exist in the American political system is futile, as the American political system is far too liberal for the term "conservative" to truly mean anything. If you believe in and support the United States Constitution, well, you're a liberal. So, no matter what you call yourself: wherever you go, there you are. Wait a minute. How did Yogi get in here?

Thomas Jefferson says that there are two kinds of people in this world (again, I'm paraphrasing here, they didn't talk like that 200 years ago): aristocrats and democrats (OK, those are the words Jefferson used). The aristocrats believe that people are ranked according to their abilities, or how "good" or "hard-working" they are. The democrats believe that people are equal no matter their "station" in life and that no one is better or more deserving than others.

Anyhoo, that's all I've got to say about that.

There is a " No More Troops" rally in Marion Square this Thursday night at 6:00 p.m. to express opposition to whatever $uperbush is going to say tonight regarding his decision to send "yet more troops, yet still not enough troops" to Iraq. Yep, everyone already knows what he is going to say. All you have to do is think of the right thing; $uperbush is guaranteed to do the complete opposite of the right thing. $uperbush is going to announce that he is going to escalate 21,500 additional troops to Iraq. Or is he saying surge? It's hard to keep up because $uperbush is like a defective weather vane: he changes his mind when the political wind changes, just not in the same direction. Anyway, if you go to the rally, come on down to Juanita Greenberg's afterward for Drinking Liberally 'cause all that rallying makes you thirsty.

On January 22, there will be a photography show and benefit to help rebuild St. Bernard Parish in New Orleans. The benefit will held at Marie Laveau's starting at 6:00 p.m. If you are interested in that sort of thing, you can find out more information at www.buildstbernard.org. You can buy tickets in advance for $25.00 or $30.00 at the door.

And in case you haven't heard, Charleston has a second Drinking Liberally chapter. Well, not really Charleston because it's Folly Beach, but it's close enough that we can be really excited! Who knew there were that many liberals in South Carolina, much less Charleston? That brings us up to 7--that's right I said SEVEN-- DL chapters in South Carolina. Whoo hoo!! You can meet up with them every Friday night around 5:30-6ish at the Holiday Inn at 1 Center Street.

Liberally yours,
Leslie, Mike, & Sadie

Juanita Greenberg's
439 King Street - Downtown
5:30pm until we figure out what to put here this week--I guess we still haven't figured it out- it must be going around!
This and every Thursday
843.723.NACHO (6224)
On King, just a couple of blocks above Calhoun. Look for the blinking lights.
http://www.juanitagreenbergs.com/index.php

The next meeting of Reading Liberally will be on Tuesday, January 16, 2007, 6pm at Locklears on James Island. Next read: The Bully of Bentonville (How the high cost of Wal Mart's everyday low prices is hurting America) by A.Bianco.. For further information contact pennybtravis [at] yahoo [dot] com or elainetaylor [at] mysistershouse [dot] com .