American Left
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Bye, Bye Miss American Pie
[Encore from September 2004] Several months ago I was watching one of the talking-heads shows on which Pat Buchanan sits in wearing his conservative's hat. I forget what the show's topic was about, but I remember his saying something along the lines that the America he grew up in was a good America, and that
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Another approach to putting the predators back in their cages
Not clear what the criteria are to get to his goals, and who decides which candidates gets the thumbs up, but I'm for it until there's a reason I shouldn't be. A little quixotic, maybe, and I'm not given to the quixotic, but this is a walk I'd like to take–at least it gets
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This is how it’s done
I've been a lifelong Democrat, but I'm getting close to quitting. I think the Clintons, Obamas, Emmanuels, and the whole New Democrat crowd have ruined the Democratic brand for years to come. It might be salvageable, and I've stayed in because it's possible to win fights within the local Democratic Party, but ultimately it comes
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The Fatuity of Identity Politics
Freddie de Boer on the subject: I mean, ask yourself: who is more likely to call for the elevation of identity politics above all other kinds of political engagement, liberals or socialists? Liberals. Who has thrown their shoulder behind the gay rights movement with all of their fervor but demonstrated nothing resembling a similar commitment
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The Ethos of the Left
I found this interesting description in a comment left in a TAC article by cka2nd talking about the ethos of the New Left: For all of the criticism of far left “sects” and their follies, we represent a pretty small proportion of the U.S. Left. The majority of the left flies under the radar while
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Mike Konczal on the History of the Welfare State
My argument in my overly long piece posted over the weekend is similar to the one Konczal is making here in this important, informative essay in The Atlantic. His point is that the development of the welfare state during the Progressive and New Deal eras was organic–that it was not the work of social engineers, but
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Burke v. Paine = Right v. Left?
In a review of Yuval Levn's book The Great Debate: Edmund Burke, Thomas Paine, and the Birth of Left and Right, Burke biographer Jesse Norman writes: But one might wonder if these categories can really be mapped onto the left and right of American politics today. After all, it was Ronald Reagan, icon of American
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Quote of the Day: Noah Millman
But there is no Left and no Right. Those are abstractions according to which we choose to divide individuals. Here’s how I would describe things: – Economic elites really care about preserving their privileges.– Elected officials really care about reducing the risk of losing office.– The culture war – for both nominal Left and Right, is an extremely effective
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Tom Frank and Adolph Reed
Fascinating conversation transcribed here. There are many places to excerpt that reinforce themes I've been writing about, but I'll pick this one for today: [Frank is in boldface, Reed in normal] The labor movement. You said to reverse all this, it requires a “vibrant labor movement.” How on earth is that going to happen? Actually I’ve made
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Adolph Reed on the Moyers Show
This runs about twenty minutes, and I think it's worth watching, but I'll excerpt two segments that are key: BILL MOYERS: You say "the left." Liberals, especially, are tied to the narrow strategy of electing at whatever cost, whatever Democrat is running. But, you know, Democrats won four of the last six presidential elections. Something's