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Where's the Real Left Flank?

By Ethan Brown

I was very pleased to read BTD's post earlier today on the lack of a meaningful and effective left flank of the Democratic party and the importance of pushing policies instead of specific politicians.

It's always amazed me how bold the right is on both foreign and domestic policy in contrast to the timidity of the left.

Where are the strident, prominent voices on, for example, criminal justice system which should be a classic left issue? While a prominent left blogger mocks proponents of marijuana legalization for supposedly espousing "Cheech and Chong mathematics," a centrist Democrat from Virginia (!) pushes for reform of our vast system of prisons and jails. For all the jokes made by left bloggers about faux moderates and "seriousness" they mock and marginalize the left flank every chance they get. [More...]

Now, one could argue that the hard right flank of the right has led the right to its minority party status. And that's true. But the right still controls the dialogue and better still keeps its right flank furious and well-funded.

And while the Dems have spent months mocking right-wing activists for their tea parties, they've missed an enormous opportunity to criticize the bailouts from a genuine populist perspective. Indeed, as Jane Hamsher tellingly noted in a discussion of Barry Ritholtz's book Bailout Nation:

"One of the things I really like about the financial blogosphere is that they are — and I’m going to struggle with the right words for this — issue driven, and therefore aren’t locked in a zero sum battle for political ascendency.

Meaning, they manage to hold the same yardstick up to everyone, and aren’t playing for party advantage. The liberal blogosphere has largely defined itself as locked in a steel-cage death match with the GOP, which has value, but that means they’re reticent about applying the yardstick they use for Republicans to their own, lest they cede some territory.

There’s value too in making sure that the house stays clean no matter who’s in charge. Those two things shouldn’t be antithetical, but sadly they often seem to be."

Exactly right. Which is why the preeminent voices of the moment are financial bloggers such as Nouriel Roubini, Ritholtz and Yves Smith. With a very few exceptions, the "left," sadly, is nowhere to be found.

Full post as published by TalkLeft on June 16, 2009 (boomark / email).