A letter writer to Sullivan gets it exactly right:
The Left of that era grew to be increasingly insular, ideologically rigid, and dyspeptic. Identifying as a liberal during the Reagan era was a bit of a badge of honor, but the complete lack of power lead to all sorts of nuttiness. With nothing but a record of losing, it became possible for the anyone on the Left to come up with ridiculous policy prescriptions, and the lack of anyone in power listening made the advocate look bold and daring, rather than unstable and silly.My other favorite point from the letter: "Returning to the Teabagging events (is there any better sign that the GOP has lost the young than that nobody along the way warned them about that name?)" Posted by Stephen Silver at April 12, 2009 09:40 AM