Jewish World Review Jan. 5, 2004 / 11 Teves, 5764

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Bad year rising



http://www.NewsAndOpinion.com | This sure has been a bad year for ideologues, even though some of them don't even know it yet. Obviously, right-wing guys Rush Limbaugh and Bill Bennett took big hits, and it was very interesting to see how compassionate some liberals were in examining the personal weaknesses of those men.


On the other side, some on the far left let it all hang out, using tactics of defamation, denigration and destruction of a very personal nature. Everyone in the Bush administration was a liar or a whack job. Only enlightened "progressives" could be trusted with the future of the United States.


Somewhat surprisingly, there were short-term gains for these liberal merchants of smear: The media paid them big attention, and some books were sold. However, when you live by character assassination, you will surely die by it. The defamers now have the hate tag wrapped tightly around their necks, and, like a noose designed to kill, it will eventually become a heavy yoke to bear.


While the extremists got the headlines, the polls were consistent: Most Americans are not ideological fanatics. The numbers roll in this way: Twenty percent of us say we are liberal, 35 percent conservative, and all the rest claim to be non-aligned. You can make money catering to ideologues, as Mr. Limbaugh and Bill Moyers have proved, but if you stake out predictable political turf, the center will distrust you.


The past year was also unkind to ideological institutions like The New York Times and the religious right. The Times took a huge hit when its politically correct editor was forced to resign because a minority reporter faked a bunch of stories. The young reporter ran around basically unsupervised, and the resulting scandal damaged the nation's most prestigious newspaper in a most personal way.

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The Supreme Court did the damage to the religious right by ruling that sodomy behind closed doors is beyond the scope of state responsibility. The Court struck down the sodomy law in Texas and gave secularists a tremendous victory. Privacy is really the issue here, but don't tell the ideologues that. On the right, many see the ruling as a return to Sodom and Gomorrah; get those saltshakers ready. On the left, the believers have seized the momentum and turned it into a gay marriage crusade.


Clear-thinking Americans understand that busting down somebody's door to check a sex act is absurd, but legalizing marriage for an alternative lifestyle does not necessarily follow in the logical thought chain. Yes, there are good arguments for allowing homosexuals legal parity with straights, but the vast majority of Americans want to keep the traditional definition of marriage, and their opinion ought to count for something.


But in the minds of the ideologues, the folks don't count. If you disagree with these extremists, then you are a moron and an enemy that must be attacked.


The man who has benefited the most from the ideological wars of 2003 has to be Howard Dean. Here's a guy who has found fame and power simply by intensely disliking President Bush. I mean, come on, this time last year Howard Dean was wandering around the Green Mountains, and even Ben and Jerry wouldn't talk to him. Now, he's the Democratic front-runner.


The irony here is that Dean is not an ideologue, he's only playing one on cable. As we have reported, the National Rifle Association loves this guy, and so did many Vermont business people. There's no doubt the governor is a committed secularist, but if you want a bazooka in your bedroom, Dean is apparently down with that.


But like the real ideologues, Dean better watch his step. Staking out a place at the far-left beach party will not get you elected to the presidency in America. We are still basically a country that admires and respects tradition. Howard Dean and the progressives may be smirking now, but they are heavily outnumbered by the regular folks who value straight talk but turn away from fanatics who would drastically change society. As both Goldwater and McGovern found out, ideology can get you close, but only that.

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JWR contributor Bill O'Reilly is host of the Fox News show, "The O'Reilly Factor," and author of, most recently, "Who's Looking Out for You?" Comments by clicking here.

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