Maggie Gallagher: LIBERAL INTOLERANCE

[JustFiveMoreMinutes]

"But one of the great discoveries of political scientists since the 1950s is that a culture of freedom is maintained by elites as much as, or in some cases more than, the masses. It's not hard to persuade a majority of good folks to run the bad guy out of town - if they can all agree on exactly who the bad guy is.

But what happens when these same political elites decide that the views of a broad swath of Americans are no longer legitimate? You can see the cultural processes at play in the backlash against "political correctness," in the attempt to shut down debate on global warming and, of course, in the ongoing efforts to delegitimize support for marriage as the union of husband and wife by equating it to moral racism.

When cultural elites agree that certain views are bad and should be suppressed, a cultural contest ensues. Sometimes, as with racism, these cultural elites succeed in reshaping the broader society, and their new views command broad social consensus. Perception of freedom may then rise, because fewer folks butt up against the constraints of dominant social norms created and sustained by the culturally powerful.

In the meantime, liberalism has to face the fact: The people who feel the most politically oppressed in the United States are exactly the people liberals most like to hate."


Maggie Maggie Maggie... throwing the word 'elitest' around sounding like a 7th grade boy crying 'faggot', well, is just plain juvenile!

It's ELITIST to 'as with racism' reshape broader society? Is that just a Freudian Slip there? Do you uphold the Dredd-Scott decisoion? And cry it was the 'elitists' that damned it to the grave that it was born for?

Liberalism has to face a fact? Oh no no no, NEO-CONSERVATIVES need to face a fact... its one thing to BELIEVE the earth is 6000 years old but quite another to DEMAND that schools denounce evolution. Personal beliefs in the realm of 'I personally think for myself that I should..' is a LONG cry that "Since I believe this way YOU MUST TOO..'

No liberal has passed a law demanding that you BELIEVE a certain way... only to allow people the freedom to believe DIFFERENTLY from you to NOT live in fear.

Dear Maggie, if you DONT believe in same-sex marriage.. then by all means, NEVER 'marry a woman'... but if you're not in the least bisexual, then aren't you really like a man trying to tell a woman what it feels like to give birth?

Sad Maggie... tis better to be elitist than a cry-baby.

[ck4829]

1. Translation: WAAAH! WAAAH! NOBODY WANTS TO LISTEN TO ME BECAUSE I PUSH PRO-BUSH PROPAGANDA!!!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maggie_Gallagher#Pay_scandal

[Faygo Kid]

2. She was also on the take from Bush, along with that Armstrong dude

Nothing from her should be posted here, simply on the basis that she is a proven paid shill for Bush.

[meow2u3]

3. Oxymoron alert

Liberal intolerance? Is that akin to military intelligence? or compassionate conservatism? or even jumbo shrimp?

[yowzayowzayowza]

4. JustFiveMoreMinutes:

Posts in the Editorials & Other Articles Forum require a link:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ucmg/20080207/cm_ucmg/liberalintolerance

Thx!!
:hi:

[JustFiveMoreMinutes]

8. Mea Culpa

Yeah, I remembered that late into the night.....

10 Demerits for JFMM!

[bemildred]

5. Yet more Orwellian rubbish from the whiney right propaganda machine. nt

[secularvoter]

6. The intolerance of not tolerating slavery...

I won't say that there aren't so-called "liberals" who are intolerant, (there really are feme-nazis, and black power groups, etc.) but for the most part, this "intolerant liberals" nonsense is like the "close minded Darwinists" nonsense.

"Slavery in the South was a way of life, those damn Yankees were so intolerant and anti-freedom that they forced their views on us Southerners and destroyed our way of life by denying us the freedom to hold slaves!"

Yeah, waa, waa....

[ixion]

7. there is intolerance on BOTH sides

and it is this intolernce from BOTH sides that needs to end.

People lead their lives in different fashions. Some are gay, others are not. Some use drugs, other's don't. It's important that we all allow other people to live their lives, and stop trying to make our society homogeneous, because that will only cause more trouble.

[Skittles]

9. I am SICK of conservatives sneeringly calling liberals ELITES

when THEY are the country club set :puke: