What’s a Moonbat?
July 27, 2007 by Orlando
Filed under Uncategorized
Among conservatives, the word moonbat is well known and an often used epithet referring to liberals. Most liberals do not have the foggiest idea what it means or where it came from. So, here’s a little history lesson.
The term was first used in 1947 by a scifi writer named Robert A. Heinlein. Heinlein used the term first in his 1947 short story, “Space Jockey“, to describe the third stage of a rocket bound for the moon. But that isn’t where the name became political.
George Monbiot is considered the primary genesis of the word. An activist, environmentalist, and journalist, he had highly liberal views in Britain. In 2002, Perry de Havilland of Samizdata.net, a libertarian weblog, coined the term “moonbat” in describing Monbiot–a play on words.
Since that time, it has been picked up and made popular primarily by journalist Howie Carr of the Boston Herald and commentator Michelle Malkin. Now it has become a regular moniker in referring to outlandish and over-the-top liberals in the blogosphere and the internet.
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I never use words when I don’t know their meaning. Now that I know, I’ll be using it, um… “liberally.”