Lost in the noise and clamor of our politically polarized nation is the notion of love, that most basic human concept and the main ingredient of what we like to call our humanity. Love for others was one of the prime factors in the creation of this place called the United States of America. Would anyone claim that “All men are created equal” if they did not have love in their hearts?

The claiming of inalienable human rights for every citizen is a statement that all human beings are worthy of dignity, freedom, opportunity, respect, and love. When you include “the pursuit of happiness” as a main point in your first Declaration, there’s no denying the love and humanity of our Founding Fathers.

The rights to free speech, freedom of assembly, a free press and freedom of religion apply to all Americans, rights we are all exercising like crazy lately, telling one another how wrong they are and where to get off. Many of us are even attacking the patriotism of those who disagree with our politics, the act of a scoundrel with no ideas and one unworthy of our heritage of love.

Like we do today, our Founding Fathers had their fair share of knock-down, drag-out fights over what it means to be American, but never questioned the motives of their opponents, only their correctness. That’s love. The founders of America came from many different backgrounds and brought vastly differing life experiences and world views to the negotiating table when it was time to decide what sort of nation America would be.

There were strong central government advocates, weak central government advocates, those who would split the colonies into several nations, and those who would erase the boundaries of the various states. There were limited monarchists, parliamentarians and those who only wanted a different relationship with Britain, sort of like what would become the British Commonwealth system.

All were heard from and all ideas considered by the framers of the U.S. Constitution, taking their cue from Voltaire when he declared: “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend unto death your right to say it.” From the very beginning of America all men were accorded dignity, respect and the right to their own minds. Only love is strong enough to transcend differences of opinion, either on a personal level or in the political arena.

Which is not to say that our Founding Fathers or their Constitution were perfect. They themselves recognized this by including a process on how to correct their mistakes by amending the Constitution. And amend it we did, redressing the disenfranchisement of slaves, Native Americans, women and those who did not own land. They designed this country to expand its love and humanity, never to limit or narrow it.

This broad umbrella of freedom attracted immigrants from everywhere on earth, not for some nebulous dream of streets paved with gold, but just for a chance to live and work as an integral part of society, not as a vassal or second-class citizen. Once here, our melting pot made for some strange bedfellows, with ideas from all over the world bumping up against one another and competing for our ears, but no one was killed or imprisoned for their words or beliefs. Love doesn’t roll that way.

People everywhere get into arguments, we rub each other the wrong way, we try to convince the other guy we are right. It doesn’t always work out, like with the Civil Was that America had to endure to finally erase the stain of slavery from our young democracy. What is war but our failure to embrace love, a breakdown of our human decency? Love is the basis for passing laws that benefit people, whether to expand their civil rights, to provide health care for the elderly or to allow every voice to be heard in the voting booth.

Love is why we require that every child receives an education and immunization against disease, and why every worker benefits from Social Security in their twilight years. Love does not abandon people to cruel fate. Love is what allows the peaceful transition of power every four or eight years, with no exceptions in our 234 year history. Love is okay with another person being a conservative, or a liberal, or a member of a different religious faith or a seemingly exotic ethnic background.

After all, if someone seems exotic to you, then the reverse must be true and it is you who seems strange to them. The simple truth that love teaches us is that none of that matters very much when respect, honor and dignity are mutually granted. Love may agree to disagree, but love is never tempted to kill, injure or imprison another human being for frivolous reasons.

The Politics of Love is as simple as the Golden Rule: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” Unless you enjoy being condemned and attacked, odds are you won’t do that to the other guy. Like the song says: “What the world needs now is love, sweet love.” We need love in our hearts, in our lives and in our politics. Hatred, rage and warfare are beneath us. Let us not be afraid to speak of love in our political affairs. We need it.

Editor’s note: While we still don’t have comprehensive socialized medicine in America despite the new Health Care Reform Bill, it’s at least a step in the right direction. For 40 years the most successful and cost-effective health insurance has been the governement-run Medicare and Medicaid programs. This is socialized medicine for, respectively, senior citizens and poor people. Unlike every other industrialized wealthy democracy, America does not provide national health care for every citizen and this law won’t change that sad state of affairs. It does force private insurers to shut down their death panels by making it illegal to deny coverage for preexisting conditions for the applicant or their dependents, so that’s something. Long used as a curse word by conservatives, socialism is part of the fabric of American life and always has been to one degree or another. Ask the Chinese Capitalists, who in a startling role reversal, now call us “Running Dogs of Socialism.” Bobcrespo.com ran the following piece on September 4th of 2009 in anticipation of our Congress growing a spine and implementing socialized medicine to accompany the following social programs. That didn’t happen, but it will in the near future.

Here’s a partial list of Federal socialized programs in America.

