"Why has the Democratic Party become so arrogantly detached from ordinary Americans? Though they claim to speak for the poor and dispossessed, Democrats have increasingly become the party of an upper-middle-class professional elite, top-heavy with journalists, academics and lawyers."
So wrote Camille Paglia in her most recent Salon piece.
After four weeks off, Paglia wasn't only swinging at Democrats, but also at "the fogginess or insipidity of articles and Op-Eds about the [healthcare] controversy emanating from liberal mainstream media and Web sources" (h/t John Bambenek):
As an Obama supporter and contributor, I am outraged at the slowness with which the standing army of Democratic consultants and commentators publicly expressed discontent with the administration's strategic missteps this year. I suspect there had been private grumbling all along, but the media warhorses failed to speak out when they should have -- from week one after the inauguration, when Obama went flat as a rug in letting Congress pass that obscenely bloated stimulus package. Had more Democrats protested, the administration would have felt less arrogantly emboldened to jam through a cap-and-trade bill whose costs have made it virtually impossible for an alarmed public to accept the gargantuan expenses of national healthcare reform. (Who is naive enough to believe that Obama's plan would be deficit-neutral? Or that major cuts could be achieved without drastic rationing?)
Well, Camille, most media members...unless they were lying:
By foolishly trying to reduce all objections to healthcare reform to the malevolence of obstructionist Republicans, Democrats have managed to destroy the national coalition that elected Obama and that is unlikely to be repaired. If Obama fails to win reelection, let the blame be first laid at the door of Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, who at a pivotal point threw gasoline on the flames by comparing angry American citizens to Nazis.
Certainly, but she couldn't have done it without a complicit press:
Why did it take so long for Democrats to realize that this year's tea party and town hall uprisings were a genuine barometer of widespread public discontent and not simply a staged scenario by kooks and conspirators? First of all, too many political analysts still think that network and cable TV chat shows are the central forums of national debate. But the truly transformative political energy is coming from talk radio and the Web -- both of which Democrat-sponsored proposals have threatened to stifle, in defiance of freedom of speech guarantees in the Bill of Rights.
Nice to see someone on the left side of the aisle concerned about this:
Why has the Democratic Party become so arrogantly detached from ordinary Americans? Though they claim to speak for the poor and dispossessed, Democrats have increasingly become the party of an upper-middle-class professional elite, top-heavy with journalists, academics and lawyers (one reason for the hypocritical absence of tort reform in the healthcare bills). Weirdly, given their worship of highly individualistic, secularized self-actualization, such professionals are as a whole amazingly credulous these days about big-government solutions to every social problem. They see no danger in expanding government authority and intrusive, wasteful bureaucracy. This is, I submit, a stunning turn away from the anti-authority and anti-establishment principles of authentic 1960s leftism.
Indeed. Instead of questioning authority, today's Left is attacking those that are:
But affluent middle-class Democrats now seem to be complacently servile toward authority and automatically believe everything party leaders tell them. Why? Is it because the new professional class is a glossy product of generically institutionalized learning? Independent thought and logical analysis of argument are no longer taught. Elite education in the U.S. has become a frenetic assembly line of competitive college application to schools where ideological brainwashing is so pandemic that it's invisible. The top schools, from the Ivy League on down, promote "critical thinking," which sounds good but is in fact just a style of rote regurgitation of hackneyed approved terms ("racism, sexism, homophobia") when confronted with any social issue. The Democratic brain has been marinating so long in those clichés that it's positively pickled.
To the point that it seems there is no truly intellectual thought remaining on the left:
Throughout this fractious summer, I was dismayed not just at the self-defeating silence of Democrats at the gaping holes or evasions in the healthcare bills but also at the fogginess or insipidity of articles and Op-Eds about the controversy emanating from liberal mainstream media and Web sources. By a proportion of something like 10-to-1, negative articles by conservatives were vastly more detailed, specific and practical about the proposals than were supportive articles by Democrats, which often made gestures rather than arguments and brimmed with emotion and sneers. There was a glaring inability in most Democratic commentary to think ahead and forecast what would or could be the actual snarled consequences -- in terms of delays, denial of services, errors, miscommunications and gross invasions of privacy -- of a massive single-payer overhaul of the healthcare system in a nation as large and populous as ours. It was as if Democrats live in a utopian dream world, divorced from the daily demands and realities of organization and management.
