“Question” and “not-fear” aren’t synonyms, either. Both modern positions evolved from “question” into something else.

Not fearing authority is empowering, and fear of authority is crippling. One of the greatest gifts the Founders tried to give us was to liberate us from fear of the government by explicitly inverting the power relationship. It’s a shame to see conservatives throwing away the Founder’s gift and reverting to the old serf-mentality of fear of Authority.

I’ll admit that the gift can be a burden, because it means accepting responsibility for what the government does. And perhaps fear of government is a way of evading responsibility. But that doesn’t work in a democracy. Even when you lose the vote, you’re still responsible for the outcome.

Americans have no recourse to the old English dodge “To the Queen! May she always be right, but my country, right or wrong.” We are the kings and queens of our own country, and we have only ourselves to blame when our country is wrong.

In conservatives it seems to have changed into the “fear the government” meme. Authority has become the quintessential “Other”, distant, impossible to understand or predict, capricious, arbitrary, and above all, scary.And not just government; many conservatives seem to view Big Business and its institutions that way, as scary entities who must be placated lest the Job Creators take away our livelihoods.

For me, and I see it in most other liberals, the notion of a government “of the people, by the people, and for the people”, has really taken root. And not just in my perceptions of government, but in general it applies to my relationship with all institutional authorities. I expect openness and transparency, and accountability. Corporations in particular bug me because they actively try to evade all three values. But one thing’s for sure: I’m not afraid of Authority, and when I see it misbehaving, I take for granted that I have the power to influence, if not change, rogue authorities.

I think that the phrase “question authority” doesn’t often come to mind because it’s so internalized. It’d be like a fish needing a “swim in the water!” bumper sticker. I’ve spent my life questioning authority.

By this sign ye shall know them, especially when affixed on a Cadillac.

Maybe it’s the ideological company you keep, Tom?