THE ARMED FORCES: The United States Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines and Coast Guard are sworn to defend their nation and protect every citizen without sending an itemized bill to anybody.

THE INTERSTATE HIGHWAY SYSTEM: Our extensive system of interstate highways are free for anyone to drive anywhere they like, even New Jersey.

FEDERAL WATERWAYS: Any craft from a canoe to an ocean liner can sail to their hearts’ content on the rivers, streams and lakes of America for no charge.

THE FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION: If somebody kidnaps you or commits some other federal crime against you, The F.B.I. will spare no expense to hunt down the perpetrators, for years if they have to, at no charge to you.

BUREAU OF PRISONS: Once the F.B.I. locks up the bad guys they get to stay in Federal prison for the duration of their sentences on the government’s dime. The Feds also feed and clothe the criminals and provide them with health care, education, libraries, religious services, recreation, visitors’ facilities and legal counseling. For free.

CENSUS BUREAU: They count our heinies every 10 years for free.

CONGRESS: Our elected officials in the House of Representatives and the Senate charge us nothing for looking after our interests (and their own).

THE PRESIDENCY: Again, no matter how good or how lousy are our presidents, they have to make do with their salary, the While House and Air Force One and can’t send us a monthly bill for their services.

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENTS OF LABOR, AGRICULTURE, STATE, NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE, EDUCATION, INTERIOR,COMMERCE, ENERGY, TREASURY, TRANSPORTATION, HOMELAND SECURITY, JUSTICE, ENERGY, HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT, HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES: All of these federal departments provide their services to American citizens for free, whether or not we know what the hell they all do.

BUREAU OF ENGRAVING: They run the U.S. Mint, printing our paper money and minting our coins. There is no surcharge. A $5 bill costs $5 and they don’t get to charge 26¢ for those fancy new State Quarters.

GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION: This agency does everything all the other ones don’t, just in case the government missed anything. Anybody recall ever getting an invoice for services rendered from these people?

THE SURGEON GENERAL: Neither a surgeon nor a general, The Surgeon General of The United States harangues us about our nasty habits just for the fun of it, sort of a Civic Inquisitor with no power. Good thing, too, they’ve got some pretty peculiar ideas. Truth be told, however, the government usually picks someone who’s very amusing, so it’s all in good fun. No harm done, really.

NATIONAL PARK SERVICE: Next time you swim in the ocean or wander around some forest, don’t look for turnstiles to charge you on the way in.

THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS: The world’s largest library, it is open to anyone wishing to do research or just read rare books and manuscripts. The price? Nothing twice!

SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION: Of course we pay into it though payroll deduction contributions, but unlike private investment firms, there is no charge for managing the largest and most successful social insurance investment in history and there is a guaranteed return for contributors and cost-of-living adjustments. The second largest and equally successful social program? Medicare. Our retirees are very well looked after.

That’s quite a list of social benefits available to Americans, and by no means anywhere near a complete one. Wouldn’t it be great if we had free medical care so we could all live long and healthy lives in order to better enjoy these things? The taxes we pay have created all these wonderful departments and agencies. If we spend 10% less on just one of them, The Department of Defense, we could all have comprehensive health care. There is no reason why our tax dollars need to continue spending more on weapons that the rest of the world combined (you could look it up at the Library of Congress) while 50 million Americans have no medical coverage at all. Either that, or eliminate the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and farm out their functions to other agencies. Whether or not they charge for doing whatever it is they do, that combination just seems like an ugly incident waiting to happen. Hardly seems worth it, even for free. Better we should look after our nation’s health.

Once again the conservative right wing has succeeded in hoodwinking Americans of below average intelligence with no familiarity with history or politics that liberal is a bad thing to be, almost a curse word. Well, what can one say except that when someone calls someone a left wing liberal, they’re actually putting them in some esteemed company, those Americans whose politics looks out for the other guy as well as themselves, while the conservative philosophy is all about getting yours, and screw everyone else.

It sometimes takes courage to be a liberal, the courage to stand up for the rights of people you don’t care for all that much. If you believe in America and The Constitution of The United States, you realize that everyone has a right to have their say, even those who would like to subvert that Constitution by seeking to establish a state religion or wish to violate the Bill of Rights when it comes to “certain people.” They have no right to do these things, but they can talk about them all they like, otherwise their right to free speech is being violated. Liberals want no part of violating the rights of any individual or targeted groups of individuals.

Besides, liberals figure that the more people hear openly what these people are really all about, the more they will realize what complete assholes they are. No one is under any obligation to take such people seriously if they do not commit any criminal acts, and their right to be an asshole must be respected. Talk is cheap. Accomplishments speak much louder. Here’s a few people who might be considered by today’s conservatives to be no good left wing liberals:

George Washington: Farmer, land surveyor, soldier, revolutionary and father of his country.

