There is a little bit of a debate going on concerning whom we should refer to as 'The Left'. Who should make the call: Hitchens, Pollitt, Alterman, or now that they've gotten into it, Tapped?
Why spend so much energy defending their turf? Because no one who doesn't call himself a leftist- even a bourgeois leftist- wants to be associated with those who do. From Alterman to 'Tapped', liberals want in on the game, but they want to keep their self respect, something leftists never lose. The left makes them feel ashamed and the right makes them jealous. The left will never control the program, but as long as the liberals are afraid, the the right will continue to.