PrintDecember 17, 2010
Nancy Pelosi: The Girl in the Plastic Bubble
Being a leftist in America means never needing to actually hear or grasp what conservatives believe. Many leftists, particularly soon-to-be Minority Leader Pelosi, live in a plastic bubble. Pelosi grew up as the daughter of a powerful Democrat, Thomas D'Alessandro, whose power base was Baltimore. In college, Pelosi interned for Democrat Senator Brewster. She met her husband, a native of San Francisco, and after a short stint in New York City, the two moved to Mr. Pelosi's home town, where they have lived for more than forty years.
Pelosi has been a Democrat operative from Northern California since 1976. How political has the Pelosi family been? Not only was her father a Democrat mayor and congressman, but one of her brothers, Thomas D'Alessandro III, was also mayor of Baltimore, and another of her brothers, Ronald Pelosi, was a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. The Pelosi family, for more than ninety years, has been inextricably connected to the Democrat Party. Consider, also, just where these Pelosi Democrats have lived and worked in politics. Baltimore, New York City, San Francisco -- three cities as thoroughly Democrat and profoundly leftist as any in America.
Lots of those on the left can live for years before they actually are exposed to genuine conservatism. Any listener to Rush Limbaugh has heard, many times, listeners explain how by actually listening to what Rush said, they completely changed their minds about politics. Why does the same process not occur for conservatives? Everyone in America is exposed to the opinions of the left. The journey of new Americans into the weird world of leftism takes root in children's television, which is filled with politically correct drivel, and progresses via films for younger audiences, which are lightly painted propaganda.
Public schools follow the same track. Academia, almost invariably, is far to the left of the rest of America. Television programming, documentaries, news networks -- everything, really, is little more than a tool for reinforcing leftism in our lives. Consider the rage which has met Rush Limbaugh or Fox News, both singled out for bias. These outlets matter because they were long the only sources for conservative opinion and news in America. Without these few conservative voices, the entirety of mass communications, entertainment, and education in America would comprise undiluted leftism.
The left's plan for America has been remarkably simple: make sure that Americans hear only information which supports the left, hear only analysis which reinforces leftism, and receive only mass entertainment marinated in leftism. Most Americans, however, have some means of escaping this shadowy prison. Operate a small business and deal with government, go to church with a believing heart and see its values mocked, serve in the military and hear leftists talk about your rapine and murder of civilians, get passed over for promotion by officially preferred "victim" groups, endure the diatribes of beet-faced professors calling you a "fascist," or just talk with friends and neighbors about real problems in your community. Most people, at some point, run smack into the malignancy of leftism in their everyday lives.
But there are some Americans who can go through their lives without ever feeling the destructive idiocy of the left, without enduring or seeing a friend or relative endure the brutal bigotry of the left, and without stumbling across a vast quicksand of leftist mendacity. Academicians, federal judges, Washington bureaucrats, members of official victim groups addicted to the bitter fruits of "social justice" -- these can float through life unaware of any real conservative view of the world.
It is much tougher for politicians -- and especially for politicians in a legislative leadership position -- to live such a life. But it is possible: assume that you are born into a political dynasty of the left. You grow up without ever once working in a job not connected with politics. You spend your entire life in communities which are aberrations of Middle America. You live in Washington, among the most leftist polity in the Republic, for decades. You dwell in an America whose national media, until you are well into middle age, is a monolith of ideological purity which only reinforces your prejudices. Living such a surreal life, a woman like Nancy Pelosi can actually find herself to the left of Barack Obama. But that is where she is, this Girl in the Plastic Bubble.
Bruce Walker is the author of a new book: Poor Lenin's Almanac: Perverse Leftists Proverbs for Modern Life.
