Layers of the Left

It seems today that we face a nebulous opposition on the left. Many people identify themselves as liberal or "progressive" but it is increasingly difficult to pigeon hole them into a single, comprehensive ideology. Much of this, I believe, is rooted in the inherent nature of the left. They are a movement built on identity and policy much more than philosophy.
Their politics are based on collective issues, appealing to race and class rather than character and ideas. The left thrives on the collective paradigm and sees the world through this lens. Of course they see opponents of Affirmative Action as hateful bigots, in the collective paradigm one is either discriminatory for or against a race or class, everybody is a racist, it just depends on the method.
Thinking about this has put me in a collective mood, so I think I'll try to categorize the various groups within the left itself:

I believe at the very core of the leftist movement reside the Neo-Marxists. These are the jack boot commies. Something along the lines of Rosie O'donnell and the Weather Underground. There are two wings, the rich Hollywood types such as George Soros who use their millions to fund surrogate organizations, or militants such as the Symbionese Liberation Army. The Hollywood Marxists are idolized and praised by the media, but the militant members are treated with a more tacit approval. Despite the laissez-faire treatment by the media, the militant wing will typically be presented in a sympathetic way as in the case of Kathleen Soliah.

The Intelligentsia is the most influential group that passes the message from the Neo-Marxists to the rest. These are the University Professors and Information media. Something along the lines of the Berkeley Campus and New York Times. The methodology ranges from overbearing indoctrination to gentle slants in editorials. To be fair, the mild bias should not be seen as conspiratorial subterfuge, but simply someone writing from within their liberal paradigm.

It is tempting to put the Establishment Liberals in the inner layer, but at some point in time an Establishment Liberal has been under the tutelage of the Intelligentsia. These are your politicians of all shapes and sizes, from U.S Senators to politically correct school board members. Now it should be mentioned that an Intelligentsiac or Neo-Marxist can very well be apart of the establishment, the difference is that Establishment Liberals reach their positions through feeding their ego rather than championing an ideology.

Way out on the fringes of the movement stand the Identity Democrats. This ranges from union workers, young urban socialites, affirmative action recipients and senile segregationists. These are people who for some reason or another either have a repulsion from the Republican Party or stand to gain something from the Government dole. Often these people trust the Intelligentsia although they don't care that much about politics. Other times these people are simply cajoled guilt-tripped into supporting the party by establishment liberals.