-
The Grand Old Poseurs
May 13, 2013 | 72 comments
-
Obamacare Pimps Smear Lipstick on Another Pig
May 6, 2013 | 58 comments
-
Can One Iraq Vet Stop Obamacare?
April 29, 2013 | 88 comments
-
GOP at Fault for Obamacare Train Wreck?
April 22, 2013 | 106 comments
-
The Wheels Come Off Obamacare
April 15, 2013 | 159 comments
Among the Intellectualoids
Accountability and Its Discontents
The chattering class chafes at the electorate’s insistence on actual results.
During the past several weeks, as the shadow of the midterms has loomed darker and darker over congressional Democrats, the commentary of progressive pundits has become noticeably querulous. In response to a spate of surveys showing widespread voter dissatisfaction with the President and his partners on Capitol Hill, the op-ed writers and bloggers of the New York Times, Washington Post, and a variety of lesser liberal outlets have used their columns and posts to vent frustration with the electorate’s inability to see that the current regime has been a success. Why, they ask, is the public not grateful for the “historic” health reform bill, the stimulus package and Wall Street reform? What, they demand to know, are the voters not getting?
Given a chance to respond to this query, most voters would probably provide a one-word answer: “results.” The Democrats simply haven’t produced. Their signature legislative “achievement,” the ironically named Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, is actually exacerbating the problems it was ostensibly passed to solve. Meanwhile, unemployment has doubled since the Democrats recaptured Congress and the federal deficit has skyrocketed at a truly alarming rate. That such high-profile failures have produced disapprobation for congressional Democrats and their eloquent accomplice in the White House should not be surprising, but the phenomenon seems to have shocked and angered many progressive pundits.
Jonathan Alter’s recent cri du coeur in Newsweek is typical of the resultant outbursts: “[N]o good deed goes unpunished, and the GOP seems headed for a takeover of the House of Representatives in November.” Alter is piqued and perplexed by the public’s refusal to give credit where he thinks credit is due. The president, he huffs, “prevented another Great Depression” while providing “Wall Street reform added to health care.” That most of the voters already had health care and see no evidence that any Democrat policy has improved the economy, is evidently lost on Alter. In the end, he concludes that the problem is “the cognitive dissonance of the American voter.”
Alter’s conclusion that the voters are suffering from some kind of psychological malfunction is echoed throughout the progressive commentariat. His Newsweek colleague, Eleanor Clift, avers that “The heightened role for government in the economy and health care has triggered mass psychosis among voters.” At the Huffington Post, Carla Seaquist writes that voter anger has become “more volatile and incoherent the more it untethers from reality” and that it has “spawned a kind of madness.” Over at the New York Times, Paul Krugman describes voter disenchantment as a kind of recurring insanity: “Anyone who remembered the 1990s could have predicted something like the current political craziness.”
Not all liberal commentators accept the “crazy voter” theory, of course. Some write off public discontent to mere stupidity, and others think it’s all about racism. The only explanation that seems not to have occurred to them is that the Democrats have underperformed. Why? The most generous answer is related to a distinction that Thomas Sowell makes between intellectuals and those responsible for the major advances of the 20th century. The latter, he points out, “produced a tangible product or service and they were judged by whether those products and services worked.” The former “are people whose end products are intangible ideas, and they are usually judged by whether those ideas sound good to other intellectuals or resonate with the public.”
A similar distinction can be made between progressive journalists and voters. The typical voter is likely to be someone whose livelihood depends on his ability to provide employers and customers with some useful product or service. Such people will naturally judge politicians “successful” only if their policies improve the lot of Americans in some tangible way. The success of a liberal pundit, on the other hand, depends primarily on his ability to find favor with other liberal pundits and validate the progressive belief system of his readers. Such people will tend to value the tangible results achieved by a politician less than his general eloquence and ideological bent.
This interpretation gives Clift, Krugman, et al. the benefit of the doubt, of course. It assumes that they miss the point of voter discontent for relatively innocuous reasons of temperament. A more cynical view is that they are just partisan hacks frustrated by their inability to hoodwink the public — yet again — about the true character of the current Democrat regime. There is a good deal of evidence to support this view, including the Journolist scandal. If most progressive pundits are honest, why did so many participate in what was obviously a conspiracy to mislead the public? Why didn’t more of them denounce the obvious collusion? Why does Ezra Klein, the founder of that infamous listserv, remain a rising star at the Washington Post?
