'the thuggish Chicago way which is coming from the White House, the heart of the problem is the utopian idealism of the President, his inner leftist circle, the old media, his big donors, right down to the Democrat man in the street. They all agree that victory for their side is so virtuous and vital, nothing must stand in its way. Not the law, not respect for others, not common decency.
Thomas Sowell's brilliant book, Intellectuals and Society, explicates why liberals' utopian vision leads to such moral failures. They think they have government policy answers to people's needs and policy cures for all of society's ills. Government can do it all -- take care of us all, tell us the one correctly enlightened way to think, change the very climate of our planet. If only they could attain the power to put their ideas into action. It is easy to move from that sense of superior capability and moral mission to thinking the means of grabbing power are justified because your intentions are so good, so crucial.
New York Times journalist Thomas Friedman daydreams of what he and fellow liberals could accomplish ruling America with all the powers of the Chinese Communist Party. Republican politicians, no matter how power hungry and narcissistic, know that is a nightmare. Their followers know that is a nightmare. Democrats do not.
Democrats, from liberals to leftists, see themselves along with Obama as the embodiment of hope, and their opponents as anti-hope. Of course those opponents are illegitimate and must be defeated by any means necessary. Of course, the limits posed on elected and bureaucratic power by our anti-utopian founding fathers must be breached.
Democrats reject the Supreme Court decision that enabled conservative small-government groups to fundraise on an equal footing with ACORN, Move-on, and the unions. Democrats do not want to apply our laws and our Bill of Rights protections to political opponents, especially not successful ones such as the Tea Party.'
Thomas Sowell's brilliant book, Intellectuals and Society, explicates why liberals' utopian vision leads to such moral failures. They think they have government policy answers to people's needs and policy cures for all of society's ills. Government can do it all -- take care of us all, tell us the one correctly enlightened way to think, change the very climate of our planet. If only they could attain the power to put their ideas into action. It is easy to move from that sense of superior capability and moral mission to thinking the means of grabbing power are justified because your intentions are so good, so crucial.
New York Times journalist Thomas Friedman daydreams of what he and fellow liberals could accomplish ruling America with all the powers of the Chinese Communist Party. Republican politicians, no matter how power hungry and narcissistic, know that is a nightmare. Their followers know that is a nightmare. Democrats do not.
Democrats, from liberals to leftists, see themselves along with Obama as the embodiment of hope, and their opponents as anti-hope. Of course those opponents are illegitimate and must be defeated by any means necessary. Of course, the limits posed on elected and bureaucratic power by our anti-utopian founding fathers must be breached.
Democrats reject the Supreme Court decision that enabled conservative small-government groups to fundraise on an equal footing with ACORN, Move-on, and the unions. Democrats do not want to apply our laws and our Bill of Rights protections to political opponents, especially not successful ones such as the Tea Party.'
