Exactly. Progressives’ ostensible zest for culture wars is almost entirely *a response* to conservative attacks on women, LGBTQ people, etc. It’s a neat trick: Strip people of their rights—then complain that they’re excessively woke culture warriors if they dare to fight back.
What the Douthat column reveals—and @OsitaNwanevu has already pointed this out—is that conservatives find progressivism more tolerable when it’s espoused by white men rather than people (especially women) of color.
Anyway the important thing to note right now is that conservatives have captured the federal judiciary and are about to enshrine social conservativism into the law under the pretext of neutral judging. I would like to hear Bernie’s plan for that.
In fact, I’d bet that one reason Douthat feels comfortable praising Bernie is that he knows anything Bernie might pass will be immediately struck down in the courts. It’s the Federalist Society’s America now, and probably for decades. slate.com/news-and-polit…
