Victor Davis Hanson examines the roots of the frenzied denunciations of the U. S. coming from the left, which he describes as "a phenomenon of the aging left of the Vietnam era and of its various progeny and heirs."


The first element in this goofiness is latent Marxism. Then there is the simplistic logic one is left with by postmodern thinking,

adherents of postmodernist relativism assess morality instead by the sole criterion of power: Those without it deserve the ethical high ground by virtue of their very status as underdogs; those with it, at least if they are Westerners, and especially if they are Americans, are ipso facto oppressors.. . . Israel could give over the entire West Bank, suffer 10,000 dead from suicide bombers, and apologize formally for its existence, and it would still be despised by American and European intellectuals for being what it is--Western, prosperous, confident, and successful amid a sea of abject self-induced failure."

Nothing illustrates this moral derailment more effectively than the career of Jimmy Carter, " who can parlay with some of the world's most odious dictators and still garner praise for 'reaching out' to the disadvantaged and the oppressed." Most of Christianity is now in thrall to this kind of moral astigmatism.


He goes on to point out their "unquestioned belief that sweet reason alone, in the hands of its proper acolytes, and yoked to commensurate powers of coercion, can remake the world. But we need not discount other and much simpler factors--like the law of the pack."

This last is most evident in the bitterness and vehemence with which so many Democratic politicians and academics denounce George W. Bush. It is seldom reasoned or even argued, just expressions of outrage and scorn as if anyone with a brain should realize that he is the liberal version of the Antichrist, and their voices rise automatically to yells of indignation whenever one suggests that there might be another view. One gets the same response by saying something critical of Bill Clinton, who reliably summons up attacks on Ken Starr who squandered so much money by fighting through all of Clinton's evasion and obstruction. This from the party who wanted more bipartisanship during the impeachment.


I find that I am itching to quote too much. Go read the piece. It requires free registration.