On Wed, 14 Dec 2011 07:52:38 -0500, "Jim Wilkins"
wrote:


"Stormin Mormon" wrote

Promoting the notion that being unarmed is safer than being able to defend
oneself from criminals.
Christopher A. Young

The underlying concept that (falsely) feeling morally superior was better
than learning to take effective action showed me the hollowness of
liberalism.

Indeed. I'm waiting for a book from the library _Death of the Liberal
Class_ by Chris Hedges. It sounds like a very upbeat book. snort
And it appears to point out how the libs have become everything they
hate about conservatives.

From Amazon, Editorial Reviews:

From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. In this tsunami of terrifying revelations, juxtaposed
truths, and demonstrated facts, Hedges (War is a Force That Gives Us
Meaning) argues that the traditional beacons of the liberal class—the
universities, media, church, labor unions, and arts–have sacrificed
themselves completely to the dominance of corporate greed and
unbounded capitalism. We are all to blame and everything moral about
our democracy stands to be lost—is indeed already vanishing, in
Hedges's view—and those who draw attention to it are banished and
booed. While every page erupts with calamities of the human spirit
worthy of their own irate broadcasts and bull-horned fury, Hedges is
at his best when he unpacks the density of his polemic and embraces
the power of his narrative. Regardless of form, however, his most
interesting theses include the parallel between the current domestic
climate and the fall of Weimar Germany and the conclusion that
"Everything formed by violence is senseless and useless. It exists
without a future. It leaves behind nothing but death, grief, and
destruction." These insights come not just as warning, but as witness.
(Nov.)
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved. --This text refers to
the Hardcover edition.

From Booklist
The real danger to progressive social ideals is not President Obama’s
failure to push through a more liberal agenda or the threat presented
by the Tea Party and others pushing the Republicans more to the Right.
Hedges argues that the true threat to liberalism is the long and
gradual weakening of its ideals. Drawing on analysis and interviews
from his long career as a journalist, including 15 years with the New
York Times, Hedges chronicles the corruption of such bastions of
liberalism as the Democratic Party, academia, and labor unions. He
cites the NAFTA agreement and welfare reform during the Clinton
administration and union coziness with corporations as recent examples
of the merging of government and corporate interests to the detriment
of the interests of the poor or even the middle class. He also reviews
the long history of assassination and co-optation of radical voices in
the U.S. and the singular career of Ralph Nader as a consistent voice
against capitalist excess. This is a thoughtful analysis of why and
how liberals have compromised principles due to the allure of power
and wealth. --Vanessa Bush --This text refers to the Hardcover
edition.

--
However beautiful the strategy, you should occasionally look at the results.
-- Sir Winston Churchill