In the world occupied by most Americans, where people are held accountable for their actions, Klein would have been fired for such a brazen ethical breach. In fact, were he employed in banking, securities or health care, the kind of collusion he engaged in with his Journolist accomplices would have landed him in the penitentiary. But Klein has not been held accountable, and perhaps therein lays the real explanation for progressive frustration with the voters. Maybe Clift, Krugman, Klein, and the rest of the progressive commentariat believe they and the politicians they support are above such quotidian concerns. Maybe they believe accountability and results are only for the hoi polloi.
This explanation certainly fits the facts. The progressive pundits tell us that the Democrats on Capitol Hill and in the White House have been, in the words of Time’s Mark Halperin, a “huge success.” They have told us that we should be grateful for the “landmark” legislation passed by Congress and signed by the President. Yet we still insist on complaining because these “historic” bills have produced no discernible improvement in our lives. We still keep whining about health care costs, unemployment and the deficit. In their calmer moments, they probably don’t really think we’re crazy, or stupid or even racist, when we insist that the Democrats produce results. They probably believe we’re being presumptuous.
About the Author
David Catron is a health care revenue cycle expert who has spent more than twenty years working for and consulting with hospitals and medical practices. He has an MBA from the University of Georgia and blogs at Health Care BS.
Letter to the Editor View all comments (54) | Leave a comment
More Articles by David Catron
More Articles From Among the Intellectualoids
http://spectator.org/archives/2010/09/16/accountability-and-its-discont
Follow us:
ADVERTISEMENT
SPONSORED LINKS
FLASHBACK TO: 1995
-
Pope Culture
A man of faith in a godless age is hitting Americans where it hurts.
-
Why the GOP Does Not, Like, Totally Suck
Mr. and Mrs. American Spectator Reader, let P.J. O’Rourke talk sense to your kids.
-
Dames at Sea
-
In the Absence of Guns
In Britain, defending your property can get you life.
-
The Metaphysical Martini
-
Counting the Costs of Clintonism
The debacle of this president’s administration is both a cause and a symptom of the decline of American values. Unless Congress impeaches him, that decline will go on unchecked. An eminent jurist surveys the damage and assesses the chances for the recovery of our culture.
-
Chuck McHagel
It won’t take long for conservatives to scratch this presidential wannabe off their 2008 scorecard.
-
The Legacy of Old John and Mother Fresh-Roasted
-
It’s the Best Time of the Year
The American Christmas, like the songs that celebrate it, makes room for everybody under the rainbow. Is that why so many people seem to be hostile to it?
-
The Bush Crack-Up
Was the President done in by the economy, or by the politics of the economy?
Clip of the Day
ADVERTISEMENT
Appleby| 9.16.10 @ 6:52AM
What you see today is what you can expect in the future. After all, do we not these days give everybody a trophy just for showing up?
GavInTucson| 9.17.10 @ 1:34AM
True, but the good news is that when you talk to these kids (I'm using kid's sports as my example), they know who the winners and losers are. They're keeping score whether or not the overly sensitive, yuppie, liberal parents aren't.
There is still hope for the future.
Mark James| 9.20.10 @ 11:59AM
When my 5 yr. old son first played soccer he quickly learned that no one (save me) kept score. In his helpful little way he would run to the sideline and shout the score every time someone scored. I was shocked to observe many parents were upset by this, called it rude, and one even asked the referee to make him stop it. Amazing!
JAWilson| 9.16.10 @ 6:56AM
Eleanor Clift will be the last employee of Newsweek.
Walter| 9.17.10 @ 5:27PM
What a hack!
Austrian| 9.16.10 @ 7:32AM
The government has lost confidence in the people. It has voted itself a new people.
Doctor Right| 9.16.10 @ 7:54AM
Seriously, guys...Who cares what ignoramuses like Alter, Krugman, Klein, or Clift think???
Alter is a mental midget masquerading as an intellectual.
Krugman is a Nobel-Prize winning economist despite the fact that he still doesn't understand that super-tricky "supply-demand" curve.
Klein is partisan hack with a press pass.
And Eleanor Clift has still not gotten over her bitterness that Bill Clinton chose Monica Lewinsky instead of her for his afternoon hummers in the Oval Office.
4 losers.
Anthony| 9.16.10 @ 9:44AM
Well said DR. Alter's opinions are worth about as much as what Newseek sold for, a lousy buck. And that includes Madam Clift's as well.
I suspect that Alter, aka Costanza, is also miffed that Clinton chose Lewinsky over him. Perhaps he's been bit more successful with the current occupant of the oval office; it certainly appears that his op-eds are penned while on his knees.
