I remember years ago hearing children, myself included, reciting an old rhyme that began “Sticks and stones may break my bones”. There are numerous variations of the next line, from “But words shall never hurt me” to “But names will never hurt me” and many more. But the common theme was always that words, unlike physical weapons, cannot hurt you.  That of course has always been untrue. What you are called, or what you call yourself, can cause damage.  It can also cause confusion.  And the meaing of words can change, even if you try to prevent it. I have used the words classic liberal a number of times over the past few years to describe a needed political movement that has been somewhat dormant and cast aside by most of the current political parties in our country. If you search Wikipedia, you will find what they consider the definition of the word.  You can also find definitions of libertarian, democrat, republican, and even green in relation to political movements and parties. According to the Internet acolytes who worship at the alter of the Wiki and feed it content, both libertarianism and classic liberalism are forms of the larger movement commonly called liberalism.  They are frequently considered synonymous, but they really aren’t. Progressive liberals are another form of liberal.  In the US, general use of the word liberal has tended over recent years to mean the progressives (or to us classic liberals the BAD liberals), thus slapping the word liberal on something is in some circles akin to drawing a scarlet letter on it.  Libertarians have a similar problem as the right and the media try to change the meaning of the word into a radical branch of the Republican Party.  The current leadership of their party is helping. At one point in recent history, the word classic was added to identify one of the older strains of liberalism, one closer to the beliefs of the founders of our nation. But classic liberal still has the word liberal in it.  And people don’t just instantly understand it.  It has to be explained as being different from the progressives. Several organizations, including Project Liberal are trying to reclaim the word liberal.  And others are writing about reclaiming the word as well.  In the October 25 issue of The Colebrook Chronicle there is a letter (page 5 middle column) from Kevin Craig, in which he gives an excellent account of what has happened to the word liberal and what it really means, ending in his statement that he is reclaiming the word.  I strongly recommend reading it. While it is a difficult task, Mr Craig is correct.  The word needs to be reclaimed.  Liberal Party USA is one political party trying to do just that.  Some of the autonomous state parties that came together to form this organization have the word freedom in their names.  Others have liberal, classic liberal or classical liberal in their names.  One still has the word libertarian in their name, having disaffiliated from the LP and joined this new party.  Personally, I find this confusing, but that’s their choice. In some states, liberal works.  In others, such as my state of South Carolina, liberal isn’t just a scarlet letter, it is a white hot brand on your face and potential loss of job and income in a state that mostly bleeds bright orange/red for their demi-god president elect. But to names and words.  Almost everyone has suggested what they believe are better names for a new party than the word liberal.  Are they right?  Is liberal a word permanently lost, much as the simple phrase hail victory, spoken in German, has become permanently associated with a murderous dictator who caused the deaths of millions during World War II?  I hope not. So if you are a classic liberal and not afraid of names, don’t be afraid to shout to the world: I am a liberal! If enough of us do it, maybe we can reclaim the word.