Reply #13: I love hearing this; you are SO correct

[PurityOfEssence]

Morality binds and hamstrings the left, but the right has no such qualms. Why should they? They're superior; they don't have to be bound by the reality of their actions. Their motivation is maintaining power at all costs.

The very idea of floating a concept about Kerry that "he'll do anything to win" is mind-bogglingly beyond mere hypocrisy.

He goes for the primal reptilian motivators of fear and greed, and he inevitably wins. This is not "genius" as much as it's deep unscrupulousness and simple button-pushing. These aren't even his own discoveries: the Reagan mob figured this out. Put the skeer in the po' white folks, and you can demonize anyone on the subjects of taxes, affirmative action and concern for the poor. As for the latter, it's not surprising that this can't even be raised these days: the right will just spook the poor into thinking that they'll have to bear the burden of taxation for anything that smacks of socially responsible market substitution.

These people have absolutely no scruples; they'll lie under oath to the god they may or may not believe in, and they'll do it for personal gain and the gain of their shockingly wealthy patrons. It's nothing but gaining those ends by whichever means necessary.

This isn't genius, it's amorality. The deep cynicism of this man is breathtaking, but for us to be surprised anymore is not much more than naivete. It's a tough-guy posturing thuggery out there, and being naive or encumbered with silly morals is a social crime second only to being without money.

We have to fight Class Warfare, and we have to use that name. The take is that they're fighting it, and we're fighting against it. No more can we be apologetic for our root concerns; it's not foolish or childish to care for the weak, old and poor, it's the measure of decency in a person. They are NOT the defenders of the great unfettered personal freedom of enterprise, they're henchmen for the subjugation of all those who aren't wealthy.

John Edwards put it best in his early stump speech: "The only thing George Bush respects is wealth." It's bad enough that the forces of greed have made us back away from the name and thrust of liberalism, but to not call plutocrats to account is directly responsible for all of our defeats of the last 24 years.