Rep Gwen Moore of Wisconsin went on C-SPAN and discussed her views about Democratic Socialism and advised her fellow Democrats not to be so afraid of the word socialism because they are going to get called that by the Republicans, whether it's true or not.

We have a candidate who is a democratic socialist and an opponent in my primary on the same day who is a Democratic Socialist, and I think it is going to be a campaign -- I think it already is an issue that contenders in the democratic primary for governor are dealing with. What I can say is that I am a progressive Democrat.

And I think all of us are going to be called socialists, and whoever comes out of that primary will be called a socialist, even if she does not win. Any of the people who emerge will be called that because I think republicans are trying to say that anybody who believes in some sort of universal care, Social Security funds that provide meals on wheels to the elderly -- they want to frame all of the safeguards that we have in our capitalist society as socialist. regulating industries so they do not poison the water and air. They want to call that socialist. To try to have alternative energy sources and to diminish our fossil fuel and print, they call that socialist. I think that democrats have to stop being shy about that term, which will be hurled at us.

I have a Democratic Socialist who has every intention of establishing myself or her -- from her because I believe in free markets. I believe that society cannot function without investors and providing return on investment. But I also want a return to the community, because we have allowed people to become wealthy in our society, and if you have a trillionaire, they ought to give back proportionately to make sure that the vulnerable are taken care of. Children who cannot work. The disabled. So that is the balance everybody wants to see.

Sage advice indeed. The Republicans have already fallen back to red scare tactics because they sure as hell can't run on their records with gas and grocery prices going sky high. If the Democrats get defensive about the word, it would only serve to give the Republicans the power they wouldn't have otherwise. The Democrats should stay on the offense.