DO THESE PEOPLE EVER LEARN? – AT 9:54 A.M. ET:  Believe it or not, many liberal pundits are back at the same old stand this morning, having learned nothing.  They're not practicing politics, they're practicing a religion:

From E.J. Dionne Jr.:  "Conservatives believe in freedom for the corporate sector, in limiting what the federal government does and in tax cuts for the best-off. Progressives believe in a government that promotes modestly more equality, regulates business in the public interest and sees public action as promoting American competitiveness. This election didn't change that. It is a setback for progressives, not a permanent defeat."

What a simplistic, idealized view of "progressives."  Maybe Dionne can explain what's "progressive" about shoving a health-care bill down the throats of a public shouting its opposition. 

And then there's the once-rational Peter Beinart:  "The Republicans have taken refuge in an anti-government ideology premised on the lunatic notion that America is the only truly free and successful country in the world."

Huh?  Do you remember any Republican ever saying that?  Beinart, like most self-proclaimed "progressive" intellectuals, is intent on putting down American exceptionalism.  He might try to examine what it means rather than just ridiculing the notion. 

And, by the way, it might be helpful for "progressives" to cool the rhetoric and discard terms like "lunatic," or "dumb" or "extremist."  People have stopped listening.

November 3, 2010