The Radicals Come of Age

As John Kerry's very existence reminds us, the “elder statesmen” today are the hippie children all grown up.

by Rod D. Martin
July 24, 2004

On the eve of this year's Democratic Convention, the Kerry campaign supposedly laid down a simple command:

Everyone behave.

That meant two things: No extreme displays of public liberalism and no insanely out-of-control Bush bashing.

Whether Democrats obeyed is a matter of opinion. Bush bashing did continue, though stopping short of calling the President a murderer (as many of the speakers have elsewhere) for daring to confront al Qaeda and Saddam.

But don't let the week-long infomercial fool you. The leopard hasn't changed its spots.

This is a ferociously radical Democratic Party.

Think Michael Moore.

As his appallingly dishonest and cynical film, Fahrenheit 911, became a huge hit, so did Moore, not just with like-minded radicals, but with supposedly mainstream liberals. When his movie made its Beltway debut, the usual suspects showed up, but so did the Democratic party establishment, from the respected historian Arthur Schlesinger to DNC Chairman Terry McAuliffe.