I'm not sure I agree with your premise BMUS. (hey, that rhymes!) I agree that the left* has long been a shelter for free thinkers and for the rational among us. However, I think there has always been a woo-woo brigade on the left as well as on the right. I suspect we notice it more because discussion boards like the DU can amplify extreme or fringe beliefs. When someone you agree with on other issues says something outrageous, you’re less likely to dismiss it than if someone who disagreed with on everything said the same thing. You can see the same thing on both the left and the right. If Gore had been in office on 9-11 then the Freepers would be MIHOPers and most of the MIHOP crew on the DU would be poo-pooing it (a few hard core tinfoil head will buy into any theory so the DU would not be totally MIHOP free)

I think the question we need to ask is not “how did this come about” but “how do we stop it from spreading.” How can we contain the spread of the irrational not only on the left, but in American life in general?





* FYI: I don’t like using “left” and “right” as political terms for periods before the 19th Century so I’m referring basically for post 1800 politics in a broad way.