knucklehead: In my lifetime I have seen no evidence that the left is particularly interested in justice, equality, generosity, or tolerance. They are interested in power – justice and equality can go screw themselves.

Blair linked to a good quote about this the other day. His guy is talking about the Australian Labor Party, but it applies to our bunch too:

What we’re witnessing is something seriously bad in the history of any political party, and that’s an intersection of the collapse of belief and the collapse in organisation. But as belief has disappeared as a crucible, careers and jobs and the prospects of the glittering lights have replaced them. And so people are lining up in terms of where they nail their colours to the mast — not in terms of what they believe, but in terms of what opportunities they perceive will fall their way

If you were wondering why modern liberalism and bureaucratic class interest so often seem uncannily identical, that’s why.