Reply #38: Leftists/leftists are like Feminists/feminists

[Tansy_Gold]

My field is women's studies, so it's almost axiomatic that I fall back on the old "I'm not a feminist, but. . . ." routine. I think there's just as much "I'm not a liberal, but. . . ." out there.

Support for things like Social Security, public education, etc., indicate there is strong left/liberal faith (for lack of a better term) in the American consciousness. If it weren't, we wouldn't see people like * using the left/liberal rhetoric -- "No child left behind" -- as cover for their nefarious rightwing schemes.

The public outrage over such rightwing thefts as the California energy debacle and the closely related Enron collapse indicates a sensibility that corporations DO have a responsibility and that government SHOULD at some point intervene.

The Dems' monstrous and immoral capitulation on * v. Gore in 2000, followed by their total lack of backbone on subsequent issues even when the Jeffords switch gave them some power has, I think, made many on the left, even those who are very close to the center, a bit more hesitant to speak out. 9/11 gave the RR free rein to use fear as a political weapon, and they have wielded it effectively to cow an already timid opposition. But that is at the level of official apparatus; I think down in the trenches there's a lot more grumbling, but a lot less understanding of the theories behind the grumbling.

And now I'm just rambling :-)