What's a liberal?

Kobe is my nephew. He's a political commentator at age eleven.

I got together with some of my family on Memorial Day to grill out at the park. They tease me about being "liberal," though I'm actually pretty moderate in my political views. I'm liberal in that I believe in spending to support the arts, but I'm conservative in that I believe in controlled spending. I like to think my opinions cancel each other out and leave me neutral, but I must admit I'm more liberal than anyone else in the family. They like to mess with me about it.

So, we're at the park and Justin (my brother) tells Kobe, "Ask Uncle Jeremy what a liberal is." Apparently he had already asked his dad before.

"Uncle Jeremy, what's a liberal?" Kobe asked.

"Well, a liberal is someone who believes in individual personal freedoms," I replied.

He looked at me a moment, and I thought he was going to ask something related. He did. It was in fact very related and straight to the point.

He said: "Uncle Jeremy, can you take out that earring? It's kind of scary. Why would a guy wear an earring?"

I couldn't think of what to say because I couldn't stop laughing. I told him that he had just earned a post on my blog. So here he is: Kobe, 11, political commentator.