A Useful Tool...

...not, necessarily, The Euston Manifesto itself; more the type of "liberal" that would sign this paen to Republican talking points.

I do have to admit, it's very nice to be able to look at a convenient list of those who are so afraid of their fellow liberals that they spend all their time defining themselves in opposition to them and not, say, to the neo-conservatives whose approval they so desperately crave. It'll come in handy during the weeks and months ahead to be able to simply call up a list and be able to say "yep, he/she's a tool".

I just sort of wish it weren't necessary.

Not that there aren't laudable things in there. The right to organize, radical reform of the WTO, gender equality... I'm not going to attack those, and why should I? Liberals of all stripes worthy of the name agree on those issues.

That's not why this "manifesto" exists, though. It exists to exclude those who dare to criticize American political culture, the value of violent interventionism, or the remarkable idea that criticizing Israel and not, say, Uzbekistan makes you a racist. It "draws a firm line against...left-liberal voices"...without mentioning where it draws its line against neoconservatism.

Why? Because there's no line to draw.

Edit: The unreconstructed left strikes back.