Ups and Downs

Sometimes Kevin Drum is so impressive, you wonder how you could ever not agree with him:

I don't want to make any grandiose claims about the effect of a single policy change, but [reducing farm subsidies] is the kind of thing that we ought to be doing as part of our campaign to win the war on terror. High farm subsidies send a message to poor countries that not only do we not care about them — exactly as Osama bin Laden claims — but that we aren't willing to help them out even when it would benefit our own consumers and practically every relevant expert in our own country agrees that it's a step we should take.

And then sometimes, you don't have to wonder:

This attitude [repugnance for the far left] is what I've come to think of as Kaus-ism.... But today? When serious lefties sneer at the Democratic Party and Republicans are united behind the barroom gibberish of George Bush? Why should anyone even moderately left of center spend more than a few minutes a week worrying about a barely detectable liberal drift in the Democratic Party?

In short, the best policies for the nation have somehow become more liberal, just because George Bush is inarticulate? If your aim is simply to drag the country as far left as possible, this is plausible; but it shows a distinct lack of interest in seeking the best policies.

[Cross-posted from Chequer-Board.]

Update: By the way, I must note that Mr. Drum's trackbacks, after a long absence, are now sensational.

Update [8 August]: Mr. Kaus is quite capable of defending himself.