Say It Ain't So, Joe

Joe Klein, like a lot of centrists, craves moderation on all subjects. They don't think for themselves, they simple run to the center of every argument and assume, as if they were on a scale, that this position is magically balanced. The genius of the now-crumbling Bush administration is how they staked out positions so far to the right with such supreme confidence that they pulled non-critical thinkers like Klein to the right with them.

I wrote off Joe Klein years ago when he was writing for New York Magazine. After seeing Spike Lee's Do the Right Thing he wrote that the film should be banned, that it would provoke a rabid black mob to take to the streets and torch the city. Then he wrote the snarky, anonymous hatchet job Primary Colors on the very centrist Bill Clinton.

Unfortunately, Joe Klein's flabby thinking isn't alone, even among non-Republicans. As Progressive as many of the opinions on the HuffingtonPost and the Nation and Mother Jones might seem, almost no one is espousing a position that is as radically left as those espoused by this nation's radical right. How many Trotskyites do you see talking with Wolf Blitzer about a permanent and significant redistribution of wealth? How many Spartacist Leaguers advocating re-education camps for the bourgeoisie are on talk radio? Then listen to Rush talk about immigration. Listen to that jackass Atlanta hate radio DJ talk about Congresswoman McKinney's hair.

The far-right wing has not only captured all three branches of government but it has also captured the public debate. Sometimes I think that if it were not for the democratization of ideals thanks to the world wide web the stranglehold on liberty from the far right would be absolute and damn near permanent.

Yet the tide is turning. I can start to feel it in the air. Like Spring.

The center and the right need to be reminded that this nation was founded by left-wing revolutionaries who loved this country and the Liberties it promised more than life itself. Were they to go back in time, Rush and O'Reily would surely be Redcoats. Joe Klein - without a doubt - would be Benedict Arnold.

The people, united, shall never be defeated.