"Here's what I learned today about democracy and ideology as a result of my debate with Ed Kilgore and having read the comments to the piece I wrote about targeting Blue Dogs: * If you believe in the Fourth Amendment, an end to the Iraq War, the rule of law for government and corporate criminals, a ban on torture, Congressional approval before the President can attack Iran, and the preservation of habeas corpus rights, then you're a fringe, dogmatic Far Leftist ideologue, the kind who ruined the Democratic Party in 1968 and wants to do so again." continued... - Jason Wehmhoener from Bookmarklet

Even with 95% re-election rates (in bad years), the political class has actually succeeded in training a huge bulk of citizens to believe there is something deeply disruptive, radical, even anti-democratic about daring to challenge incumbents in elections. That the political class would want to inculcate people with zombie-like allegiance to Party and to incumbent rulers isn't surprising; it's natural. What is surprising, and more than a little disturbing, is how enthusiastically our citizenry has embraced this premise. - Jason Wehmhoener