Bad Writing

by digby

I would like to take this opportunity to correct a badly worded phrase in my post about Rick Perlstein earlier, which has been misunderstood due to my own bad writing:

This back and forth and give and take, between the polarities of our American philosophy — freedom and equality, opportunity and security, tradition and progress— is America. We are, as a people, both conservative and liberal.

What I meant to write was this:

This back and forth and give and take, between the inherent tensions in our American philosophy of freedom and equality, opportunity and security, tradition and progress is America. We are as a people, both liberal and conservative, with those values often being used in opposition to one another.

It was late, I was tired. mea culpa.

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