The Detroit Free Press printed this charming little piece in today's paper:
http://www.freep.com/...
It concerned Grover Norquist, and the short pep-talk he gave to the Michigan delegation on the floor of the convention. Along with the expected anti-tax rant, it included the line "..."The left is made up of competing parsites," with different groups coming to the government's table for money."
This bothered me more than it should. I think the reason is that, when I hear something like this, I can't help but try and imagine the frame of mind the person would have to be in to say such a thing. I can take the insult, and the implication that I and others like me are nothing more than loathsome, disgusting beasts. But beyond that, I think it clearly implies a belief that none of the things that liberals would choose to spend public money on have any worth whatsoever. It seems to me that he can only say this if he truly believes that programs like Head Start and Food Stamps and Unemployment Insurance should be eliminated entirely (to say nothing of Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid). In this mind-set, there are only two kinds of Americans: The hardworking heroes who shouldn't have to pay taxes, and the worthless thieves who want nothing more than to take away their money and squander it on useless follies, and who should be crushed without mercy and then left to rot.
I know, I know, no great revelations here. Still, something about this little article reminded me of just how far off track the once great party of Lincoln has wandered, that such a person as this could be considered one of the ideological leaders of his time, and that such words could be met with agreement and approval, rather than the scorn and disgust they deserve.