His accomplishment: America.

Abraham Lincoln: Self-educated lawyer, Congressman, President.

His accomplishments: Preserving the Union and abolishing slavery.

Thomas Jefferson: Farmer, scholar, inventor, architect, ambassador, Secretary of State, Governor, writer, President.

His accomplishments: Writing the Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution, championing the Bill of Rights, defeating the Barbary Pirates who were attacking American shipping in Africa and founding the United States Military Academy at West Point.

John Adams: Farmer, lawyer, ambassador, Vice President, President.

His accomplishment: Among many other accomplishments, defending the British officers involved in the Boston Massacre, setting an important precedent in equal treatment before the law, no matter how distasteful the defendants may seem, perhaps stands out as his greatest contribution to Americanism. He took the case in spite of his fear that it would damage his reputation, but his honor and his commitment to his beliefs were more important to the man. Of the eight soldiers charged with murder, six were acquitted and two were convicted of the lesser charge of manslaughter. Apparently Americans didn’t hold his integrity against him and elected him the second President of The United States.

James Madison: Lawyer, Secretary of State, Congressman, President.

His accomplishments: Prevented Great Britain from reclaiming her colonies in the War of 1812. Wrote the Bill of Rights. Collaborated with Alexander Hamilton and John Jay on what became known as The Federalist Papers, a series of essays and arguments urging the people of the United States to adopt the Constitution, which was no certain thing in the days following The American Revolution.

Alexander Hamilton: Political philosopher, economist, soldier, Congressman, Secretary of The Treasury.

His accomplishments: The Federalist Papers, contributor to The United States Constitution, advocate of a strong national army and navy, established the United States Mint.

Patrick Henry: Planter, lawyer, Governor.

His accomplishment: The statement “Give me liberty or give me death!” This encapsulation of America still holds up. You think this guy would have shut up when the cynically named Patriot Act sailed thorough a fearful Congress and handed the terrorists a second victory to go with 9/11? He’d have put his life on the line defending the rights and the freedom of American citizens from this criminal and traitorous legislation.

John Jay: Revolutionary, diplomat, Secretary of Foreign Affairs under George Washington, First Chief Justice of The United States Supreme Court.

His accomplishments: The Federalist Papers and the establishment of the legal precedent that the individual states were subordinate to the Federal Government, further strengthening the Union of a young nation.

Thomas Paine: Revolutionary, pamphleteer, radical, inventor, author.

His accomplishments: The original blogger, his pamphlets, especially “Common Sense,” “The Age of Reason” and “The Rights of Man,” were instrumental in convincing the majority of British colonists to overthrow the monarchy and establish a democracy that scrupulously respected individual human rights and recognized no specially privileged classes of human beings. Equality before the law and in society were Mr. Paine’s passions, and he passed them on to all of us as our birthright.

Martin Luther King: Clergyman, Civil Rights activist.

His accomplishments: Led a peaceful and aggressive Civil Rights movement that confronted the innate racism in American society, and in the process changed America for the better forever.

John F. Kennedy: War hero, Senator, President.

His accomplishments: Completing the unfinished work of Abraham Lincoln by introducing the long overdue Civil Rights legislation, starting the race to the moon and winning the highest stakes poker game ever played against Nikita Khruschev’s Soviet Union during the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Franklin D. Roosevelt: Lawyer, Governor, State Senator, Assistant Secretary of The Navy, President.

His accomplishments: Social Security, minimum wage, the United Nations, The New Deal, winning World War 2. Generally considered, along with Washington and Lincoln, to be one of our three greatest presidents.

Lyndon Johnson: Master politician, Congressman, Senator, Vice President, President.

His accomplishments: Passing the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and The Voting Rights Act of 1965, continuing the work of the assassinated John F. Kennedy. Instituted Medicare, the highly successful medical program to take care of America’s senior citizens, and Medicaid, to provide health care for the nation’s poor. Initiated arms reduction negotiations with the Soviet Union during the Cold War. His Great Society and War on Poverty programs greatly improved education in the United States and opened up job market to minorities. Johnson also eliminated hunger from this nation with his Food Stamp and Public Assistance programs.

While none of these people mentioned above were perfect human beings, all of them acted upon their powerful belief in America values and the American people, and the universal human rights that our forefathers pronounced to be “self-evident,” and did so even in the face of stiff opposition, even at the cost of their lives in a few cases. Few of them were particularly religious, but all of them were content to let anyone follow any religion they wanted to as long as they did not force it upon others. All were highly moral and ethical, morality and ethics having very little to do with religious faith. These men were and remain the conscience of our nation, the people who made America America. All of them left our nation, and the world, a better place than they found it. Left wing liberals, every man jack among them. So when someone accuses you of being a left wing liberal, be  proud, be very proud. You’re in good company.