One hallmark of a period of crisis is that the majority feels oppressed. History doesn’t repeat, but its patterns do.
This was true for abolitionists in 1859, which led to John Brown’s raid on Harper’s Ferry. It was true for populists and progressives in the mid-1890s, which is where Bryan’s "Cross of Gold" speech came from. It was true in the early 1930s, when millions were tossed into Hoovervilles by the Great Depression. And it was true in the late 1960s, when conservatives like Norman Podhoretz saw conservatives in academia and journalism being marginalized by liberal elites.
While it’s easy for liberals to dismiss the oppression felt by Vietnam-era conservatives, I’m not so quick to do it. That’s because I was a Vietnam-era conservative, and I know what Podhoretz is talking about. Despite the fact we were the coming majority view, many movement conservatives in 1967 felt truly oppressed. We were objects of scorn and ridicule. Yet we were rising, and they were falling. We were, in the context of the near-term future, right.
It’s important to note here that movement conservatism was a top-down movement, one which began in the salons of the wealthy, and only gradually filtered down into the middle class and below. The oppression felt by conservative intellectuals may seem effete, even ridiculous to liberals today, and they were in comparison with the sufferings of previous generations. Yet it nonetheless felt real, and thus is still real in memory.
Which leads us to today, and the growing sense of real, physical
oppression felt by today’s new majority, those who agree with the
Netroots about the Iraq War, which is metastasizing into hatred for
the filthy rich, the vacuously famous, the lazy anchors and the
Christian hypocrites with their sanctimony and their over-stuffed
closets.
The new era of McCarthyism, which began shortly after 9-11, is continuing apace, even though the supporters of that oppression are becoming an increasingly small, and increasingly shrill minority.
Every poll shows we’re the new majority. This is reflected in Republican Party recruitment, in surveys on down-ballot races. Even staunch Republicans know what’s coming.
Yet we’re still reading stories like this:
- A noted legal scholar is kept from taking his new job because he’s liberal.
- A protester is beaten, and his leg broken, outside a Congressional hearing room.
- Homophobes are allowed to intimidate freely on college campuses, leading to gay bashing.
These are just a few headlines I grabbed this morning. There are
similar stories happening every day, across the country. Liberals are
feeling besieged even as they’re becoming the vast majority.
The point is that’s normal. If it weren’t happening I’d doubt the trend.
It’s funny that in claiming that the Nixon Thesis is ending, you’re falling into the Alan Colmes role of it. I’d expect the polls to move a little bit tomorrow and over the next week on the Iraq question. President Bush has not made his case loud enough, and on the rare occasion when he does, it impacts the polls. Liberal/Conservative and Dem/Rep is not, and never has been a zero sum game. If it were, the Dem Congress would actually enjoy a higher approval rating than President Bush.
I’d also caution against false hubris. Let’s say that the self-labeled progressives are right about Iraq in the sense that they maintain public opinion in favor of cutting and running. It doesn’t mean that the progressive position is correct on network neutrality, taxation, etc. On economic issues, the truth is that Democrats and Liberals are dangerously stupid these days. Republicans and Conservatives (especially the immigration and trade restrictionist elements) are dangerously mean. Small-l libertarian instincts are what are ultimately keeping us out of danger on the economic front. Regulation is not in vogue, even though it is the knee-jerk reaction. On net neutrality, subprime loans, hedge funds, etc., our collective stomach to let systems fail and learn rather than step in and impose top-down solutions is making us stronger and freer in the long run.
It’s funny that in claiming that the Nixon Thesis is ending, you’re falling into the Alan Colmes role of it. I’d expect the polls to move a little bit tomorrow and over the next week on the Iraq question. President Bush has not made his case loud enough, and on the rare occasion when he does, it impacts the polls. Liberal/Conservative and Dem/Rep is not, and never has been a zero sum game. If it were, the Dem Congress would actually enjoy a higher approval rating than President Bush.
I’d also caution against false hubris. Let’s say that the self-labeled progressives are right about Iraq in the sense that they maintain public opinion in favor of cutting and running. It doesn’t mean that the progressive position is correct on network neutrality, taxation, etc. On economic issues, the truth is that Democrats and Liberals are dangerously stupid these days. Republicans and Conservatives (especially the immigration and trade restrictionist elements) are dangerously mean. Small-l libertarian instincts are what are ultimately keeping us out of danger on the economic front. Regulation is not in vogue, even though it is the knee-jerk reaction. On net neutrality, subprime loans, hedge funds, etc., our collective stomach to let systems fail and learn rather than step in and impose top-down solutions is making us stronger and freer in the long run.