In Seattle, the real problem with the Democratic Party, is that it\u2019s way too conservative. In Seattle, you signal your allegiance to the flag by keeping the latest copy of The Stranger perched on the corner of your office desk \u2014 just slightly askew, as if you\u2019ve recently been leafing through it. In Seattle, you know exactly what Dan Savage said in his latest sex and relationships advice column. In Seattle, you listen to All Things Considered \u2014 on public radio KPLU-FM \u2014 like it\u2019s the holy call to prayer. In other words, in Seattle, \u201cDid you read it?\u201d is a way of life. A daily set of Starbucks-fueled rituals, all conducted in the name of being \u201cup\u201d on the latest expectations and dispensations \u2014 from various fonts of progressive intellectual haute couture.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Every subculture has its little tricks for signaling to everybody around you that you are a Good Person. \u00a0All you have to do is figure out what the conventions are and then subtly draw people\u2019s attention to the fact that you observe their pieties. \u00a0Here it\u2019s stuff like making sure your Obama sticker \u00a0and rainbow flag carefully\u00a0applied to your Prius, and that everybody knows you recycle and support the library. \u00a0In other places, it\u2019s a gun rack prominently mounted on your suburban assault vehicle. \u00a0To all such virtue signaling, the Tradition offers the same warning:<\/p>\n
Beware of practicing your piety before men in order to be seen by them; for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.
\n\u201cThus, when you give alms, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by men. Truly, I say to you, they have their reward.\u00a0(Mt 6:1\u20132).<\/p>\n
Break the Conventions. \u00a0Keep the commandments. \u2013 G.K. Chesterton<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
It\u2019s a bit of a caricature, but there\u2019s a fair amount of truth here too: In Seattle, the real problem with the Democratic Party, is that it\u2019s way too conservative. In Seattle, you signal your allegiance to the flag by keeping the latest copy of The Stranger perched on the corner of your office desk […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":92,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[5],"class_list":["post-96790","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-inside-the-soviet-of-washington"],"yoast_head":"\n
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