It annoys me to be called unpatriotic. It also annoys me that "San Francisco values" and "liberal" are wielded in vitriolic name-calling. As code words for all that is evil with the world, or Democrats, anyway.

 

It demeans the public discourse to use code words as a substitute for meaningful debate. It lowers civil society to playground bullying. Moreover, by quashing inquiry, it leaves our country unprepared to compete in the 21st century.

 

To those who would bash San Francisco, and its liberalism, I would ask, why is it that San Francisco is one of the country's top tourist destinations? Why is it that California has one of the strongest economies in the union? Why is it that so many innovations come from the San Francisco Bay Area? Where do iPods come from, anyway?

 

Maybe, just maybe, it's our liberal attitude. We love our city. We love our state. The ocean is beautiful. We're nice people. The weather is awesome. Little colder than Los Angeles. We try not to live in fear. And we're not satisfied with the status quo.

 

It's this, really, that gets to the heart of this debate over liberalism vs. conservatism. Unpatriotic. Sometimes, we go overboard in critiquing the government, perhaps, but it's from a place of idealism. From not accepting the status quo as good enough.

Say you were given a coffee mug, and told that's the way mugs are. I suppose a conservative attitude would be to either just use the mug, or say if it was good enough for my dad, it's good enough for me. The liberal attitude might be hey, nice caffeine delivery mechanism. Next day, but it causes spills in my car, and it's too big for the cup-holders. Then, hey look at this nifty new slender metal cup with spill-proof lid I made last night.

 

Sure, this is a complete caricature, but so is the way Rovian Republicans characterize liberals. The problem with that, calling people unpatriotic, and undermining science, is that it creates citizens who can't contribute to the new economy. If you have a pre-conceived idea of how the world is, by definition, you won't conceive of new ideas.

 

If you're living in fear, it's hard to wonder. Wonder why the sky is blue, how the milky way got so milky, what makes the crashing sound of waves? Wonder, how can I leave the world a better place for my grandchildren. How can I contribute to human civilization? How can I make what's already great, better, more beautiful, more useful? How do I share my joy?

 

And maybe, just maybe, this attitude helps us grow the economy, not that money’s everything. Maybe it's why people like visiting San Francisco, to be around people who enjoy life. Maybe that's why my fellow denizens are so inventive. We're not afraid. Not afraid to ask why and how come.

 

Like, How come Republicans are so mean? Perhaps they've been watching too much football. It's a zero sum game. If you're winning, I must be losing. If blacks are winning, if gays are winning, if women are winning, if immigrants are winning, if latte-drinkers are winning, I must be losing. So I'll call them names to take them down. It's silly, and unworthy of a country this great.

 

Bash ideas, not people. Questioning ideas, programs, policies, strategies makes them stronger, not weaker. Liberals welcome being told we're wrong (when backed up by reasonable arguments), or didn't quite get it right, but it's just silly to call us names. And the inability to have one's ideas questioned, well, you can see where that leads us. (Though, there is a time, and place, for shut up and ship it.)

 

This country wins when everyone wins. When everyone tries to leave things just a little bit better, a little saner, a little prettier, a little easier, than when they found them. In their own way. Call it San Francisco values. Call it liberal. Call it America 2.0. The first version wasn't bad, but as someone I worked for used to say, "Don't let good be the enemy of better."