The American Spectator

We believe the United States should withdraw from Iraq; he wants to “win” the war there. We think the military budget should be cut; he plans to increase it, adding 40,000 troops. (For what, exactly? to fight another wrong war, at the wrong place, at the wrong time?) We reject pre-emptive war; he embraces it. We oppose the wall that Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is building on Palestinian lands; he supports it. We believe in the elimination of all nuclear weapons; he wants only to stop their spread. He calls for significant expansion of healthcare; we call for a single-payer system that would cover everyone. He opposes gay marriage; we back it.

Name one policy proposal they advocate that is either supported by a majority of Americans or is likely to be in the near future. The Nation’s version of the “good society” is one that most Americans no longer share, if they ever did. Yet it’s inconceivable to them that their ideas no longer hold sway over a majority of this country, so they desperately invent reasons why they are losing. It’s coup plotters. It’s those corporate moguls. It’s those damn maniacal wide-eyed true-believing Christians. If we could just defeat this vast right-wing conspiracy, then Americans would vote their true interests and the left-wing nirvana would be upon us.

The fact of the matter is that America is changing in ways that a far-left magazine can no longer stomach. It increasingly rejects government solutions, wants an aggressive foreign policy against terrorism, and admires individualism. President Bush’s reelection will only accelerate these trends.

No wonder The Nation is on the verge of losing it.