Are you calling me a liberal?

With the engines revving on the 2004 presidential race in the US, there’s been a lot of talk about the use of the word, ‘liberal’ as a pejorative. I’m re-reading George Grant’s essay, “English-Speaking Justice” and he had this to say on the subject way back in ‘74:

It is indeed true that North American journalists often obscure practical issues by opposing ‘liberalism’ to ‘conservatism’. A clearer way of speaking is to call the practical opposite of ‘conservatism’ ‘progressivism’. Liberalism in its generic form is surely something that all decent men accept as good - ‘conservatives’ included. In so far as the word ‘liberalism’ is used to describe the belief that political liberty is a central human good, it is difficult for me to consider as sane those who would deny that they are liberals.