I think she makes good points - mostly. A little too much platforming on guns and abortion, but hey it's her essay so let her detract from her good message is she wishes.
But, I think the essay is founded on a "straw man" democrat that is the Republican charicature of the party and not the average moderate liberal. Obviously, this straw man who wants to ban all guns and supports 3rd term abortions is no more representative of the party than the Newt Gingrich's of the world are representative of the Republican party. I do not doubt Ms. Noonan *believes* this is what a democrat is, but it does not make it true.
The point about the democrats losing the "working man" is well-taken, and IMO is caused mostly by labor unions which developed over time from "working man's organization" to "organization working man must belong to and organization that harrasses business owners and organization led by rich guys who stuff democratic pockets." As a coworker so eloquently puts it, the unions created the American middle class, and then destroyed it. This relationship between Dems and labor, I feel, led to the embrace of some big money that has hurt the party.
The point about democratic aloofness is also well-taken, but is to be expected. All those liberal ideas she raves about up to the Vietnam War were mostly held by educated college folks. Is there any wonder that as a group they became so aloof? Are Republicans? Are they just better at hiding it? I don't have these answers, just questions.
But, what irks me is that these folks, most honest hard-working Americans, think that just because the Democratic party left them the Repugs will now champion them. This is not true. Down deep, Dubya *believes* in hard work, *believes* anyone can pull themselves up from poverty by sheer will, but has never done it himself and has likely seen little evidence to support his belief, which is grounded in faith. This is not to say I disagree with the notions of hard work, and I do resent any government money that flows to any lazy person - period. But, seeing everyone who is in bad straights as merely reaping the rewards of some bad deed is wrong, obviously. And seeing everyone as having true "equal opportunities" as you when daddy paid for Yale is also wrong, obviously.
And, no one in the party is there to tell him that if he *really* supported the working men and women who *think* he supports them, he'd:
- make sure their pensions weren't gambled on the stock market,
- avoid ideas like "everyone can gamble their social security on the stock market as they please,"
- realize that lessening environmental controls on businesses don't have a positive economic effect and only serve to quagmire those "working folks" amidst more problems than they already have, up to and including fear of the goo they found in their back yard and the PM2.5 warnings on the radio,
- realize that while the right to bear arms is fine, the right to bear an assault rifle or a combat assault weapon or a vintage M2 Browning is over the top for any civilian use whatsoever,
- realize that corporate welfare and bailouts hurt us all, including those "working folk" the same way that rampant AFDC spending hurts us all: by dumping money in a worthless endeavour that only staves off the inevitable,
- and finally, realize that while Republicans hold the image of economic responsibility, 3 straight Repub presidents who combine cutting taxes and rampant military spending have now thrice thrown the country into horrible debt, which results in up to $500 billion in taxes to us all *just* to make interest payments (since when did republicans forget the rules of credit card ownership?).
I know you asked for this not to be an anti-Republican rant, MagiK. However, I find myself agreeing with many points about the Dems. That does *not* compel me to be a Republican but instead compels me to analyze the reasons why I may not want to flip to either side and instead remain wisely independent.
