What's Wrong with the Democrats? Look No Further Than The Nation

No magazine compares to The Nation when it comes to being jarringly wrong on every major issue. Christopher Hitchens used to file his Minority Report there (and you can find some of those columns in his new collection). The Hitch said goodbye to his old 'progressive' comrades when he rightly surmised that they would use the occasion of September 11th to criticize the 'imperialism' of the United States and play Chamberlain to Osama's Hitler.

Nothing has improved since the departure of Hitchens; if anything, things have gotten worse. Indeed, a single month's worth of The Nation exemplifies why the Democrats must jettison the 'progressive' infestation. Here are the top ten mistakes of the Left in a microcosm:

• Shooting the Messenger, by Jeremy Scahill (who works for Democracy Now!, and yet we are to believe there is no left-wing bias at NPR) - Scahill examines the Eason Jordan affair and concludes, astonishingly, that Jordan was expressing a commonly held view among news organizations (i.e., that the U.S. military kills journalists in cold blood). To back up his claims, he quotes an executive from Reuters, the wire service that refuses to use the word 'terrorists' to describe suicide bombers. Problem number one: a troubling willingness to believe anti-American propaganda.
  
• Now He Has the Power, by John Nichols - a love letter to Howard Dean upon his ascension to the DNC throne. Problem number two: the activists have taken over the leadership, exemplified by the belief that the Democrats lost in '04 because they weren't angry and shrill enough (please!).
• Tort 'Reform' Triumphs, by Dan Zegart - an article lambasting the recent approval of reforms to class action lawsuits, illustrating Problem number three: a refusal to curb ridiculous excesses in 'feel good' legislation (i.e., no support for a partial-birth abortion ban), and Problem number four: the refusal to be candid about the tremendous power trial lawyers wield in the Democratic Party.
• Help Defend Lynne Stewart (I'm not joking), by Peter Rothberg - in which the activist's decision to convey messages from terrorists in captivity to those on the loose is portrayed as 'an administrative infraction'. Problem number five: the refusal to acknowlege real security threats in the post-9/11 world, and the tendency to label any commonsense decisions in these areas as 'fascist'.
• Getting the Purple Finger (unfortunately, this isn't a joke either), by Naomi Klein - in which the Iraqi elections are portrayed as a catastrophic defeat for America. Problem number six: being on the wrong side on Iraq, and refusing to give Bush any credit whatsoever for what is clearly becoming a transformed Middle East.
  
• Our Godless Constitution, by Brooke Allen - a comprehensive attempt to write Christianity out of public discourse by taking the most extreme position on the seperation of church and state. Problem number seven: an undisguised hostility towards religion.
• Summers of Our Discontent, by Katha Pollitt - a defense of Nancy Hopkins and a condemnation of Lawrence Summers, proving that academic freedom goes out the window when it collides with hardcore feminism. Problem number eight: the tendency to junk core principles when they collide with the Democratic political agenda.
• Another World Turns, by Alisa Solomon - a love letter to socialism and a condemnation of the United States and Europe in favor of the 'Third World'. Problem number nine: the refusal to move past the failed policies of socialism.
• Knowing What You're Talking About, by Liliana Segura - a diatribe by an anti-death penalty activist, spotlighting Problem number ten: Democrats don't want to kill criminals, yet they hold abortion as the foremost inalienable right.
  

Now, if you'll pardon me, I've got to go take a shower - the stench is getting unbearable.