The defensiveness of liberalism

If you've ever debated people about ideals embraced by progressives, you'll notice something.  The Left typically hedges the bet in a debate by beginning with the assumption that if you aren't a liberal or embrace liberal ideals, then by definition you are either stupid, evil or both.  On a more gracious day, the charge will be idiocy.  Hence Conservatives are always potrayed as idiots.  How can they not be?  They reject the obious splendor of the true solutions!  Thus Dan Quayle as opposed to Joe Biden.  On a good month, Biden has put his foot in his mouth more than Quayle did in four years as Vice Presidednt.  And yet check the Narrative.  Biden is not portrayed as anything other than a wonderful man who cares and is passionate and wise, as opposed to idiot Quayle whose very name became synonemous with bafoon.

The same tactic is used outside of politics.  Consider Pope Francis.  The Left portrays him as the first Pope since Jesus to turn the Church around and make it a place where the poor are cared for and tolerance and love reign supreme.  This is often said in contrast to the two presvious popes who are spoken of as maintining the corruption, the bigotry, the sexism, the intolerance, the lack of care for the poor.  Despite the fact that, on paper at least, there is little difference between what the three popes actually taught, the way in which the Narrative is framed makes all the difference.

This makes debating with the Left exceedingly difficult.  People will, as is our nature, listen more sympathetically to those hwo agree with us.  So a large swath of people who are either liberal themselves, or at least not conservatie or traditional, are more than happy to accept such a paradigm for dialogue.