And most sadly, they now control both Chambers of Congress AND the White House.
Brava, Camille. Brava.—Noel Sheppard is the Associate Editor of NewsBusters. Follow him at Facebook and Twitter.
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Ms. Paglia deserves a pat
September 8, 2009 - 23:37 ET by metaphorsbwithuMs. Paglia deserves a pat on the back for recognizing the obvious and consistently saying what other liberals refuse to say.
Her main negative, however, is that she still holds Pres. Obama in such high regard. Most of her frustration at the circus of clowns that revolves around his presidency lies in the fact that she fears they are hurting him, not the American people, nor our Constitutional form of government.
Really, Ms. Paglia. Is this the centrist most people thought they were voting for? Has the president done anything of note to inspire continued faith in his leadership ... besides giving speeches?
metaphorsbwithu
It's quite simple, really.
September 8, 2009 - 23:40 ET by R D Helm"Modern" democrats are essentially communists at heart.
This country was founded on ideals that are 180 Degrees opposite of that philosophy.
Why, outside of a government school, is this simple concept so difficult to grasp?
-Dave
Even when the government tries to kiss you, it is just a prelude to a good screwing. -Neal Boortz
Indoctrination
September 9, 2009 - 05:36 ET by allanfPaglia asserts that Ivy League schools have become indoctrination centers where hackneyed phrases such as sexism, or racism are an erstaz for thought.
To Your Point RD...
September 9, 2009 - 07:39 ET by unkeeafThe Democrat Party has evolved into the party of the American Communist Party. These vermin would have been jailed for treason 50 years ago, but today they are mainstream and run the Executive and Legislative branches of government.
Gee, I wonder how they were able to pull it off? Only one way, the mainstream "communist" media giving them full cover and helping convince the American citizenry they weren't what they were.
MSM = PR firm for the Democrat Party
Camille Paglia acknowledges
September 9, 2009 - 00:05 ET by d1carterCamille Paglia acknowledges not only that the Emperor has no clothes but neither does the MSM nor do the Dems. Wow!
d1carter, the truth will out!
September 9, 2009 - 21:05 ET by goldenthroat"Why did it take so long for Democrats to realize that this year's tea party and town hall uprisings were a genuine barometer of widespread public discontent and not simply a staged scenario by kooks and conspirators?"
For Paglia to even acknowledge that there is a rising tide of discontent among Americans against Osama Bama's socialist agenda and to say that the demoncrats have basically had their collective heads in the sand as things get worse for them is astounding.
Of course, the more liberal wing of the party - is there is such a thing - will float down the river of denial until next November when they'll all be updating their resumes' and applying for jobs as community organizers with ACORN.
"Inferior people should not be employed." - Nick Danger, Third Eye
leaving?
September 9, 2009 - 00:09 ET by MaratWill she be another who soon states "I didn't leave the Democratic party; it left me?"
she got my vote
September 9, 2009 - 01:10 ET by Chattychitofor the Nobel Peace Prize. I hope she is an example of other Dems out there maybe there is hope yet a dream world without Obama
hey, why hasn't anyone (I am not a Birther) reported on the suppose Obama Birth Certificate filed at the supreme court last Friday?
"A man who doesn't borrow from the brains of others proves he has no brains of his own." CH Spurgeon
Liberalism's elitism
September 9, 2009 - 02:00 ET by KC MulvilleThe premise of liberalism is that equality (and all good things) must be imposed deliberately, because it won't come naturally, either through a market or common society. It falls to government to impose "corrections." Liberals deny that allowing people to pursue their own self-interests will bring us to anything but ruin.
Look at how they reacted to the financial disaster - they took it as proof that the market can't be trusted, and that government must take over. But that premise is absurd for two reasons:
The liberal premise is that bad things happen because the common rabble isn't smart enough. They must be led by well-educated elites. Well, since the GI Bill, most of the "rabble" went to college also. The elites aren't much different than the rabble anymore. Second, the elite has a track record, and they've shown themselves to be lousy at leadership anyway.
