Per Joke Line (and my response in italics):
A left-wing extremist exhibits many, but not necessarily all, of the following attributes:
-- believes the United States is a fundamentally negative force in the world... It is today. You'd have to be a moron to think otherwise, Joe.
-- believes that American imperialism is the primary cause of Islamic radicalism... Not necessarily the cause, but the greatest fuel for it's fire. You'd have to be a moron to think otherwise, Joe.
-- believes that the decision to go to war in Iraq was not an individual case of monumental stupidity, but a consequence of America’s fundamental imperialistic nature... Yeah? What kind of gas guzzler do you drive, Joe?
-- tends to blame America for the failures of others—i.e. the failure of our NATO allies to fulfill their responsibilities in Afghanistan... Let's see: The U.S. bailed on going after Osama, took over half its forces to go after Saadam and Iraqi oil and expected NATO to clean up the mess they left behind in Kabul. Personally, if I'm a foreign leader I'd be glad to assist an ally but not if it meant taking directions from a moron like George Bush; and lest you forget, the Brits are pulling out of Iraq too. So who again is at fault here, Joe?
-- doesn’t believe that capitalism, carefully regulated and progressively taxed, is the best liberal idea in human history... Well I can climb aboard a capitalism that's market driven and not croney Republican driven; carefully regulated to protect consumers and the environment. No argument against as posed.
-- believes American society is fundamentally unfair (as opposed to having unfair aspects that need improvement)... I think the Republican horse left this barn a while ago, and took most of the treasury.
-- believes that eternal problems like crime and poverty are the primarily the fault of society... Poverty (and tax breaks for the wealthy) fuels crime. Eliminate poverty (and corporate welfare), crime is significantly reduced. I'd call that societal. And you'd have to be a moron to think otherwise, Joe.
-- believes that America isn’t really a democracy... It was never a democracy, moron! It *was* a republic. And since November 2000, it's not even that anymore.
-- believes that corporations are fundamentally evil... I don't use the word "evil" unless its tongue-in-cheek. Corporations, however, being obsessed with ever greater profits, and especially at the expense of consumers and the environment, are indeed amoral, and corporate officers need to be beaten about their collective skulls... for a while at least.
-- believes in a corporate conspiracy that controls the world... And you don't?? You'd have to be a moron to think otherwise, Joe.
-- is intolerant of good ideas when they come from conservative sources... What good ideas?
-- dismissively mocks people of faith, especially those who are opposed to abortion and gay marriage... "Guilty!" Although it wouldn't necessarily have to do with abortion or gay marriage.
-- regularly uses harsh, vulgar, intolerant language to attack moderates or conservatives... Riiiight! Ann Coulter: Lefty Extremist! Yeesh! Whadda faggot!
Personally, I don't think I'm so much a lefty extremist, although by Joe Klein's loosely applied parameters I am (although by his bullets, I conclude I'm just a guy who sees what's going on). On the other hand, he's demonstrably proven here to be a moron...
... and a faggot!
5 comments:
I think extremism of any kind is counterproductive. But I don't think the Democrats are guilty of extremism. I think they are guilty of apathy, double-talk and tolerating the status quo to retain power. Frankly, I don't see much difference between the parties, which is why I am registered as an indie. Just look at the promises pre-election and what's been happening in Congress. They're all guilty of the same bullshit.
you would equate russ feingold, perhaps the leftist senator, now that wellstone was toasted, with james inhofe... ??
overly simple, m'dear... the dems you find little different from the repos are the dlc types, a.k.a., dinos... hillary being their champion... and is why al gore, disassociated from the dlc, the war gamers, and the fossil fuel wigs, is so damned appealing these days...
one election at a time...
All I am saying G is that American appeal to politics comes in cycles... and right now, what appeals to people is anything but a Republican. So, if Democrats keep acting like Republicans by not following through on promises and sticking to business as usual, they will find themselves out of a job. Extremist democrats serve no purpose at the moment because we've had 6 years of extremist republicans. They want Jim Webbs who are willing to walk the talk and not hold back. But he is not an extremist.
and all i'm saying is to be progressive is not necessarily to be extremeist... my commentary to klein's stupidities to wit...
feingold, moreover, is the most left of center in the senate, and yet he seems so damned reasonable and not at all extreme...
But he doesn't talk about progressives - he talks about extremists. You're the one putting everyone in the same bowl and mixin'. I think he makes valid points. Points that we substantiate on the left by being disorganized, making irresponsible comments in public, not supporting our own leaders and attacking each other at the drop of a dime.
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