apt description–punitive Liberals.
In fact, punitiveness is the defining characteristic of Leftism. It is their calling card.
ANYONE who has interacted even slightly with the Left is gobsmacked at how punitive Leftists are. Just yesterday, I had a book review rejected by Amazon because there was an oblique reference to the ridiculousness one of their Lefty sacred cows.
And here’s the kicker: It wasn’t anything that would have caused even a vague concern, let alone a second look 10 years ago! But Amazon has now let its Lefty freak flag fly and looked askance at even a sideways criticism of what is NOW a Lefty Article of Faith, one that is held with religious intensity.
The answer to these questions is that while Americans in general were not down on their country, Jimmy Carter, along with the leaders of the Democratic party and its main constituent groups, certainly was. President Carter could not overcome the “malaise” of the 1970s because he and his fellow Democrats had played a large role in fostering it.
From the time of John Kennedy’s assassination in 1963 to Jimmy Carter’s election in 1976, the Democratic party was gradually taken over by a bizarre doctrine that might be called Punitive Liberalism.
And we are seeing that times 1,000 now!
In many ways, Jimmy Carter, and his leading appointees, were the perfect exemplars of Punitive Liberalism. Given their sour outlook, it is no wonder that their leadership generated a sense of “malaise” among the American people.
Even now, name ONE national Democrat known for a cheery and optimistic outlook. Go ahead, I’ll just wait…
Today’s Leftism has fully returned to its fundamental, punitive and coercive, violent roots. The violence inherent in Leftism was quite hidden 50 years ago. These days the ubiquitous coercion and violent denial of moral agency is very much on the surface of Leftism. For them, coercion is not a bug, but a feature…
Leftism is all about distorting, making people fit into the Procrustean bed of their Lefty doctrines. OTOH, Conservative values freedom and persuasion. The ONLY issue for conservatives is that your right to swing you fist ends where my nose begins…