The Democrats embraced liberalism, and therefore the premise that the well-educated elites were superior. But the well-educated are no longer superior in substance. They're just more privileged.
At the rate Camille is going
September 9, 2009 - 02:10 ET by lsudolemiteshe'll be drummed out of the Democrat party for her heresy like Joe Lieberman before her. The hyper-leftists in charge of the party at this point in time will not tolerate any intellectual heterodoxy among the ranks.
Wow, a liberal that gets
September 9, 2009 - 03:33 ET by USA4freedomWow, a liberal that gets it..
Ronald Reagan, 1962: I did not leave the Democratic party, the party left me.
Insert: your name, 2008, and the Republican party.
Camile Paglia is my
September 9, 2009 - 04:06 ET by rockyracoonCamile Paglia is my favorite Dem/Lib, even though I don't agree with her on many things. In this case she is hitting the nail on the head. She must be the only Dem. aside from Pat Cadell that will criticize the Dem party. Unlike people like Kirsen Powers, Bob Beckel, & Juan Williams, they don't defend the indefensable, no matter what.
I used to be a liberal Dem in my younger days, but I sobered up and grew up. The central question Camile seems to be asking IMO, and what I asked myself many times: What happened to the Democrat party?
Washington..9/12..
September 9, 2009 - 04:24 ET by USA4freedomWashington..9/12..
Ronald Reagan, 1962: I did not leave the Democratic party, the party left me.
Insert: your name, 2008, and the Republican party.
Camile
September 9, 2009 - 06:05 ET by svh83"Why has the Democratic Party become so arrogantly detached from ordinary Americans?" Wow; this wasn't obvious before she voted for Obama? Give me a break.
"I think you'd better call John, 'cause it don't look they're here to deliver...the mail". -NY
Barry Odumbo is a CASTRO wannabe and there will be a "CRISIS" ..
September 9, 2009 - 06:27 ET by Jayke... that will "FORCE" him to remain PREZNINT for life. So, you don't have to worry about the 2012 elections Camille. There won't be any.
"If Obama fails to win reelection, let the blame be first laid at the
door of Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, who at a pivotal point threw
gasoline on the flames by comparing angry American citizens to Nazis."
"This is, I submit, a
September 9, 2009 - 06:38 ET by BKeyser"This is, I submit, a stunning turn away from the anti-authority and anti-establishment principles of authentic 1960s leftism."
That's because the Left, and in particular acedemia, has steadfastly refused to address what we on the right all know was the impetous of the sixties revolution; not sex, drugs, and rock and roll- rather, it was a marxist ideology.
Communists, who mostly funded the anti-war left to serve their immediate needs in the expansion of communism through southeast asia, reaped the benefits of a drug-addicted following and became ingrained in the liberal mindset, seemingly like a covert operative in a foreign land, or a crack dealer in the inner city. They indoctrinated those who showed promise, especially in the three arenas that lead the present democratic party; the aforementioned lawyers, journalists, and educators. It was a brilliant plan, albeit a long term one (that probably evolved over time rather than conceived from the outset)- shape the laws, control the media, and indoctrinate the youth. It all culminated in the election of 2008.
It must be undone in the elections of 2010 and 2012.
Washington, DC.
September 9, 2009 - 06:46 ET by Red Jeep"It was as if Democrats live in a utopian dream world, divorced from the
daily demands and realities of organization and management." The Democrat Party does, Washington, DC.
Bravo
September 9, 2009 - 07:36 ET by richb313OK Camille you see the trees and the forest, Bravo. I have to ask you though what took so long? Wasn't the same tactics used throughout your life by liberals? Maybe as you age a little wisdom has crept in. I can only hope that more people begin to see with thier own eyes what is being forced on us citizens because someone thinks they know how to run the country better. The best we as a people can ever hope for is that we have a government that does as little damage as possible while maintaining the liberties and freedoms that we were endowed with by our creator.
