yes, this is how we got Hilter, Stalin, Mao, the great 20th Century liberals. Jefferson saw them coming 200 years ago,( based on 3000 years of history) and so gave us freedom from all forms of central government going forward. Our goof liberals have lived through it and still they don't see that central government monopolies will be corrupt at best and genocidal on average.
Liberals should be illegal as the Constitution intended.
Here is your lesson for the day...
The antithesis of authoritarianism is liberalism.
While not all conservatives are authoritarians; all highly authoritarian personalities are political conservatives.
Robert Altmeyer - The Authoritarians
What Mao Zedong said about liberalism
革命的集体组织中的自由主义是十分有害的。它是一种腐蚀剂,使团结涣散,关系松懈,工作消极,意见分歧。它使革命队伍失掉严密的组织和纪律,政策不能贯彻到底,党的组织和党所领导的群众发生隔离。这是一种严重的恶劣倾向。
"Liberalism is extremely harmful in a revolutionary collective. It is a corrosive which eats away unity, undermines cohesion, causes apathy and creates dissension.
It robs the revolutionary ranks of compact organization and strict discipline, prevents policies from being carried through and alienates the Party organizations from the masses which the Party leads.
Combat Liberalism - Selected Works of Mao Tse-tung
Was he referring to classic liberalism or modern liberalism?
I quite like Bfgrn's quote defining liberalism in opposition to authoritarianism. That's what it should be in my view. But, as you seem to be suggesting, many people who claim to hold liberal values seem ready, willing and able to indulge very authoritarian practices to achieve their goals.
I don't think, however, it's fair to condemn liberalism based on the actions of today's Democrats or Republicans, or of any specific leaders who claim to be liberals. It's a set of ideas and principles. I suppose the question is, what is included in the ideology. Being anti-authoritarian is a fine start, but it's easy to quickly load up liberalism goals and values that contradict that start.