Dan Balz writes about the YearlyKos conference. Two things stood out to me:
Conference participants appeared anxious to dispel their image as doctrinaire liberals, though the most animated panels involved liberal attacks on Bush and the Republicans over the Iraq war, criticism of the administration's role in the unmasking of CIA operative Valerie Plame, and charges that the mainstream media have failed to stand up to the president.Note the logical fallacy here. Conference participants say they're aren't "doctrinaire liberals" BUT look at what they REALLY believe:
1. They don't like Bush.
2. They're upset about the Iraq war.
3. They bash Republicans.
4. They don't like the fact that the White House jeopardized national security by outing a CIA agent.
5. They believe that the mainstream media isn't doing its job.
Which of those five points above is "liberal," let alone "doctrinaire"? Bush is one of the most unpopular presidents in history, and now considered one of the worst by the US public, Dems and Republicans. The majority of the public thinks the Iraq was was a mistake. The Republicans' approval ratings are in the tank. Valerie Plame's outing, again, not clear what only doctrinaire liberals are upset about that. And finally, concerns about the media? What evidence is there that only doctrinaire liberals think the media isn't doing its job.
I had a good talk with Dan Balz yesterday at the conference, and raised this very point. The mainstream media can label us doctrinaire liberal all they want - one reporter even suggested that the audience's desire for Rumsfeld to be fired was a mark of our liberalism - yet all of their evidence comprises points of view that the majority of the public supports. So unless doctrinaire liberals are 53% to 75% of America, why does the media insist on labeling anyone concerned about George Bush, anyone who dislikes George Bush and what his policies have done to America, as "liberal," let alone some kind of extremist?
At 29% in the approval ratings, are 71% of Americans liberal extremists?
