There's no radical left in America.

Speaking of Okies, I've a few in my family. And one, at least, is a Democrat. For what it's worth...

The above statement is "according to the paranoid left."

nimh wrote:

okie wrote:

Humphrey was probably a poor example, but the basic premise is correct, that older Democrats prior to the 70's were being contested by the new, more liberal left following 1970, and the people running the party now are most definitely further left and more liberal than prior to 1970. Some of the issues like abortion and gay marriage simply had not become prominent because the United States was a more traditional, a more conservative place, especially concerning social views prior to 1970. I don't know why this needs to be argued over.

Two major flaws in that argument.

First, the turn to the left in the Democratic Party in the late 60s, 70s was followed by a turn to the right in the late 80s/90s. Dukakis was less leftist than Mondale (at least on economic policy), and Clinton was considerably more to the right of either (on any count).

Secondly - and way more importantly IMO - is how you focus very narrowly on only post-material, moral/values issues: abortion, gay marriage. At least as important as that axis is the socio-economic axis. Equality, taxes, benefits, social security, employee rights, job security, poverty, etc.

On that axis, the entire spectrum of US politics has swung fiercely to the right, starting with Reagan - and the Democrats have meekly followed the trend, just with some delay and moderation. Where has the power of the unions gone, for example? The politicians who even still propagate it?

In a recent thread, Mesquite posted a brilliantly informative link to this here Tax Rate History. What does it show? Under Eisenhower, the top income tax rate was 91%. 91%!! Any politician proposing anything like that would, in today's world, be branded a commie - and Eisenhower was a Republican. Clinton never dared to go even halfway back to the redistributive taxes of the pre-Reagan era and maxed them out at 40%. Thats how far right today's Democrats have drifted when it comes to socio-economic policy.

Perhaps this explains the difference in perception. As a leftist myself, I judge politicians primarily on what they do against poverty, for equality. In that dimension, US politics is a choice between bad and worse, and the Clinton era at most meant, as Steve Earle sang in '96, "four more years of things not getting worse". You, I am hazarding a guess, are a man of religious or otherwise socially conservative beliefs, and therefore focus on the only issues you've mentioned so far in your argument: abortion and gay marriage - and yes, on those counts society has become a lot more liberal since the days of Eisenhower.

Bravissimo. I should pop in here more often.

The above statement is "according to the paranoid left." Did you see my comment about Wolf Hole?

This where you live, Dys? ;-)



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This where you live, Dys? ;-)



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Well, that's downtown, I live in the suburbs.

Oh give me land lots of land, under starry skies above...

If he ain't, i will . . . just let me know . . .