THE LIBERAL HOUR, COME AND GONE - AT 7:14 A.M. ET:  Watching the current liberal train wreck reminds us that the genius of American politics, traditionally, has been that it's practical.  Americans are an idealistic people, but not an ideological people.  There are some who do follow a party line - you know them by the Ivy League stickers on the windows of their Volvos - but they are a minority.

David Brooks of The New York Times assesses the current train wreck, caused by those who misunderstood their own nation:

The party is led by insular liberals from big cities and the coasts, who neither understand nor sympathize with moderates. They have their own cherry-picking pollsters, their own media and activist cocoon, their own plans to lavishly spend borrowed money to buy votes.

This ideological overreach won’t be any more successful than the last one. A Washington Post-ABC News poll released Monday confirms what other polls have found. Most Americans love Barack Obama personally, but support for Democratic policies is already sliding fast.

And this despite the in-the-tank mainstream media.

We’re only in the early stages of the liberal suicide march, but there already have been three phases. First, there was the stimulus package...

...Then there is the budget...

...Finally, there is health care. Every cliché Ann Coulter throws at the Democrats is gloriously fulfilled by the Democratic health care bills. The bills do almost nothing to control health care inflation. They are modeled on the Massachusetts health reform law that is currently coming apart at the seams precisely because it doesn’t control costs.

Many of these leading Dem liberals go home to congressional districts where Bush (!!) is a curse word, Cheney (!!!!) is Hitler, and Osama bin Laden is a misunderstood idealist, like Ho, Ho, Ho Chi Minh.  (Ah, recall our youth!)

Nancy Pelosi has lower approval ratings than Dick Cheney and far lower approval ratings than Sarah Palin. And yet Democrats have allowed her policy values to carry the day — this in an era in which independents dominate the electoral landscape.

Oh, savor that paragraph.  Reprint it.  Send it around.  A quote like that makes the day bearable.

Machiavelli said a leader should be feared as well as loved. Obama is loved by the Democratic chairmen, but he is not feared. On health care, Obama has emphasized cost control. The chairmen flouted his priorities because they don’t fear him.

Applies internationally as well.  Who's afraid of big, bad Bama?

That leaves matters in the hands of the Blue Dog Democrats. These brave moderates are trying to restrain the fiscal explosion. But moderates inherently lack seniority (they are from swing districts). They are usually bought off by leadership at the end of the day.

And so here we are again. Every new majority overinterprets its mandate. We’ve been here before. We’ll be here again.

COMMENT:  Will Obama be able to save himself?  Will Republicans, who are not themselves winning any popularity contests, be able to exploit the Democratic kamikaze campaign?  Will the media, if only for its own survival, become more critical of the anointed prince?

Stay tuned.  Bette Davis was correct.  It's going to be a bumpy night.*

Isn't this fun?

(*"All About Eve," 1950)

July 21, 2009