Neo-populism

Arnold Kling notes the growing gap between us and our elites:

I suspect that the popular frustration is widespread. My guess is that popular sentiment is turning against elite opinions like these:

* The world's Muslims share our desire for peace and democracy.

* Equal-opportunity passenger screening at airports is a better policy than profiling.

* The United Nations is the world's conscience and policeman.

* The "international community" will deal with Iran's quest for nuclear weapons.

* It is possible for the United States to bring about a constructive transformation of Middle East politics, either through diplomatic or military initiatives.

There are other ways in which elites have lost credibility. President Bush and Israeli Prime Minister Olmert are both guilty of exaggerating the success of military operations.

Excess partisanship in a time of war is very frustrating to the public. How can it be that essentially all Republican officials agree with the Bush Administration policies and procedures for monitoring phone conversations and essentially all Democrats disagree? Would a Democratic President really be following policies that are very different?

Finally, anyone who believes that "French co-operation" is anything but an oxymoron is an incurably senseless elitist. French peacekeeping forces in Lebanon were decimated without firing a shot. (Actually, it's worse than that. To be decimated is to lose ten percent of one's soldiers. France's expected contribution of 2000 soldiers was reduced by ninety percent; in addition, the French proceeded to deny that the UN resolution means what it says when it calls for the disarming of uninformed militias.)

Let's hope that politicians who are willing to say these things publicly and go on offense against the media bias that afflicts us win and win big. Rightwing bloggers tend to be just this kind of populist and are fond of making the same points Kling addresses. The failure of the MSM to state the obvious is contributing to their decline, but it seems to be maddeningly slow. For example, why do a majority of American Jews still support the Democrats?