Jonah Goldberg On Kathleen Parker’s “G-O-D” Shame
Wednesday, November 19th, 2008Kathleen Parker revealed her hip happeningness yet again today:
As Republicans sort out the reasons for their defeat, they likely will overlook or dismiss the gorilla in the pulpit.
Three little letters, great big problem: G-O-D.
I’m bathing in holy water as I type.
To be more specific, the evangelical, right-wing, oogedy-boogedy branch of the GOP is what ails the erstwhile conservative party and will continue to afflict and marginalize its constituents if reckoning doesn’t soon cometh.
Simply put: Armband religion is killing the Republican Party. And, the truth — as long as we’re setting ourselves free — is that if one were to eavesdrop on private conversations among the party intelligentsia, one would hear precisely that.
Jonah Goldberg responds by saying, “Quite it Kathleen”:
I don’t know what’s more grating, the quasi-bigotry that has you calling religious Christians low brows, gorillas and oogedy-boogedy types or the bravery-on-the-cheap as you salute — in that winsome way — your own courage for saying what (according to you) needs to be said. Please stop bragging about how courageous you are for weathering a storm of nasty email you invite on yourself by dancing to a liberal tune. You aren’t special for getting nasty email, from the right or the left. You aren’t a martyr smoking your last cigarette. You’re just another columnist, talented and charming to be sure, but just another columnist. You are not Joan of the Op-Ed Page. Perhaps the typical Washington Post reader (or editor) doesn’t understand that. But you should, and most conservatives familiar with these issues can see through what you’re doing.
Besides being patronizing and noting a problem (which has at its core a very debatable premise), Ms. Parker lacks solutions. In part, I agree with her assessment about the God talk, but her obvious prejudice, and that of her media pals is an even bigger problem for Republicans. That is to say, that the description Ms. Parker writes of conservative Christians is a classic caricature and reveals her ignorance of the diversity that makes up that constituency. Because of her narrow-mindedness, she cannot formulate helpful solutions for addressing this typically Republican voting block. Likewise, it is obvious that the Republicans, and the conservative movement generally need to reach other constituencies–ones who tend to vote Democrat.
How?
Perhaps Ms. Parker could gather her formidable wit and way with words and formulate a solution rather than destroy what isn’t really a problem. Dehumanizing, demeaning, and really, demonizing the whole base of the Republican party seems counter-productive for someone who is in the same party. When the foundation crumbles, the house will fall on Ms. Parker, too. Unless, of course, she’s really not part of the house anymore, if she ever was, and has already moved in spirit (and one could say, in body, considering her employer) to another home. If that’s the case, she should admit to herself and to her readers her new home.
David Frum, Kathleen Parker, Chris Buckley, David Brooks and the rest, have become experts at demolition. They need to refocus their efforts and consider what it will take to rebuild their house. Or have they already moved and don’t know it?
Cross-posted at RightWingNews.com
Wow, The New Senate Republican Leadership Team Looks A Lot Like…
Tuesday, November 18th, 2008…..the old Senate Republican Leadership Team. And what would those “principles to believe in” be? And lots about “core ideas”. Uh huh. Color me skeptical.
I probably shouldn’t blog when I have low blood sugar. Makes me overly pessimistic. Actually, I think that hits about the right tone.
Patrick Ruffini: Senate Recruitment Project
Monday, November 17th, 2008Patrick Ruffini: Senate Recruitment Project
Awesome work at finding the “right” contenders in 2010. Go look.
Soren Dayton: It’s Not The Money, It’s The Bodies
Monday, November 17th, 2008Soren Dayton: It’s Not The Money, It’s The Bodies
Obama succeeded because of the number of people who supported him. The money followed the people.
Mommy Bloggers Get Respect, Conservative Bloggers Get Dissed–UPDATED
Monday, November 17th, 2008So, I’m watching advertising people and mommy bloggers erupt this weekend on Twitter. The subject didn’t interest me much–moms were mad at Motrin. I didn’t go look at the video, but gathered that it was disparaging to moms. Well, the ladies were majorly peeved and mounted a protest via YouTube and firestorm of rage coursed through their blogs.
Today, in my New York Times feed, what do I see? This:
By Saturday evening they were the most tweeted subject on Twitter. By Sunday there was a nine minute video on YouTube, to the tune of Danny Boy, showing screen shots of the outraged twitter posts interspersed with photos of Moms carrying babies in slings.
Bloggers began calling for boycotts. Bloggers asked their readers to alert the mainstream press. A few voices chimed in to say they didn’t find the ad to be that big a deal. There are a few more examples here and here.)