Richard| 9.16.10 @ 11:10AM
Exactly. Why do we care what these leftist ideological fanatics say? And I tire of conservative commentators always referring to them not only as if they have something important to say but as the commentators who set the agenda.
Gerald Stephens| 9.19.10 @ 5:36AM
"Why do we care why these leftist...?"
Probably for the for the same reason French citizens flocked to the guillotines to hear the 'whoosh' . It is bloody good fun seeing these "ideological fanatics" massacred! WHOOSH!
David W| 9.16.10 @ 6:44PM
We need to care. As long as they are still around they will be able to cause mischief. There may be some liberals out there who are wavering in their left-wing commitment and may just become conservatives or even, dare I say it, tea partiers!!! However, liberal writings and musings may cause the wavering liberals to stay with their illogical ideas and stay committed to the dark side.
Ellis Wyatt| 9.17.10 @ 2:32PM
Spot on. I heard Alter on the radio the other day trying to make an incoherent argument that the stimulus has been a success. I'm not sure why these folks even get air time, perhaps for our enjoyment I guess.
And while Krugman won a prize for an obscure academic economic paper, one has to snicker everytime he defends the failures of his macro economic ideas by saying they would have worked if only they had been larger.
The American people are far smarter than the so called "intellectuals" who have to get up everyday and try to spin failure.
Bill Hussein O'Stalin| 9.16.10 @ 7:59AM
What you hear are the sounds of a wounded beast. The internet has rendered the MSM obsolete. Their cries of anguish are the results of their crazed beliefs herding them over the cliffs like the proverbial lemmings.
A new media has arisen which is only now beginning to feel it's power and impact.
In the meantime the liberals rendered themselves obsolete by not offering choice to the public. No store or business can exist in a vacuum but that's precisely what the weak leaders in the media conspired to give the public.
Their business model is failing and no one cares what they think anymore.
Joe Oliva| 9.16.10 @ 4:12PM
Include the establishment GOP and all of the elites. The internet has allowed us to talk to each other and share ideas. As Beck stated, each of us as individuals are no longer alone. In fact, we never were, but we just didn't know it.
The elites of both corrupt majors still don't get it and they haven't figured out how to stop people from communicating witheach other. Let's raise a toast to ol'AlGore for inventing the internet. The " Times They are a Changin' "
Timothy L. Pennell| 9.16.10 @ 8:12AM
This is nothing new. These are the same people who, TO THIS DAY, extol the virtues of Castro's Cuba. They still go to bed at night, dreaming of what might have been, if only the GOOD GUYS won the Cold War. They still light candles to the Rosenbergs. And I wouldn't put it past them if they have scrapbooks with every article WALTER DURANTE ever wrote about their beloved UNCLE JOE.
Ned| 9.16.10 @ 10:56AM
One thing that chaps my hind-end is that, to this day, public schools make reading assignments in that rag, Newsgeek. My kids are finally grown and out of K-12, but I had to sit with them regularly and read the "assignments" with them, to point out the lies, omissions and distortions. I absolutely refused to purchase a subscription, or even individual issues of that trash, so we'd use Al Gore's invention to read specific assigned articles electronically. Needless to say, I was less than popular with some of their "teachers".
On the positive side, that experience gave both boys a highly refined skepticism of the media and government, and both are now staunch conservatives. Definitely not what was intended.
saleboter| 9.16.10 @ 8:15AM
When you pick our pockets and then spend our money for something we don't want, we are supposed to be grateful????
HUH
davelnaf| 9.16.10 @ 8:18AM
The partisan hack theory does it for me. Before the advent of a true conservative media one had to wade through the alphabet networks’ nightly garbage of info-commercials for the Democratic Party if one was to get to the real news, what little there was of it. Anyone can understand the frustration the liberal media types are having with upstarts like Fox and Limbaugh. Reality has finally blown their cover.
But if the journolibs bad mouthing of Americans for ‘failing’ to understand the Bamster’s genius just happens to be sincere these individuals need to be put on a suicide watch the morning of Nov. 2nd, and then taken off of it once the election results start coming in, just to show how much we care.
Ret. Marine| 9.16.10 @ 8:32AM
In the real world we who have in the past ( totally disabled now) and are still going about this kind of business, worked our tails off for the betterment of our families, our country and our fellow men/ladies recognize a fraud when we see it and don't need any lecturing from the do-nothing-but-keep-the chair-warm with their behinds types who try and impress, (who I could never understand) with their self delusional importance of themselves are not foolish enough to stick all of our gold in one pot.
