Diane’s Dictionairy
Robert Novak has a way of making things happen. I’ve been listening to the Diane Rehm show pretty steadily for the last 12 years. This is the first time I’ve heard her definition of a liberal (slide to 26:00). It is best not to have anything in your mouth as you listen.
And while we’re all grinning this would be a good time to re-visit Jane Smiley’s understanding of the difference between liberals and conservatives (please don’t torture yourself by listening to the entire show: the particular invidiousness begins around 44:OO).
So for Ms. Rehm a liberal is simply someone who, having no particular ideological bent, listens to all the facts before trying to make the best decision.
And according to Ms. Smiley you are a liberal to the extent that you care about right and wrong–even though it hurts your cause since conservatives, concerned above all else with group loyalty, are able to exploit liberals lack of consensus (she apparently was ass-isted in this view by her reading of David Hackett Fischer– surely proof that if a donkey looks into a book…).
But is this the kind of nuanced and shades- of-gray understanding that our esteemed liberals boast of? Of course it is! And that’s why there’s going to be kulturkampf for the forseeable future.
Filed under: KulturKampf, National Progressive Radio | Leave a Comment
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