I remember the 2000 Election of Bush and the 2003 Iraq War riled up a lot of leftists, but I don't believe it necessarily changed them. IIRC, they were mostly silent about the Bosnia-Kosovo and Somalia bombings during the Clinton administration, so maybe Bush's invasion of Iraq did have them kicking high into anti-war mode while conservatives officially completed their transformation, embracing the neocon pre-emptive war on terror agenda.
But it was the rise of LGBT in the late 2000s that really changed them into what they are today. Ever since LGBT started gaining steam around 2008, and the election of Obama, they've been emboldened (despite being let down many times by Obama). Internet social media has also played a big role. 12 years ago, lefties were sitting in coffee houses grinding about Amerika, Haliburton, PATRIOT Act, Darfur... today leftists blare Love Wins playlists after the SC ruling on gay marriage, push for FB to change their logo to feature more females, and speculate about evil white cops.
The underlying trend to all of this is that whoever controls the White House also has a big impact on what leftists are willing to squak about and how loud they're willing to get.
But it was the rise of LGBT in the late 2000s that really changed them into what they are today. Ever since LGBT started gaining steam around 2008, and the election of Obama, they've been emboldened (despite being let down many times by Obama). Internet social media has also played a big role. 12 years ago, lefties were sitting in coffee houses grinding about Amerika, Haliburton, PATRIOT Act, Darfur... today leftists blare Love Wins playlists after the SC ruling on gay marriage, push for FB to change their logo to feature more females, and speculate about evil white cops.
The underlying trend to all of this is that whoever controls the White House also has a big impact on what leftists are willing to squak about and how loud they're willing to get.