The New Liberal Order
In America, political majorities live or die at the intersection of two public yearnings: for freedom and for order. A century ago, in the Progressive Era, modern American liberalism was born, in historian Robert Wiebe's words, as a "search for order." America's giant industrial monopolies, the progressives believed, were turning capitalism into a jungle, a wild and lawless place where only the strong and savage survived. By the time Roosevelt took office ... Full Story »
Posted by Kaizar Campwala
The story ignores the impact of the media and how it strongly shapes the public impression of events. The right wing purposefully bought out and infiltrated media corporations and have colored events to favor the right and the radical right in the eyes of the public. Huge economic advantages in campaigns fell into the corporatist supporters' pockets so that only corporatists were likely to have enough money to be elected no matter which party they belonged to. It took the worst president in history and one of the best candidates in history to buck that trend. Until the corporate media is diversified and representative of the people, and until public financing of elections is enacted, the current change is precarious. Political shifts are not magic.