The victim-hood crowd's benefactors i.e. the demonrat party, liberal mind swells, the pretender-n-thief, obamas Bin Lying and the rest of the non-producers are getting, without a doubt, their pay as they perceived as a payday in the reverse. I could not be a happier person for this realization. Maybe now the idiots-r-us crowd will have to actually think and work now if they are going to feed, cloth, and shelter themselves without the benefits of their saviours, the liberal progressives intervention.
As far as the realization of these realities I still am not impressed as to what we are witnessing, some are still voting for these turd world wannabe's, and in an alarming numbers to boot.
Obamas Bin Ly'n and the entire crowd at these institutions of supposed higher learning are without what we the peebs call common sense. Lets not let the facts get in the way of our dreams kind of way common sense. They are the losers, not us. Some of us actually worked hard for many, many years to be able to pay for our homes, cars, and our stuff in cash. Independence on one's own initiative and hard work are uncommon these days and it might well serve as a reminder to those who would take advantage of our generosity to get it right from this day on. As far as the normal list of who's who in their world, pay them no mind because when the foot hits the pavement, its still up to the We the People crowd to determine who is full of gas and who is not. There is no gasoline in the leadership role of this country anymore. It has become very obvious to many, its time to refill the tank with some new redefined, higher octane gasoline.
Christopher Holland| 9.16.10 @ 8:32AM
I have to laugh at liberal intellectuals, they are so out of touch and arrogant and stupid that they can't help but tie themselves in knots. They insist that the public is ignorant, racist, bigoted and stupid, and then they expect them to follow their advice and be grateful for it! Really, how silly can you get, how childish and shallow. Liberals simply do not understand that every insult and put down drives voters further and further away from them. These guys are their own worst enemies.
Margie| 9.16.10 @ 1:42PM
LOL. Tell that to the resident boot-licker, RCV.
RCV| 9.16.10 @ 6:01PM
The Peace of the Lord be with you, Margie.
Mark James| 9.20.10 @ 12:08PM
I appreciate your desire and effort to be civil RCV, but support of evil even when clothed in civility is still repugnant, both intellectually and spiritually.
Petronius| 9.16.10 @ 8:52AM
If the libtard journalists had their way, we'd all be sent to the Ministry of Love for shock treatment to get our minds right. And the staff of TAS would "no longer exist." Such is the height of their self importance. The greater the emotional investment in whatever fairy tale, the more violent and vitriolic the reaction to the lack of faith on the part of We The People for putting reality and self interest before the desires of these grandstanding gits to reduce us to penury.
In the end, the MSM having so long ago contracted autoendoproctanism, simply can't understand that they've screwed the pooch. That man behind the curtain is fully exposed. He was last seen on his way back to Chicago to raise the dead before election day.
Dan Hirsch| 9.16.10 @ 9:14AM
Apparently none of these MSM geniuses remember how highly INeffective Jimmy Carter's July 15, 1979 Crisis of Confidence speech blaming us for his INability to move the country forward.
Look here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1IlRVy7oZ58
Barry is making Jimmuh look like Ronald Wilson Reagan....
Santayana quotes, anyone? (Those who don't know history...)
Tom| 9.16.10 @ 1:44PM
The problem is not that the president is not moving us forward it is the mindset that he needs to do so. Get out of the way, let free people do what free people do, and the country will move its own damn self forward.
Tom Osterman| 9.16.10 @ 9:51AM
I think part of the liberal pundits' pique is fear: fear that their side is losing, fear that they're being rejected by the public for good (Newsweek sold for a dollar, declining circulation at the NY Times), fear of losing any and all influence they might have. They threw away their credibility to be advocates of the great Progressive utopia and now they're facing a public that doesn't believe a word they say (or write).
Ned| 9.16.10 @ 11:12AM
And another thing... it never ceases to amaze me that Dims and the "MSM" types can spout the crap that they do... I mean, these are not ignorant people. They do a credible job deluding a high percentage of the great unwashed masses, but how do they maintain the facade in themselves? Nobody with an actual education and a functioning brain can believe the swill they put out, and yet they have sustained their odorous outpouring for DECADES. As entertaining as it is to watch them tie themselves in knots trying to accomodate all the internal conflicts and distortions in their world view, in the end it makes it apparent to me that their agenda is NOT simply misguided, it is as intentional as it is malignant.
