Joseph Catron wrote:
>
> Parenti's leftism
> makes it all the more likely that I'll be forced to deal with his asininity
> in the future.
Nonsense. You won't be _forced_ to do any such thing. You may freely choose to do so, but (a) your "dealing" will have no more political impact than will his book and (b) your time and energy would be better spent thinking out and explicating how in practice secular leftists and religious leftists may work together. Also, more people need to be thinking out the issue Chip Berlet raised in a Left-Forum panel: NOT the Teabaggers themselves but those they might reach! The teabaggers and (for now) the evangelicals are hopless (and will not be affected by criticism, but as/if a leftist movement develops it must reach those who might be influenced by those rightist movements.
It is an axiom of intellectuals in general and left intellectuals in particular that one neeeds to criticize whatever is wrong with the world -- but I doubt that such criticims has ever made any difference. Don't critiize, Orgznize.
Carrol