Digby takes on the myths advanced about Democrats, that we’re split between a centrist camp of sensible middles and a liberal camp on a permanent acid flashback.

It’s important to add that those so out of touch with the breadth of liberal thought within the democratic party surely suffer from a lack of experience with LSD. They should take some in a controlled experiment. It might cure them of their lying and stupidity.

‘Hippy’ or ‘Hippie’ was a term that meant something once, as the original or ‘real’ hippies never numbered more than a few hundred - or perhaps a couple thousand US citizens, at best. But the media broadened the label to include every male from high school to 29 as a hippy, solely because they had long hair. Women with long hair might or might not be so defined, depending on the rest of their attire.

Bill Clinton and George Bush had long hair, but few consider the former to be of hippy stock and none think Dubya was one, ever. Other attributes - drug use, libertine sexual mores and opposition to the Vietnam War (or complete pacifism) - were a part of the stereotype that was demonized. And it’s often overlooked that soldiers returning from Southeast Asia were one of the major conduits that caused a boom in drug use.

Because I had long hair, I was considered a hippie. The people I socialized with fought status quo thinking about many more issues than the war, the sex, the drugs (and the rock & roll).

Consider the odd notions hippies of that time advanced:

- food cooperatives, with savings from purchasing in bulk.
- good nutrition, from whole wheat bread, to organics, to herbal healing remedies.
- clean air and clean water and pollution controls
- recycling
- energy conservation
- reduced use of fossil fuels
- natural fiber clothing
- sustainable agriculture and forestry
- civil rights for women, Blacks, Latinos, gays and lesbians, everyone.
- frank discussions of sexual practices and sex education
- cooperation between different nations
- eliminating nuclear proliferation, in part to keep nukes out of the hands of rogues
- universal health care
- alternatives to healthcare, from chiropractors to naturopaths
- natural childbirth and breastfeeding
- pathways out of domestic violence situations
- alternate energy
- space exploration
- computers and robotics
- freer speech
- alternative media
- decriminalization and legalization of marijuana
- recognition of the dangers of alcohol and tobacco use
- honesty in politicians
- compassion towards the poor

Not all of their ideas are in this list, but it constitutes most of them. And not all were novel ideas that sprang from hippy origins, but they were ideas many, many hippies advanced.

As Digby noted, liberals coalesced to vote for moderate after moderate for the past 40 years, with only a few reasonably liberal candidates along the way that we got excited about, like Jerry Brown and Jesse Jackson.

During that same period, what did Republican conservatives advance?

-oil use
-plastics
-wars
-tax cuts
-deregulation of all businesses
-trade with China
-military contract fraud, waste and abuse
-selling weaponry to Saddam Hussein and the Ayatollah Khomeini
-massive accumulation of the national debt
-spying on US citizens and political opponents
-mandatory prayer in schools

Did I forget anything?

Most of the items in both lists have been mainstreamed. Which list has done more benefit to your hometown, this nation or the globe?

Not every item has become an unqualified winner. Among the very few hippies that were complete pacifists in 1970, most have matured and understand the importance of a strong defense and a rare need for’good’ countries to engage in combat. Moderation and safe sexual practices displaced the ‘free love’ era when HIV/AIDS showed up.

Thus, I wouldn’t be offended if liberals were labelled ‘hippies’ as long as the full list of ‘hippie’ endeavors were properly portrayed. When weighing the good and bad done by any organization or movement - Republican, Democrat, Christian, Jewish, Atheist, or whatever - I’d say the list of positive social contributions that the hippies advanced in the past 40 years beats all the others by miles.

Antiwar? That was the Republicans before World War II. Pro-terrorist? Hey, we didn’t arm Saddam, the Shah, the Ayatollah, Noriega, the Contras, nor Osama Bin Laden (Republican conservatives, and a few moderate Dems can take the credit for all of them). Drugs? Don’t blame the deadliest of these - tobacco and alcohol - on the hippies. Sex? Nope, we really didn’t invent that nor even homosexuality, but we did think it cool that women could enjoy it more when contraceptives and education and choices and no-fault divorces granted them greater control of their lives (and their orgasms) - though clerics of many religions have fought endlessly to get those uppity wimminz back under control.

Most liberals and ex-hippies that I’ve met wanted intervention in Bosnia, in the Hutu over Tutsi genocide, in Darfur, and wanted the war in Afghanistan to be completed properly, so even the ‘anti-military, weak defense’ claims made by political opponents don’t withstand scrutiny. War is best avoided when good alternatives exist, and an effective, strong military is an essential deterrent that prevents more wars. Anti-stupid-wars is something we’ve favored after the lessons provided to our nation in the stupid Vietnam War. (Which, by the way, was lost by the hawks, who poured money, bombs and men into it till they ran out of ideas.)

Media guys like David Broder should know all this, if they were good, objective journalists with all their marbles. And us liberal ex-hippies advocate stem-cell research that help with marble retention, affordable healthcare to treat marble deterioration, and a strong Social Security & pension system so journalists past their prime can retire in dignity and survive with more than a cat food diet.