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Alan Colmes brings hope and anger to millions each week as the cohost of Hannity & Colmes, the number one debate program on television. He also hosts the wildly popular radio show Fox News Live with Alan Colmes. His previous venues include WABC, WNBC, and WEVD in New York and WZLX in Boston. In 1990, Colmes hosted the Radio Hall of Fame Awards. He lives in New York City.

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As one of the foremost liberal voices in television and radio today, Alan Colmes has long been braving the wilds of controversial issues and conservative slander. The host of the talk-radio show Fox News Live with Alan Colmes and cohost of Fox News Channel's hit debate show Hannity & Colmes, Colmes now offers this witty, passionate wake-up call to America.

Colmes takes on the fundamental question: How can we protect our nation without diminishing our liberties, and regain our place in the world as an example of democracy? Colmes urges Americans to see past the government's manipulation of the War on Terror to silence critics; the lies we've been force-fed about the war in Iraq and Afghanistan; and the conservative smear campaign that has turned "liberal" into a four-letter word. From debunking the myth of the liberal media to exposing conservative hypocrisy, Colmes presents the issues with thoughtful, provocative arguments, hard facts and logic, and searing humor.

Certain to spark debate and cause readers to reevaluate and reaffirm their beliefs, Red, White & Liberal powerfully argues that despite our differences, we must extend our hands across party lines to find solutions, protect our shores, and preserve our freedoms.

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Red, White & Liberal

ReganBooks

Chapter One

Red, White & Liberal

I'm proud to be a liberal. In my spare time I hug trees. I'd ratherhug a tree than embrace a tax cut we can't afford. Ever try to huga tax rebate check? Bark burn is so much more pleasant than papercuts. I believe there is a role for government. So do conservatives, inspite of the fact that they love to shout about getting government offour backs. They love government, too. They just use governmentdifferently than liberals do. Conservatives want government to tellyou what you can't do. In fact, the Republican view of legislation is"Just Say No." I am a liberal because I believe in what governmentcan do as a force for good. I believe that, when used properly, government can create opportunity, equality, and equity. I agree withRon Brown, the late Commerce secretary and former chairman ofthe Democratic National Committee, who stated, "The commonthread of Democratic history, from Thomas Jefferson to BillClinton, has been an abiding faith in the judgment of hardworkingAmerican families, and a commitment to helping the excluded, thedisenfranchised and the poor strengthen our nation by earningthemselves a piece of the American Dream. We remember that thisgreat land was sculpted by immigrants and slaves, their children andgrandchildren."

I Am Not a Party Animal

The more I learned about the Democratic Party and its rich history, the more I felt at home with its ideals. This is not to say I agree withevery Democratic politician, policy position, or pronouncement. And I'm often more critical of my own party than of the opposition. When I'm critical of Democrats or liberals on Hannity & Colmes, itdrives my fellow liberals crazy because they feel I should be an ideological cheerleader. This is not something I can do while maintaining my intellectual honesty. I'm not a Democrat because I love political organizations (I am a loner, not a joiner), and I don't agree withmuch of the inside baseball that gets played within and between ourAmerican political parties. I'm a Democrat because the progressiveideas in which I fervently believe are closer to what the Democratsstand for than what the Republicans profess, and those two partiesare the only viable infrastructures for electing candidates to office.

That being said, I heartily identify with the roots of the party. "The party of the common man" was founded by Thomas Jeffersonin 1792 to fight for the Bill of Rights and stand up to the elitistFederalists. In the next century, William Jennings Bryan, known asthe "Great Commoner," was considered the conscience of the nation. As a two-term congressman and three-time presidential nominee, Bryan fought for and won women's suffrage, direct elections of senators, and a progressive income tax. As President Woodrow Wilson'ssecretary of state and a peace advocate in the early part of the twentieth century, Bryan won the approval of thirty nations to agree toinvestigations of disputes before going to war. Wilson, that century'sfirst Democratic president, brought us the League of Nations, theFederal Reserve Board, and the first child and welfare laws. PresidentFranklin Roosevelt brought our country out of the Great Depressionwith his New Deal, Works Progress Administration, and the creationof Social Security. President Harry Truman integrated the armedforces. President John F. Kennedy created the Peace Corps andbrought a new optimism to America. President Lyndon Johnson's administration heralded the civil rights movement with the CivilRights Act and the Voting Rights Act. It was Johnson's Great Societythat declared war on poverty and created Medicare and Medicaid.

In short, Democrats don't need to add the word compassionate tofurther define what they are: the notion is already built in to the philosophy. Liberals are the ones who have fought to move forwardwhile conservatives have done what their name implies: conserve thepast. That's why I'm proud of the "L" word and what it represents. And that's why I'm committed to fight for and uphold its ideals.

Liberal, Literally. Are You One?

The conservatives' tactic of making the word liberal seem as thoughit should be one of the seven words you can't say on the broadcastmedia has been brilliant. The word drips off the tongue, as though ifit's said too often, the speaker will have an aneurysm as it parts thelips. (Conservatives also love to use the diminutive "lib" to marginalize the left.) When Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi was running forand then became leader of the House Democrats, the words SanFrancisco liberal were spit out of conservative mouths as though thepronouncers were trying to dispel toxic bile from their systems. Thelast time I checked, San Francisco is part of the very same Americathat conservatives claim to love so much. Or maybe they only lovethose parts of America that got colored red on the Bush/Gore mapsof 2000. Sixties conservatives said, "My country: Love it or leave it." I say: "My country: Love it all or don't love it at all."

Liberal is a very nice word. Say it a few times. Let it roll off thetongue. Say it loud and there's music playing. Say it soft and it's almostlike praying. Wait a minute ... that's "Maria" from West Side Story. Actually, it wouldn't be such a bad idea if liberals could embrace thisword with the same kind of glee with which Maria embraced her beauty:

"I feel liberal, oh so liberal. I feel liberal and witty and bright
And I pity those conservatives who think they're right."

Excerpted from Red, White & Liberalby Colmes, Alan Excerpted by permission.
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