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In reply to the discussion: Damage control? He's 1 point above approval needed [View all]Hortensis
(58,785 posts)as god instructs, here and California. Been a long time since I've had to hide my shock. If they're happy, whatever works for them, etc. Humanity may have advanced to the age of reason and humanism, but a lot of people just aren't wired for it. Reminds me that a local children's science museum pimps fantasy and mysticism to lure visitors.
I've often thought of what you describe happening among the liberal left. We're emotionally bunkered and overloaded with guilt over problems we're currently helpless to stop. The confident idealism older people grew up with in the New Deal era, that liberalism and progressive government will always be the American way, has been smashed. Communications advances have been harnessed to erase understanding of liberalism from the American psyche and redefine us as the problem to be defeated, universal design, adjustable for any illiberal ideology.
Extraordinary passion was alive, though, when we Democrats elected America's first black president and finally passed national healthcare after 70 years of intense conservative and business opposition. Opponents are still trying to erase the legacy of the Obama era, including the ACA as a corrupt continuation of the healthcare holocaust, and they've all failed.
Oh, well. Tie another knot, elect more Democrats! I really do believe those advances heralded the beginning of our nation's next long liberal era and that, in spite of enormous, unprecedented forces against causing delays and backslides, the turning of that wheel can't be stopped. So, 9 months until we finally plant our flag solidly in the next era of liberal progress and our kids start learning how realistic great ideals can be.