The real meaning of liberalism

Conservatives and Detention

Andrew Sullivan reminds us that the future of liberal democratic values holds steady in a genuinely liberal direction:

"Every time I'm told that my concern for individual liberty makes me a leftist, it helps to check in with the Tories in Britain. On so many issues - climate change, civil partnerships, and civil liberties - they help reassure me that the conservatism I have long loved is not dead. It has just been eclipsed by the authoritarian tendencies in the new GOP."

Andrew's comments are a good cue to us that it is America whose future as a lone superpower is in doubt, not the future of liberal democratic values. It is America whose commitment to liberal values is being tested, right now. I cannot say that she is passing that test admirably, at this point. But I can say that liberal democrats internationally are who will keep her honest. And she needs to be kept honest.