Tom| 9.16.10 @ 3:20PM
I think two things are going on: firstly, even intelligent people can delude themselves, it happens all the time; secondly, do not discount the allure of power. Liberal policies leads to an increase of governmental power and consequently an increase of the power of those running the government.
Richard| 9.16.10 @ 11:15AM
I can hardly wait to see these lefties cry and moan on Nov. 3.
megapotamus| 9.16.10 @ 11:34AM
Interested folks should check out the audio of Alter on Hewitt's show. Good thing Hugh does that over the phone or he would have looked like someone tested a fire extinguisher on him. For a movement with majorities and the Presidency those panties sure are in a twist. In related news, I haven't read the thread above but it seems our Lefty gargoyles have gone dark on this site. Of course they are appearing in full-throated rant in their own milieu and in friendly/neutral territory; I'm thinking of the Daily News and Times. And we haven't even had the election yet. This is going to be a hell of a Thanksgiving!
Pat| 9.16.10 @ 12:50PM
Time, Newsweek, the New York Times, the Washington Post – by a strange coincidence, senior executives from each of these media outlets met in the office of Professor Clive Dinkletoot, head of Columbia University’s School of Journalism last week for some desperately needed advice. “Clive”, the Newsweek CEO said, “our firms are rapidly going broke, we’ve cut our staff to the bone and now our own perqs and salaries are in jeopardy. Our advertisers say no one reads us anymore and they want deep rate cuts – what’s worse, some of our long term and most loyal ad buyers have dropped us entirely. We went to the Democrats and asked them for a government subsidy to replace the lost revenue but they said not until after the November elections, if then. We pointed out the French subsidize their media outlets and $175 to $200 million a year in subsidies should do the trick. $200 million a year in media subsidies, the voters just won’t stand for it, the Democrats said. First, cut back a little on praising President Obama and try more objective news reporting to see if that might win back your readers, they said.”
“That’s why we’re here Clive, none of our reporters know how to write objective news stories. The old guys from back in the 50’s used to write that way, but they’ve long since retired or moved on. Can Columbia teach our reporters how to write objectively?” “Good lord man”, Dinkletoot responded, “no one writes that way anymore, it’s a lost art. Something about “who” “what” “when” and some other things I can’t remember. We teach our students their readers don’t want facts, they want passion, bias, sarcasm, snide inferences, veiled criticism. Besides, digging out facts is very hard work, verifying data with multiple sources, doing hours of research, that kind of stuff could take all day and where’s the fun in that? No, our young students want to knock off a couple of stories by noon and then hit the gym. Or maybe go on assignment to exotic locations like Paris or Rome. Or maybe do an undercover investigation of state supported prostitution in the Netherlands.”
“Sorry, I can’t help you”, said Clive. “But Clive”, the Newsweek chief said, “what are we to do?”. “Well”, said Clive, “Columbia’s President Lee C. Bollinger called for public funding of the media on July 14th this year. He said and I quote: ‘Trusting the market alone to provide the news coverage we need would mean venturing into the unknown – a risky proposition with a vital public institution hanging in the balance’. Pretty eloquent BS, huh? So, don’t worry, the Democrats will come through with a subsidy, they need you folks to praise their efforts. Now forget this objective reporting nonsense and write some stories about how President Obama lived in a log cabin growing up and trudged to school through deep snowdrifts in Hawaii.”
Redstateboy| 9.16.10 @ 1:08PM
I would love to debate these wizards of Liber-ul smart. I would smash their arguments with their results.
LeoInTheWoods| 9.16.10 @ 1:47PM
Thanks be to those honest media outlets that revealed the journo-list conspiracy. I'm still miffed that a full list of participants hasn't been revealed so we can all see who the conspirators that hoodwinked the public are. All of journalism will suffer a lack of credibility because of that conspiracy until that list is published and we can all see who to disbelieve at all times.
Oldefarte| 9.16.10 @ 4:08PM
Read Bernie Goldberg's BIAS and ARROGANCE!!!
Redstateboy| 9.16.10 @ 4:28PM
I read BIAS... it changed the way I interpret News programming. It opened my eyes and I didn't even realize I was blind!
TR| 9.16.10 @ 5:27PM
Bernard Goldberg used to be the darling of the MSM until he revealed the ugly truth about them to the world. Now he is minimalized and insulted at every turn.
Fortunately, he wears their insults as a badge of honor.
voted against carter| 9.16.10 @ 6:26PM
WWWHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!! WWWWHHHHAAAAAAAA!!!!! WWWWWHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAA!!!
MOM! Their pick'n on me AGAIN!! Make them STOP!!
