LadyJean, I agree with your observation about the left arguing over minutiae but I'd be pretty, no very, surprised if you ran into anyone from the left in the Howard Dean campaign. It's been years since I met any active Democrats who weren't significantly right of center.

The Lakoff article talks about framing and one of the most egregious examples of framing by the radical right is the phrase “liberal left.” Liberals aren't leftists. They are more often the target of leftist contempt. In many countries, liberals are centrists, in the U.S. they are pulled right of center as the article suggests. Democrats range from slightly right of center (liberals) to far right of center. Some Democrats are right of some Republicans.

I'm reminded of a line from one of the old Beyond the Fringe sketches where Brits are talking about the U.S.

“And they have the two party system.”
“Really? How does that work?”
“Well, they have the Republican party which is the equivalent of our Conservative party, and they have the Democratic party which is the equivalent of our Conservative party.”

Most Democrats don't think the cause of freedom is well served by stifling discussion. When you think about it, a primary reason to elect Democrats is just so that everyone will have a chance to air his opinion.

Democracy, well done, isn't tidy or even necessarily efficient. You don't really want that. You want to get the best ideas from each point of view so you can eventually move forward as a group united in spirit.

      - Mark