02-20-2005, 01:24 PM
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#1
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Guru
Join Date: May 2002
Posts: 40,410
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Pretty interesting liberal
not much left
LOSING OUR DELUSIONS.
Not Much Left
by Martin Peretz
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One of the legacies of the '60s is liberal idealism about race. But that discussion has grown particularly outmoded in the Democratic Party. African Americans and Caribbean Americans (the differences between them another largely unspoken reality) have made tremendous strides in their education, in social mobility, in employment, in housing, and in politics as images and realities in the media. Even the gap in wealth accumulation between whites and blacks has begun to narrow, and, on this, even tremendous individual achievement over one generation cannot compensate for the accumulated advantages of inherited money over two or three generations. Still, the last 30 years separate two worlds. The statistics prove it. And this, too, we know in our bones.
But, in the Democratic Party, among liberals, the usual hustlers are still cheered. Jesse Jackson is still paid off, mostly not to make trouble. The biggest insult to our black fellow citizens was the deference paid to Al Sharpton during the campaign. Early in the race, it was clear that he--like Carol Moseley Braun and Dennis Kucinich--was not a serious candidate. Yet he was treated as if he just might take the oath of office at the Capitol on January 20. In the end, he won only a handful of delegates. But he was there, speaking in near-prime time to the Democratic convention. Sharpton is an inciter of racial conflict. To him can be debited the fraudulent and dehumanizing scandal around Tawana Brawley (conflating scatology and sex), the Crown Heights violence between Jews and blacks, a fire in Harlem, the protests around a Korean grocery store in Brooklyn, and on and on. Yet the liberal press treats Sharpton as a genuine leader, even a moral one, the trickster as party statesman.
This patronizing attitude is proof positive that, as deep as the social and economic gains have been among African Americans, many liberals prefer to maintain their own time-honored patronizing position vis-à-vis "the other," the needy. This is, frankly, in sharp contrast to President Bush, who seems not to be impeded by race difference (and gender difference) in his appointments and among his friends. Maybe it is just a generational thing, and, if it is that, it is also a good thing. But he may be the first president who apparently does not see individual people in racial categories or sex categories. White or black, woman or man, just as long as you're a conservative. That is also an expression of liberation from bias.
__________________
"Yankees fans who say “flags fly forever’’ are right, you never lose that. It reinforces all the good things about being a fan. ... It’s black and white. You (the Mavs) won a title. That’s it and no one can say s--- about it.’’
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02-20-2005, 02:59 PM
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#2
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Diamond Member
Join Date: Mar 2001
Posts: 7,788
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RE: Pretty interesting liberal
I read this earlier today after reading Wretchard's take on it via the Belmont Club. It's an interesting article, and sadly for the old party of Democracy, it provides a pretty damningly accurate diagnosis of many of ossified Left's worst problems...
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What has the sheep to bargain with the wolf?
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02-20-2005, 03:01 PM
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#3
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Guru
Join Date: May 2002
Posts: 40,410
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RE: Pretty interesting liberal
ditto... It's become the party of the status quo...
__________________
"Yankees fans who say “flags fly forever’’ are right, you never lose that. It reinforces all the good things about being a fan. ... It’s black and white. You (the Mavs) won a title. That’s it and no one can say s--- about it.’’
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02-20-2005, 03:26 PM
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#4
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Guru
Join Date: May 2002
Posts: 40,410
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RE: Pretty interesting liberal
Note completely on-topic but sort of an addendum from powerline
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The Insanity of the American Left
I can't count the number of emails we've gotten from Democrats on the Jeff Gannon "story." For the most part, they drip with venom and irrational hatred. I'd like to believe that there is some kind of a respectable left in this country, but where is it? It sure isn't showing up in our email inbox.
This missive, which came in this morning, is typical:
I guess you "holier-than-thou moral values conservatives" don't have a problem with gay male prostitutes who pose as conservative reporters as long as they are republican, huh? Hypocrites. If there is a god, you hypocrites are all going to hell. (I don't think God will forgive you, even if you ARE republican.)
The stupidity of these people, as well as their malice, is mind-boggling. Can anyone discern what this guy, and the dozens if not hundreds of Democrats who have sent more or less identical emails, are talking about? Why are liberals obsessed with the fact that Jeff Gannon was once a gay escort? Beats me. Why does this character think that as conservatives, we are duty-bound to hate gay escorts? Beats me. We've done close to 10,000 posts on this site, and I doubt that we've ever mentioned gay escorts one way or another. Would I want my son to be one? No. Do I think that having once been a gay escort should disqualify Jeff Gannon from becoming a reporter, or entering any other occupation? No. Why do liberals find this so hard to understand? And how on God's green earth does this make us "hypocrites"?
Of course, what we've criticized the left-wing blogs for is posting nude photographs of Gannon. How does the twisted "logic" manifested by these emailers justify that contemptible practice? Once again: beats me. The only conclusion I can come to is that a great many liberals are so consumed by hate that they have gone stark raving mad.
__________________
"Yankees fans who say “flags fly forever’’ are right, you never lose that. It reinforces all the good things about being a fan. ... It’s black and white. You (the Mavs) won a title. That’s it and no one can say s--- about it.’’
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02-20-2005, 06:50 PM
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#5
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Banned
Join Date: Feb 2002
Location: Nowhere
Posts: 40,924
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RE: Pretty interesting liberal
The once proud Democratic party has fallen into insignificance.
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02-21-2005, 05:46 PM
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#6
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Guru
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: Cowboys Country
Posts: 23,336
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RE:Pretty interesting liberal
Quote:
Originally posted by: Drbio
The once proud Democratic party has fallen into insignificance.
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When a tree falls in a forest but no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?
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02-21-2005, 07:24 PM
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#7
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Platinum Member
Join Date: May 2002
Posts: 2,011
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RE:Pretty interesting liberal
Atleast the Dems have Reeds and Vinne
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02-21-2005, 09:58 PM
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#8
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Banned
Join Date: Feb 2002
Location: Nowhere
Posts: 40,924
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RE:Pretty interesting liberal
Quote:
Originally posted by: chumdawg
Quote:
Originally posted by: Drbio
The once proud Democratic party has fallen into insignificance.
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When a tree falls in a forest but no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?
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Yes, because vinnie and reeds will whine like crazy until someone hears them. Those damn republicans felled our favorite tree.
*yawn*
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