Those fruitcakes spoke for about 80% of the Democratic delegates
I think that’s wildly exaggerated. Both parties are more influenced than they should be by their extreme factions, much to the detriment of policymaking, but it’s nowhere near that far gone. It’s politically effective to declare that the other party is dominated by radical factions, and both parties have adopted that strategy. It’s substantially exaggerated in both cases.
....then you haven't been reading Le Monde or The Guardian or The Nation or listened to anybody on the left for a long time.
Well, you’ve got me there. I haven’t read any of those publications, or listened to anyone from the extreme left factions, for something well beyond a long time. Do you really think, though, that The Nation represents the view of the mainstream Democratic party? I’m sure that would come as news to their editors and readers, who would tell you that their views are completely unrepresented in the political sphere and largely excluded by the "corporate media".
I don’t know why we’ve fallen into this trap of using “the Right” and “the Republican Party” or “the left” and “the Democratic Party” as synonyms. Does anybody remember the concept of a political spectrum? If American politics goes completely bipolar, what happens to those of us who are stuck in the middle?
The odd thing, to me, is that there really is an intelligent debate going on out there. I read, on a fairly regular basis, Foreign Affairs, The New Republic, and The National Interest (the best source I’ve found for intelligent conservative commentary). In these places I see a considerable spectrum of well-reasoned views written by people who have taken the trouble to really study the issues involved and to apply some thought before reaching conclusions.
There’s abundant material there for a real debate that could lead to the development of effective policies. The problem is that nobody’s listening: the mindless knee-jerk ideological rants of the Michael Moores and the Ann Coulters get all the attention.
I don’t read columnists or bloggers at all. Can’t see why I should bother with the opinions of people who know no more about the issues than I do, and often know less. It seems strange to me that so many confuse blogs, which almost offer opinion, as a source of news. News and commentary are fundamentally different beasts, and that distinction needs to be maintained. |
