Populism (as shown in *The Progressive Populist*

[Carrol Cox]

Various analyses of populism habe been offered on this list
in the past, but as I was reading through this issue of *The
Progressive Populist* (January 1-15, 2000) it came to me
that we had perhaps overlooked yhr most characteristic attribute
of its current manifestations: Profoundly Dull. Moreover, two
of the dullest contributors were two writers who have been
widely praised (including by themselves) for avoiding the
dullness which is said to characterize leftist discourse --
Jim Hightower and Michael Moore.

>From Hightower:

    The Christmas season has gotten me thinking about Jesus,
    which surely must tick-off big merchandisers and advertisers,
    since they've spent billions . . .

and he goes on to write the freshman theme that began to bore
me to death my first semester as a teaching fellow at the University
of Michigan over 40 years ago.

And from the scintillating Michael Moore (re Seattle):

        This is by no means the end of Big Business. The richest
    1 percent still own 90 percent of everything in this world. They
    will not go down without a fight.

        But they have been put on notice that people from all walks
    of life have had their fill and will not let up until we have a
fair,
    just, and democratic economy.

I believe that rhetoric was used up (at the latest) in the first days
of the Paris Commune,

I think we can define "Modern Populism in the U.S." as the mask
liberal Democrats wear between elections to avoid being too
embarassed in front of their radical friends.

Carrol