Every political community includes some members who insist that their side has all the answers and that their adversaries are idiots. But American liberals, to a degree far surpassing conservatives, appear committed to the proposition that their views are correct, self-evident, and based on fact and reason, while conservative positions are not just wrong but illegitimate, ideological and unworthy of serious consideration…
It’s an odd time for liberals to feel smug. But even with Democratic fortunes on the wane, leading liberals insist that they have almost nothing to learn from conservatives. Many Democrats describe their troubles simply as a PR challenge, a combination of conservative misinformation — as when Obama charges that critics of health-care reform are peddling fake fears of a “Bolshevik plot” — and the country’s failure to grasp great liberal accomplishments. “We were so busy just getting stuff done . . . that I think we lost some of that sense of speaking directly to the American people about what their core values are,” the president told ABC’s George Stephanopoulos in a recent interview. The benighted public is either uncomprehending or deliberately misinformed (by conservatives).
The whole thing is well worth your time. This phenomenon is quite prevalent within the “local” blogosphere, I’ve noticed, especially on certain sites, but you can certainly see it on a national level. For example (as the column notes), Democrats and those on the Left have convinced themselves that healthcare reform has lost support because, by golly, the American people aren’t sophisticated enough to “get” their high-minded legislation. They’ve used too many big words when talking about it, and of course the White House bully pulpit plus a mostly sympathetic media are no match for those evil “special interests” who wave shiny things and distract us all from the goodness that is ObamaCare. They’re just really bad at splainin’ stuff, you understand. And libs always know best.
Consider, too, the uproar over the pro-life Super Bowl ad slated to air later today, featuring Tim Tebow’s mom discussing the CHOICE she made to have her son. The National Organization for Women declared the ad, which no one has yet seen, “extraordinarily offensive and demeaning.” Really? Saith Sally Jenkins of The Washington Post:
I’m pro-choice, and Tebow clearly is not. But based on what I’ve heard in the past week, I’ll take his side against the group-think, elitism and condescension of the “National Organization of Fewer and Fewer Women All The Time.” For one thing, Tebow seems smarter than they do…
Pam Tebow and her son feel good enough about that choice to want to tell people about it. Only, NOW says they shouldn’t be allowed to. Apparently NOW feels this commercial is an inappropriate message for America to see for 30 seconds, but women in bikinis selling beer is the right one. I would like to meet the genius at NOW who made that decision. On second thought, no, I wouldn’t.
And the debate over global warming, too. Nevermind that organizations and agencies promoting “climate change” have been caught including false and misleading data, or cherry picking the most convenient to their agenda, to support their claims. We are to just accept their findings regardless…and rub our faces with asbestos, natch.
Should you knuckledragging simpletons need this post explained to you gooder, I haz pictures I can drawz fer u.
UPDATE: Below the fold, you’ll find one of the Tebow ads running during the Super Browl pregame show. Please observe an official strong content warning for, um, the offensive and demeaning ‘celebrate family, celebrate life’ message. The horror- Read the rest of this entry »