Editors' Note Welcome to the first issue of The L-Word this year (the second ever!). We founded this journal last year in the hopes of creating a forum for the diversity of liberal thought that exists on campus. In just this issue, we have poetry, a critique of mainstream liberalism, and articles on cultural and policy issues. Clearly, liberalism is not the rigid orthodoxy that its critics make it out to be. Rather, it is a growing, changing ideology (at least on this campus) and we hope to continue to foster that growth. Since our last issue in May, the Republican Congress has pushed through unfair budget and tax cuts benefitting the rich, derailed campaign finance reform, and generally continued to make life miserable for those of us who actually like the idea of "liberty and justice for all". But there is hope. Signs of a progressive resurgence abound, with the continued existence and success of the New Party at the local level, growing resistance to the corporate media and an increasing clamor for true campaign finance reform among its manifestations. The Democratic Party, while no bastion of liberalism, looks to have a chance at taking back the House in 1998 and installing Dick Gephardt as speaker. After that, it has the unenviable task of figuring out just what it means to be a Democrat -- whether we are a party of Clinton-style centrists, Gephardt-style liberals or, perhaps, something else. We prefer the third option. Our goal, then, is to publish the unique views of progressives at Swarthmore twice every semester and thus play our own small part in the ongoing debate among liberals and, more broadly, the country at large. In our next issue, to be published by the end of the semester, we plan to interview alumnus and former presidential candidate Michael Dukakis on the political changes since his candidacy and his views on the future of liberalism. We also are hoping to interview filmmaker and social activist Michael Moore during his visit to the campus in November. To the opinions of these liberal celebrities, we would like to add more of your input. Please help us show the many voices of Swarthmore liberalism by contributing articles, cartoons, or anything else. At the very least, let us know what you think of The L-Word -- we've been told that liberals have no common sense. -Ben Fritz and Brendan Nyhan

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