One thing that always seems to define modern left wing people, and I'm talking about the progressives who burn people in effigy and smash storefronts, not the classical liberal that you saw dancing at Woodstock festivals; is the idea that only their beliefs are valid. Its not just that they believe their ideas are the only ones that can be valid, but that any other point of view is vile, and not only vile, but borderline criminal. It is an offense so egregious to oppose their set of beliefs that they simply cannot tolerate listening. You are vile, obscene, a neanderthal! Its debatable, but such closed minds and militant beliefs that can't even entertain the notion of a better way of doing things is a sure sign of backwardness and corruption. Is it really just a defense mechanism at this point for them to be so unable to engage in a debate about ideas and almost as volatile as nitroglycerin when such topics arise? They make George Orwell seem less and less like a creative writer and more and more like a prophet with each passing day.