On 2010-11-08, at 5:23 PM, Somebody Somebody wrote:
> Somebody: All that's been demonstrated is that people on the left (and across the political spectrum) will adhere tenaciously to their point of view regardless of the evidence and that debates like this thread change precious few minds.
True, but I still must admit to being surprised at the tenacity with which Charles and Woj have been defending the record of the Obama administration despite their expressed reservations about its education policy and escalation of the Afghan war. It makes me wonder what line the administration would have to cross for them to join the administration's critics on the left, both inside the party and outside of it.
Their analyses of the possibilities which were open to an administration with a broad mandate for change and in control of both Houses of Congress align much more closely with those of Obama and his inner circle and the Democratic Leadership Council than they do with the Progressive Democrats of America, Move On, Huffington Post, Krugman, Reich, Olbermann, Maddow and the other groups and individuals comprising the party's liberal wing. Though they wouldn't endorse the epithet, they clearly share Robert Gibbs' indictment of the party's "professional left".
Which is fair enough. Woj and Charles are both serious and thoughtful and I treat their views respectfully. But they're kidding themselves when they claim to be approaching this subject from the standpoint of "class struggle" and "socialism". So while debates like this may change precious few minds, at least in the short run, they can be of benefit in bringing forward new information and further clarifying the issues, and revealing in terms of where people stand in relation to them and how they may be evolving politically.