How the liberal consensus exercises its power

Glenn Greenwald's letter of resignation from The Intercept wasn't remotely surprising

The New York Times.
(Image credit: Illustrated | iStock, New York Times)

The most striking feature of this year's presidential contest has been its unreality. In order to participate meaningfully in mainstream discourse surrounding the election, it has become necessary to deny the plain testimony of one's senses, to agree without hesitation to things one would have denied with equal fervor 24 hours ago, to abandon previously held standards of evidence with an almost lunatic fideism (and to revive them at will), to approach all questions with a heuristic of team spirit.

It would be pointless to suggest that either of the two loosely defined factions in our public life is guiltier of these things than the other. For every absurdly sweeping declaration about Russia (do the '80s still want their foreign policy back?) or the limited role of the judiciary from liberals, there is a corresponding offense on the other side (the about-face on the question of confirming Supreme Court justices during election years; the right's newfound and largely performative opposition to the 1994 crime bill).

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us
Matthew Walther

Matthew Walther is a national correspondent at The Week. His work has also appeared in First Things, The Spectator of London, The Catholic Herald, National Review, and other publications. He is currently writing a biography of the Rev. Montague Summers. He is also a Robert Novak Journalism Fellow.