Howard Zinn: what's the deal with that guy?

[Brian Shanahan]

Hold it! "Obama is not liberal" Whiskey Tango Foxtrot?

Just because you like demonising people who disagree with you as "liberal" (despite true liberals being quite close to your political views) doesn't make Formy's point any less valid or true.

Obama is not a liberal, except in the sense that he likes "free" trade.

 

[Aegis]

Which Zinn actually addressed and I have quote twice now, including bolding the relevant portions...

He references the Meat Inspection Act, the Hepburn Act (concerning regulation of railroads) and the Pure Food and Drug Act in passing.

Where is he discussing how Roosevelt broke up the corporate monopolies, the oppressive boogeyman of his book?

Where is he commending his effort to reform Labor, particularly for children and women, and collective bargaining?

Where is he lauding Roosevelt for his fight for Women’s Suffrage?

Where does he reference any of these pertinent facts and their impact on the focus of the book, the common citizen?

They're nowhere to be found. Why? You would think what with the focus on the struggle of the common man, and the importance of these things that they would be included. But they're not. Instead, he paints Roosevelt as a Nobel Peace Prize-winning Warmonger and downplays his contributions and their effects. Again, why? Because it does not fit into his agenda.

That certainly is an interesting personal opinion which really cannot be corroborated with facts, as Zinn and other historians have done.

By all means, please show me where strong government regulation over business and freedom of individual rights sits on the conservative side of the political spectrum.

Teddy Roosevelt wasn't a liberal. Far from it. Merely because he was more liberal than Taft doesn't make it so any more than it makes Obama a liberal, much less a socialist. Political labels can be extremely misleading. It is far more telling what Roosevelt did which was largely opposed to what the platform of the Progressive movement stated. On that basis, one would think that Reagan and GWB were fiscal conservatives who were for quite limited government instead of the other way around.

He was not a liberal, but he had liberal leanings just like he had conservative leanings. He was committed to strengthening government control over businesses and was in favor of government programs to improve the quality of life for your average American. I cannot take you seriously if you're actually trying to argue that he was not a big contributor to the progressive movement in the country.