I was curious what that crusty old America-hating icon of the far left, Noam Chomsky, had to say about the election, so I browsed over to his blog Turning the Tide, only to find it hadn’t been updated for months.

Imagine my disappointment.

But something seemed amiss. Surely the wordy crypto-socialist, described by the New York Times as “arguably one of the most important intellectuals alive,” must still be pumping out his important intellectual screeds somewhere?

So I held my nose and plunged into the Z Magazine sector of the fever swamp, being careful not to get any on me, and lo! Noam is still blogging.

And sure enough, he has some soporific election comments…

The progressive left is very substantial in scale, and could be far larger, including the large majority of the population, judging by highly credible public opinion studies that the press scarcely mentions, presumably because they understand that it is much too dangerous to allow people to understand that they are not alone in their views. And it has done important work. But it has not undertaken to create a viable political alternative. Maybe that’s a high priority, maybe not. But those who think it is (I agree) have to work at it every day, not just every four years, at all levels, from local on up, fielding candidates for everything from school boards to Congress and some day beyond, but also in education, organizing, working and acting on issues, etc. It is no use to show up every four years and say “vote for me” in a highly personalized extravaganza, which is what elections have become, given the severe democratic deficit in the country.