Not Just The Democrats
September 9, 2009 - 07:56 ET by EllisWyatt"Why has the Democratic Party become so arrogantly detached from ordinary Americans?"
The only thing wrong with this statement is that she only asks it of the Democrats. The better question is why BOTH parties have become so arrogantly detached from ordinary Americans. It's not like the leadership of the GOP is any more in touch than that the Democratic leadership.
What scares me the most about these times we are living in is the lack of any effective opposition in the political entities we live under. The only leaders I see out there are coming from various interest groups, not the GOP. And many in the upper echelons of the GOP seem determined to keep those people far away from positions of power within the party.
If you're not outraged at the media, you haven't been paying attention.
There was a glaring
September 9, 2009 - 08:02 ET by ThisnThatThere was a glaring inability in most Democratic commentary to think ahead and forecast what would or could be the actual snarled consequences
You mean, like an inexperienced Senator, who has associated with people like Ayers and Wright, and who only voted Present in all his elected representation, and who has no practical experience at anything -- you mean like, what would be the actual snarled consequences of his becoming President? Like that, you mean?
Or like his "wildly successfull" cash for clunkers -- that incurred a 50% overrun within a week, and for which dealers are 65 days overdue on payments promised within 10 days? And which destroyed perfectly good cars, thereby exposing to the public -- more than anything -- how Obama's policies work? You mean those actual snarled consequences?
___________________________________
"Tax the rich" is a basically unstable way of governing - The NYT
Rocky, i agree...
September 9, 2009 - 08:27 ET by retroconAnd you should see Camille's opinions about Sarah Palin, 180 from the MSM and NOW groups.
Camille's problem is that she has the thoughtful intelligence of a conservative, but still harbors some hope for the liberal utopia that can never exist.
Brava indeed!
September 9, 2009 - 08:49 ET by Old SaltI have been shaking my head in confused amazement over the left’s inability to see the logical conclusion of their fascist policies, and to their 180-degree shift from “live and let live” to “live the way we see fit”. A far left agenda in collegiate education may explain a lot of it, but, certainly some are still capable of independent thinking, and can see that most of America doesn’t like the direction in which this administration is taking our country. I have to believe that they don’t care, and their rhetoric and arrogance is emboldened by the fact that they don’t believe it will be possible for them to be voted out in 2012. I think the evil message Pelosi is hissing in their ears is, “Stick with us, and when we get done, you won’t have to worry about re-election.”
Was it LBJ...
September 9, 2009 - 08:57 ET by Peet...who said something about judging a law not by how it would be used with the best intentions; but rather how it it could be misused by those with evil intent?
I really can't remember WHO, just the gist of the quote.
Peet
September 9, 2009 - 09:27 ET by jessieHI guess she forgot about obama pushing the stimulus bill thriugh. As for the democrats: they are gone in 2010 & 2012. The rapublicans are on probation. WE run this country, not washington. If they keep on pushing us, I call for a nationwide strike. Let's see what they can do with NO income to squander.
I will be impressed with
September 9, 2009 - 11:32 ET by G. MayI will be impressed with Camille when she carries her observations to their logical conclusion - disavowing her party. Until then, her synapses aren't all quite firing correctly.
Good piece Camille, now wake up.
"Though they claim to speak
September 9, 2009 - 12:27 ET by Chris Norman"Though they claim to speak for the poor and dispossessed, Democrats have increasingly become the party of an upper-middle-class professional elite"
It reminds me of the college students in the Sixties, who put on their denim work shirts and boots and went off to Appalachia and the inner cities to "stand with the poor" for a week or two. They were "one with the people" - yeah, like Louis XVI was....
The "Mainstream" Media: By liberals. For liberals.
~Chris
September 9, 2009 - 11:43 ET by choselife3xYou dropped the "r" in shirts. Just so you know. ;-)
That high-pitched scream you hear is the troll under my 4" spiked heel.
Did I? Or did I just mix
September 9, 2009 - 12:28 ET by Chris NormanDid I? Or did I just mix that word up with "students"? :)
Yikes, I fixed it - must have been Freudian....
The "Mainstream" Media: By liberals. For liberals.