I would have said 10 years ago you may have been right. Now I would say that most of the most vocal liberals (granted, thats just the majority we hear about) aren't just afraid of the power of the elites, but are afraid of anyone who disagrees with them. Once you disagree with them on anything, you are fair game for retaliation. That to me, by definition, isn't someone who is liberal. Though, they use that word to describe themselves just the same.