Oh, those muddled liberals

by John Leo
The Daily News January 18 2005

Faulty thinking is on full display in the city

In my ceaseless efforts to discover how liberals think, my great advantage is living in Manhattan, where everybody is liberal. It is here that I recently discovered a relatively new argument about terror: The next attack on America, if it comes, will likely be minor and tolerable. I was assured that a dirty bomb is the most likely weapon, and that it would probably do no more damage than an industrial accident would. So not to worry. The real problems are fear, panic and violations of civil liberties -- not terror.

If these notions become conventional among the. left, the Democrats stand a good chance of losing the next four or five presidential elections.

Here are some other themes of liberal conversation, Manhattan division:

A near-total inability to admit substantial progress in race relations. As racism keeps fading, the left seems determined not to notice the improvement. Last month at Slate, Mickey Kaus caught The Washington Post offering a gloomy version of a very good set of economic indicators for blacks, including the fact that the portion of black households making $75,000 to $99,000 quadrupled between 1967 and 2003. "Naturally, WAPO thinks the picture is bleak!" Kaus said. Naturally.
Behavior doesn't count. If minorities are "overrepresented" in prison and "underrepresented" in college, this is deemed to have nothing to do with the-crime rate or lack of preparation in schools, because behavior doesn't count. it's society's fault.
Bush got reelected because Americans are stupid. A couple of days before the election, I chatted with a prominent liberal who said over and over that Bush is a liar and Americans are dumb. This is no way to build a Democratic constituency that can win.
Finally, I reluctantly report that liberal friends basically reject give-and-take political discussion. They are polite and tolerant, but their opinions reflect a body of remarkably settled thought that leaves little room for dissent or new ideas. To their token conservative friends (like me), they seem ever more isolated from the thoughts and concerns of their fellow Americans.

johnleo@usnews.com