[sixties-l] Who are the Trendy Left?

From: drieux (drieux@wetware.com)
Date: Sat Nov 17 2001 - 11:24:06 EST

  • Next message: Frank Smith: "[sixties-l] anti-war"

    On Thursday, November 15, 2001, at 07:56 , Ted Morgan wrote:
    [..]
    > Finally, who exactly ARE the "trendy Left" who have done nothing in
    > response to or against the war that, yes, the United States has been
    > waging against Iraq since January 1991? Not the people I know who
    > write, speak, converse with others, act against the continuing atrocity
    > of sanctions (including myself). Is it because these voices don't show
    > up often in the mainstream media that they apparently don't exist?
    > [Whereas, point well taken, the "trendy left" ARE visible in the New
    > York Times or on CNN --precisely underscoring the dubious use of the
    > word "left" in association with them (back to the Gitlin debate?). That
    > might suggest a different target for one's disdain than the activists
    > themselves who have tried to break through on this issue, but are
    > largely ignored by mass media (as I can attest).

    Ted, let me run this out as the first of the three areas that we
    clearly need to work out. Since 'funny you should say that....' this
    morning CNN was covering the fact that President Bush's Wife is out
    front on the Radical FemiNazi Onslaught against 'traditional family
    values' in Afghanistan.

    Of course, being puppet toadies of the Leftist Regime in D.C. they
    of course avoided calling it by its name.....

    So as a card carrying Republican, from a card carrying republican
    family, I am less concerned about the problems on the Left, than
    I am with the 'guilt ridden former anti-war, pro-civil rights, tree
    hugging, trendy leftists' who have meandered into the GOP over the last
    30 years trying to find some 'cutting edge' penance for their
    previous positions.

    So you will forgive me If I look to the left to help define whom
    amongst thee are the True Believers and who are the apostates. Only
    to find that there is no good yard stick or standing committee for
    Ideological Purity over there.

    We are up to our neck trying to get any sort of order and good
    discipline over here with how we can hand you back all of your
    Wacko's who do not belong in the party of Rich White Hetro Males.

    { I mean it is tough enough as it is, what with Gay Males who
    suddenly notice that they have latent fiscally conservative positions
    that alienate them from the Democratic Party, and true to the basic
    model that the Government should not be rooting around in what we
    do on our own property with consenting adults, its, well, its
    just not as easy as it use to be to keep that 'het' in the
    Ruling Elite title. At least they understand that in public one
    should maintain a decent sense of decorum and all. }

    So no, I really do not have any problem with 'actual activists' of
    either the left or right - since many of them have worked through
    why they hold positions that are more robust than the chanting
    slogan of the moment. If anything I am more than just a little
    tired with the process of mythologizing the sixties, either as
    the "best of all possible times" or as "the worst of all possible
    times". In like manner the rather impolite habit of americans
    that they adopt their 'political positions' like they adopt their
    choice of wardrobe.

    So it rather bothers me that one of the central kvetches of the
    'sixties' was it's anti-suburbanism, anti-middle class, and the
    disdain for the boring two party system - that well, has become
    way too blandly similar given the failure to maintain any sort
    of party discipline. Made almost too comical by the current
    presumption - in Good Old GOP fantasy - that mere home ownership
    should suffice to transition former leftists into card carrying
    members of the Landed Gentry! That's Our Ideological Defect, and
    really should not be used by leftists without appropriate attribution
    to the correct implementation of the Ruling Elite.

    But I fear that we are not at all likely to get the sort of appropriate
    three party system where we have The True Leftists, The Ruling Elite,
    and the Vast Wasteland of middle class mall crawling Suburban Assault
    Vehicle Driving Soccer Mom Supporters. But at least it should be some
    sort of goal that might help both of our positions. Clearly if we
    could come to some consensus that we would agree that we do not take
    your refuse, if you do not take ours, and that they have to go and
    form their own party.

    The alternative of course is that You just have to take back
    Rush Limbaugh, Dan Quayle, The current President..... Ok, and
    most of all of the flag waving groupies without a DD214.

    ciao
    drieux

    ---
    



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