I remember reading a while ago that intellectuals love a revolution and willingly hove towards charismatic dictators because they long for adoration, ostensibly for their ideas, but in reality for themselves. And so it is that Tom Friedman in NY Times today lauds Chinese autocracy over American democracy because their enlightened dictators get to enact policy at will whereas our enlightened would be dictators are hobbled by answering to the people. Ahh... the other shoe falls, as they say - not that I'd label the Chinese charismatic, but communism is always sexy to a freeborn liberal [for instance see that insufferable doucebag Oliver Stone's embrace of Chavez - although I imagine only Stone is under the impression that he's an intellectual].
It's quite an astounding thing to read - and of course conservatives are all over it, remembering how left wing intellectuals in the throes of the Great Depression initially were all giddy for Mussolini and Hitler and Stalin - JP Sartre anyone? most telling thing that long winded bastard ever did was cling to communism like baby to sugared thumb while Stalin was busy putting a bullet in the brain of anyone who so much looked at a book. Glory days.
The curious thing is, how much of the enlightened left shares Friedman's POV? My guess, almost all of it. And still so many want to believe that those who worried over Obama's speech to the little 'uns was motivated by racism - it's the ideology stupid, not the colour of his fucking skin. [for you, maybe, but what about the wackos? Well, the wackos are always there - if you insist on making it about them then forget about rational discourse entirely, which is the net effect of these moronic or tactically sage - if you're a lefty operative - blanket accusations of racism - I mean, in such an environment, when would it not be racial to criticize OBama? When the NY Times signs off on it? Will they be the final arbiter? And the funny or sad part is that liberals are repeating the sins they ascribed to Bush - ie, you couldn't criticize Bush viz the war cause that would make you un-American - it's the same fucking thing and it's hard for me to believe they're too stupid to realize so I have to assume they know and don't care or are simply lost in a haze of ideological fervor]
