On 23/07/2014, at 1:27 PM, "Carrol Cox" <cbcox at ilstu.edu> wrote:
> This ignores the fact that politics are not a high-school debate with judges to determine which side wins. The defenders need not convince anyone because mere passive public opinion has long ceased to be relevant to the actions of the state.
Why do the ruling class go to all that trouble to manufacture consent if public opinion is irrelevant? The simple answer is, Carrol is dead wrong. I wonder if this cry that public opinion is irrelevant is a form of sour grapes? Feeling unable to win the public opinion battle, some leftists then switch to insisting it doesn't matter? Anyway, it does. Carrol is dead wrong.
Bill Bartlett Bracknell Tas