What the top Dem/left thinkers are writing

It may not be all that helpful to criticize incendiary comments from anonymous, rank-and-file Democrats/liberals, since Dem leaders can always claim those statements don't represent the mainstream of liberal thinking.

Fair enough. So instead let's look at what affluent, educated leftists are writing--and what the major left/Dem media outlets are choosing to publish from these lofty thinkers. For example, consider educated, affluent leftist writer Jane Smiley:

Edited from: "Why Americans Hate Democrats—A Dialogue
Subhead: "The unteachable ignorance of the red states" [Now that's a good start for a 'dialogue'!]
By Jane Smiley, in Slate [http://slate.msn.com/id/2109218/] Nov. 4, 2004
[Jane's most outrageous comments are in red.]

Forget introspection--it's time to be honest about our antagonists. I grew up in Missouri and most of my family voted for Bush, so I'm going to be the one to say it: The election results reflect the *decision of the right wing to cultivate and exploit ignorance in the citizenry*.

I suppose the good news is that 55 million Americans have evaded the ignorance-inducing machine. But 58 million have not. (Well, almost 58 million—my relatives are not ignorant, they are just greedy and full of *classic Republican feelings of superiority*.)

Ignorance and bloodlust have a long tradition in the United States, especially in the red states. The error that progressives have consistently committed over the years is to *underestimate the vitality of ignorance in America*.

Listen to what the red state citizens say about themselves, the songs they write, and the sermons they flock to. They know who they are—they're full of original sin and have a taste for violence. The blue state citizens make the Rousseauvian mistake of thinking humans are essentially good, and so never realize when they are about to be slugged from behind.

Here is how ignorance works: First, they put the fear of God into you—if you don't believe in the literal word of the Bible, you will burn in hell. Of course, the literal word of the Bible is tremendously contradictory, and so you must abdicate all critical thinking, and accept a simple...system of belief that is dangerous to question.

*They make sure you understand that Satan resides in the toils and snares of complex thought and so it is best not try it*.

Next, they tell you that you are the best of a bad lot (humans, that is) and that as bad as you are, if you stick with them, you are among the chosen. This is flattering and reassuring, and also encourages you to imagine the terrible fates of those you envy and resent. American politicians ALWAYS operate by a similar sort of flattery, and so Americans are never induced to question themselves. The last four years show that red state types, above all, do not want to be told what to do—they prefer to be ignorant. As a result, they are virtually unteachable.

Third and most important, when life grows difficult or fearsome, they (politicians, preachers, pundits) encourage you to *cling to your ignorance with even more fervor*. But by this time you don't need much encouragement—you've put all your eggs into the *ignorance basket*, and really, some kind of miraculous fruition (preferably accompanied by the torment of your enemies, and the ignorant always have plenty of enemies) is your only hope. *If you are sufficiently ignorant*, you won't even know how dangerous your policies are until they have destroyed you, *and then you can always blame others.*

The reason the Democrats have lost five of the last seven presidential elections is simple: A generation ago, the *big capitalists, who have no morals, as we know*, decided to *make use of the religious right* in their *class war against the middle class* and *against the regulations that were protecting those whom they considered to be their rightful *prey*—workers and consumers.

The architects of this strategy knew perfectly well that they were exploiting, among other unsavory qualities, a long American habit of virulent *racism*, but they did it anyway, and we see the outcome now—Cheney is the capitalist arm and Bush is the religious arm. They know no boundaries or rules. *They are predatory and resentful, amoral, avaricious, and arrogant.* Lots of Americans like and admire them *because lots of Americans, even those who don't share those same qualities, don't know which end is up.*

Can the Democrats appeal to such voters? Do they want to? The Republicans have sold their souls for power. Must everyone?

Progressives have only one course of action now: React quickly to every outrage. *Red-state types love to cheat and intimidate*, so we have to assume the worst and call them on it every time. We have to give them more to think about than they can handle—to always appeal to reason and common sense, and the law, *even when they can't understand it* and don't respond.

They cannot be allowed to keep any secrets. Tens of millions of people didn't vote—they are watching, too, and have to be shown that we are ready and willing to fight, and that the battle is worth fighting. And in addition, we have to remember that *threats to democracy from the right* always collapse.

Whatever their short-term appeal, they are borne of hubris and *hatred*, and will destroy their purveyors in the end.

The Left keeps telling America how it's the party of tolerance, love and non-divisiveness. But the words of their apparent intellectual leaders--as endorsed by their publication by the top leftist outlets--tell a far different story.