Dissecting the Left

Our Curmudgeon friend at Eternity Road has an interesting analysis of the Left in context with the impending Supreme Court Nomination battle here.

Good point he makes:

Conservatives have put quite a lot of effort into developing the sort of "higher structure" to their ideas and policy prescriptions that Blankley denies to Justice O'Connor. We see logical consistency around sound premises as a high virtue. It's O'Connor's departures from principles she's claimed to hold that the Right holds against her. If she possesses such a "higher structure," she's succeeded in ignoring it on too many occasions to suit us. We'd like her successor to be more consistent about the application of the Constitution and the principles embodied therein: the fount of all proper American law and government.

Liberals, in contrast, privilege policy outcomes over all other things. More, the outcomes need not bring about any particular consequence; they must merely suit the emotional needs of left-liberalism -- "to look good and feel good while doing good" (Irving Kristol) -- and the power-tropism of left-liberal politicians. To such persons, a principle that might confine their pursuit of these things is anathema.

I always thought that wearing those bracelets to "raise the awareness of poverty" was rather fruitless - only good for smugly proclaiming the superiority of the wearer: "Look at me, I'm so superior to the capitalist pigs who don't wear this bracelet". Or, if you're like has-been Madonna, you can sing at a fund raiser for poverty-stricken Africa whilst dripping with diamonds.

ADDENDUM: I just found out that Live 8 or whatever it's called was NOT a fund raiser. It was an "awareness raiser". No money whatsoever was raised to alleviate poverty in Africa. I'm sure the starving folks in Ethiopia really appreciate the raising of awareness.