Gliberal (glib + liberal)
The term “gliberal” (glib + liberal) has had a long—though infrequent—usage. Newspaper columnist Walter Winchell used “gliberal” in 1947; Averell Harriman used “gliberal” in 1954, during a successful campaign for governor of New York. A New York (NY) Times opinion by Ishmael Reed in 1973 was titled “Gliberals.”
The term “gliberal” can mean “falsely liberal” (i.e., conservative) or it can be defined as a liberal with false values.
Urban Dictionary
gliberal
Superficially, shallowly, or falsely liberal.
There is no Liberal Media; rather, it’s the Gliberal Media.
by Vlad the Impaler May 26, 2007
Merriam-Webster’s Online Dictionary
Main Entry: glib
Pronunciation: \ˈglib\
Function: adjective
Inflected Form(s): glib·ber; glib·best
Etymology: probably modification of Low German glibberig slippery
Date: 1584
1 a : marked by ease and informality : nonchalant b : showing little forethought or preparation : offhand “glib answers” c : lacking depth and substance : superficial “glib solutions to knotty problems”
2 archaic : smooth, slippery
3 : marked by ease and fluency in speaking or writing often to the point of being insincere or deceitful “a glib politician”
Google News Archive
24 June 1947, St. Petersburg (FL) Times, “Walter Winchell on Broadway,” pg. 20, col. 2:
Some Repubs were indignant at Truman’s tax veto…“There’s one consolation,” said a GOP man. “Thank goodness it is Truman in the White House instead of Roosevelt!”
“You mean,” snapped a gliberal, “thank F.D.R. that it is Truman in the White House instead of Hitler.”
24 September 1954, New York (NY) Times, pg. 16:
HARRIMAN SCORES
IVES AS “GLIBERAL”
Speech Accepting the Liberal
Party Nomination Gibes at
Senator’s Voting Record
Averell Harriman decried his Republican opponent for Governor, Senator Irving M. Ives, last night as a “gliberal,” and criticized seven votes he said Mr. Ives had cast.
The attack came in a speech made by Mr. harroman at the Liberal party’s state convention at the Capitol Hotel. The address was in acceptance of the Liberal nomination to add to his earlier Democratic designation.
“Our job,” Mr. Harriman said, “is to distinguish between a full-time liberal and a seasonal liberal. A seasonal liberal might be known as a ‘gliberal.’ That word ‘gliberal’ begins with a ‘G’ as in ‘G. O. P.’
“A ‘gliberal’ is a fellow who talks liberal out of one side of his mouth, and says ‘yes’ to the Old Guard out of the other side. By an odd coincidence, I happen to have a specific case in mind—my opponent for the Governorship of the State of New York.”
31 March 1973, New York (NY) Times, “Gliberals” by Ishmael Reed, pg. 35:
If these people who call themselves liberals, thereby degrading a noble word, aren’t really liberals, then what arethey? The word euphemism, in Whelton’s letter, is the key. They are glib—gliberals.
Google Books
6-13 July 1981, New York magazine, pg. 147, col. 2:
gliberal — conservative since January 20, 1981.
Robert Christenberry, Red Bank, N.J.
16 January 1987, Providence (RI) Journal, “Some new words for a new year,” pg. A21:
Gliberal A Democrat who believes that any problem can be solved if talked about enough.
New York (NY) Times
OBSERVER; Fast Food For Light Minds
By Russell Baker
Published: January 27, 1990
(...)
And sure enough, fleeing Super Bowl puffs, I am refreshed in The Washington Times by an elegant Op-Ed sneer at ‘‘American intellectualdom’’ and ‘‘gliberal opinion’’ - that’s ‘‘gliberal’’ with a ‘‘g.’’
Google Books
Word origins ... and how we know them:
Etymology for everyone
By Anatoly Liberman
Princeton, NJ: Recording for the Blind & Dyslexic
2008
Pg. 106:
...gliberal (a beautiful blend from a local newspaper);...