Tex Ted| 9.17.10 @ 5:09AM
And who holds Fox, Limbaugh, Beck etc 'accountable' for the vile lies they propagate? This article is just paranoid reds under beds trash. And expecting radical change after 18 months or so is really too much - and again its paranoia. We are told on the one hand the Dems are changing things for ever and then that they've done nothing. This is empty headed thinking. The truth of course is that Obama has accomplished more sensible measures in 18 months than most POTUSes have done in two terms.
wbheff| 9.20.10 @ 8:02AM
You really should refrain from writing when you are drunk.
Spinny| 9.17.10 @ 9:47AM
I happen to know Jonathan Alter....he lives in my town in NJ. Simply put, not only is he a mental midget, he is a brazen lefty hypocrite. This great liberal progressive faux intellectual is a member of a private tennis club in our town (I'm a member too), this supporter of government solutions in all areas sends his children to private schools (as do I), this self-impressed jerk who has opinions on anything and everything does not permit his children to watch television but HE does anything to get ON television. Jonathan is not only a fraud and a hypocrite...he is basically a Bolshevik. Mr. Alter is FAR FAR more of a leftist than he let's on....his obvious personal ambition causes him to temper his public persona. He's also a MAJOR SOCIAL BORE.
Tex Ted| 9.17.10 @ 5:11PM
A cowardly ad hominem attack from the comfort of anonymity. Any decent person receiving anonymous hate mail would trash it immediately.
Wil | 9.17.10 @ 11:55AM
Masterfully written. My only exception:
"...were he employed in banking, securities or health care, the kind of collusion he engaged in with his Journolist accomplices would have landed him in the penitentiary."
More than likely had that collusion taken place in banking or securities it would have landed him a job at Treasury
Marc Beishon| 9.17.10 @ 11:59AM
'I happen to know Jonathan Alter..'
I happen to have been on a press trip in Europe with Jonathan, and found him excellent company, and also a brave cancer survivor. There's no disconnect between doing the best for your family and wanting the same for everyone.
John2| 9.17.10 @ 3:58PM
I suppose he might be a good dinner partner, or drinking buddy, or a genial person to talk with.
Perhaps the other liberals are as well.
The problem is with their thinking and the resulting policies.
Spinny| 9.18.10 @ 11:39AM
The fact that Mr. Alter survived cancer has nothing to do with the fact that he is an inveterate Bolshevik. In addition, had Mr. Alter contracted his cancer under the full future effects of ObamaCare (a piece of legislation he uncritically supported), he would be dead now.
As far as you enjoying his company? What a surprise! You're just another journalist who, like Jonathan, scribbles glorified college term papers for publications that nobody actually reads. I'd wager you're just like Jonathan - you have opinions on everything and experience at NOTHING. Cheers mate!
RCV| 9.18.10 @ 9:48PM
Why don't you share your opinions about your neighbor to his face, instead af anonymously gossiping about him, you deceitful coward?
Spinny| 9.19.10 @ 8:00AM
I have.
Spinny| 9.19.10 @ 12:31PM
And don't feel so compelled to defend Mr. Alter from private commentary on a blog. Mr. Alter has built his career on being an "attack dog" for the hard left in the democrat party. He has demonstrated a consistent inclination to publicly demean or discredit those whom he decides to target. Sorry, Jonathan Alter is, in my view, a despicable individual.
Radegunda| 9.17.10 @ 1:58PM
It has been clearly demonstrated that the Democrat leftists believe their purpose is to drag the people forcibly into what Democrat leftists regard as being for the people's own good, even while the people are making their objections well known.
Remember, Democrats have a history of admiring the kind of "democracy" they see in Cuba, where such niceties as citizen self-government can be dispensed with while the Great Leader imposes his vision of "democracy" on them. In that view, people actually voting for what the want is false democracy because too many of the people will be duped into voting wrong (a la "What's Wrong with Kansas?").
This explains why Democrats have no qualms about cheating at the ballot box--to override the "wrong" choices of the people. And why they think it's entirely appropriate to import new voters to overwhelm the wishes of the citizens already here.
In the Democrat view, when voters go Republican, they're just throwing a tantrum. In the Republican view, when voters go Democrat, it means the Republicans need to work harder at persuading voters that their agenda is better.
Yosemeti Sam| 9.18.10 @ 3:21AM
" ... What, they demand to know, are the voters not getting?...."
Why - representative representation!
Yosemeti Sam| 9.18.10 @ 4:06AM
Um, forgot to add the punchline - Duh!