What Does This Leftist Phrase

Why has the phrase "liberal" come to mean left, or socialist, when it comes from liberty, which is not necessarily a value of the left?

“Liberal” does not come from “liberty”; it dates c1801 from French libéral. It is more closely related to the word and spirit of liberality (i.e., generosity).From the Encyclopedia Britannica:Liberalism: political doctrine that takes protecting and enhancing the freedom of the individual to be the central problem of politics. Liberals typically believe that government is necessary to protect individuals from being harmed by others; but they also recognize that government itself can pose a threat to liberty.You can read more about the tenets of liberalism here, among other places: LiberalismLiberal — Online Etymology Dictionary(noun) 1820, "member of the progressive and reformist political party of Great Britain, an anti-Whig," from liberal (adj.). General meaning "person of liberal political principles or tendencies" (without reference to party) is by 1832; in reference to persons of a political ideology not conservative or fascist but short of socialism, from c. 1920.(adjective) mid-14c., “generous,” also “nobly born, noble, free;” from late 14c. as “selfless, magnanimous, admirable;” from early 15c. in a bad sense, “extravagant, unrestrained,” from Old French liberal “befitting free people; noble, generous; willing, zealous" (12c.), and directly from Latin liberalis “noble, gracious, munificent, generous,” literally “of freedom, pertaining to or befitting a free person”

Why is the leftist anti semitism benign?

I think that the premise behind the question is wrong. Bias is bias, prejudice is prejudice, and antisemitism is antisemitism. It really doesn’t matter the politics behind the sentiment. It’s wrong.Having said that, I firmly believe everyone has biases – some positive, others negative. It is human nature. The best we can do is be aware when we are exhibiting bias, acknowledge it and attempt to change our behavior – especially when those biases color our vision of other people – and prevent us from seeing them as individuals rather than a member of a group.The Left will attempt to explain away their anti-Semitic impulses by claiming that they don’t dislike Jews – they are against Israel’s treatment of Palestinians. Or, they will use the phrase, “I like Jews, but …” Once that “but” is out of their mouths, it negates everything that was said before it. Equally aggravating is the phrase “some of my best friends are Jews” to try and show that they don’t have an issue with Jews. The whole phrase comes out as one elongated “but” – because after someone says something like that, something negative is either implied, or outright said.Traditionally, the worst anti-Semitic impulses have come from nationalistic roots – which are traditionally associated with the far Right. Pogroms and the Holocaust were episodes of right-wing nationalism blossoming into violent hate. Left wing politics aren’t usually associated with extremism of a similar nature – however, Jews in the Soviet Union, particularly in the 1970s, were heavily constricted in their movements and regarded suspiciously. Many wished to leave the Soviet Union and immigrate to Israel (or another western country) and were prevented from doing so. Others ended-up Soviet gulags. The Communist Party wasn’t particularly supportive of its Jewish population – and, from a western perspective, it doesn’t get any further to the left than the Soviet Union’s Communist Party.N.B.: In a totally mind-bending exercise, realize that in today’s Russia the conservatives are members of the Communist Party and the liberals are capitalists.So long story short, antisemitism on the right or the left isn’t ever benign.

Do people on the left use the phrase "politically incorrect" non-ironically? Or is it more of a pejorative from the right?

I have never heard a liberal say that, ever. I have only heard ‘Politically correct’ or ‘politically incorrect’ used by the right to insinuate the left is trying to take away their freedoms, and when I do hear it, it has the intentions of taking away credibility from liberals when they speak eloquently.When a liberal says something sane and logical in an eloquent way, the right calls it politically correct to make the listener discredit it as brain washing anti-freedom devil words.When a liberal attacks a conservative for saying something that doesn’t even make logical sense, the conservative will attack back insinuating the liberal was trying to silence them for being politically incorrect, when that was never the intention.This is how it has been for many many years. Those words are meaningless words used in order to discredit ‘good’ words, and to make people accept words which are ‘bad’.