By Sunday afternoon a few bloggers and tweeters had gotten the ad agency that created the ad on the phone, to find they didn’t know a lot about Twitter and didn’t seem to have a clue that there was so much anger piling up online. And Peter Shankman, a public relations all-star who knows everything and then some about new media, was giving the manufacturers some advice:
I’m not siding with Motrin. They messed up, granted. I’m ok with that. Companies mess up all the time. They fix the problem, and it usually doesn’t make the radar screen. The problem is, Motrin happened to mess up at the expense, and in the face of, one of the most vocal, quickest-to-blog, “strongest-to-band-together-and-form-one-opinion-like-the-Borg” collectives out there - The Mommy-Blogging community.
Now I am NOT slagging on Mommy-Bloggers. Not in the slightest. Nor, am I saying they’re over-reacting to the commercial, which, by rights, was stupid and patronizing. What I AM saying though, is that Motrin will pay a MUCH bigger price, as opposed to if they’d messed up in front of say, “Construction-Worker-Bloggers.” Mommy-Bloggers are not a voice to be messed with, probably because they’re one of the most clearly identifiable voices on the web. You have a kid? You blog about said kid? You’re a Mommy-blogger. You don’t need an advanced degree in particle physics to see what these bloggers have in common.
Or, as one Tweet put it:
note to self … never piss off moms … especially twitter moms … they can be a nasty bunch
My Twitter feed also is filled with conservatives. The political folks buzz constantly about this and that, important issues, and The New York Times covers a bunch of moms ticked about a condescending pharmaceutical commercial? Sure, it’s newsworthy, but so is the rebuilding of the Republican party.
Part of the problem with the mainstream media is editorial. What and who they choose to highlight is not nearly as important as who they’re ignoring. And the voices on the Right are ignored. I don’t want to start a war with the MSM, but a little attempt at representing all voices–not just the mushy moderates who sound so sweet and “intellectual” to liberal ears–would be nice.
The Washington Post ombudsman (via Glenn Reynolds) said that there need to be more conservatives in newsrooms. Ya think?
Anyway, I like the idea that the power of a bunch of mad mommies at the bottom forced changes at the top. I’d like to see concerned conservatives bubble up from the bottom, too. But a fat lot it will do them, if no one pays any attention. The media seems to be making a concerted effort to NOT pay attention. It’s working.
Follow me on Twitter!
UPDATED: Here’s the offending video:
Cross-posted at RightWingNews and The Houston Chronicle
P.J. O’Rourke Speaks The Truth
Wednesday, November 12th, 2008I have the Read This column on the right of links that I think are worthy to read, but I don’t have time to blog about. Well, this is one of those links, but I wanted to emphasize it more. You need to read this whole piece. He is absolutely right about the downfall of the conservative movement.
It is really quite simple: We betrayed our small government mantra with big government action.
He says:
None of this is the fault of the left. After the events of the 20th century–national socialism, international socialism, inter-species socialism from Earth First–anyone who is still on the left is obviously insane and not responsible for his or her actions. No, we on the right did it. The financial crisis that is hoisting us on our own petard is only the latest (if the last) of the petard hoistings that have issued from the hindquarters of our movement. We’ve had nearly three decades to educate the electorate about freedom, responsibility, and the evils of collectivism, and we responded by creating a big-city-public-school-system of a learning environment.
Liberalism had been running wild in the nation since the Great Depression. At the end of the Carter administration we had it cornered in one of its dreadful low-income housing projects or smelly public parks or some such place, and we held the Taser gun in our hand, pointed it at the beast’s swollen gut, and didn’t pull the trigger. Liberalism wasn’t zapped and rolled away on a gurney and confined somewhere until it expired from natural causes such as natural law or natural rights.
Read the whole thing.
Oh Boy! Obama Is In For It
Sunday, November 9th, 2008The honeymoon is officially O-V-E-R. Those on the right have been polite but firm. Dan Gainor of the Baltimore Examiner sums the feeling up nicely:
Conservatives need to make that clear as day so the media don’t twist opposition into something it’s not. We support law and order and, as loyal citizens, we respect the office of president.
Now on to the opposition. It’s a given that conservatives oppose most of what Obama campaigned for. He will tax business even more than we do now, continue to increase the size of government and push a liberal social agenda that undermines the whole basis for American exceptionalism.
As such, he must be opposed – at every turn. Contrary to the desires of the left, Obama didn’t get a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate. That means he can be stopped consistently. Rather than zone out for the next four years, conservatives must pressure Congress to fight the Obama agenda – even here in naively liberal Maryland.
Every bit of the Obama platform must be opposed. Card check, the destruction of the secret ballot, must be hammered as a crime against democracy. The misnamed Fairness Doctrine must be fought at all costs before it undermines free speech on talk radio. Heck, if Obama wants to order takeout, it’s up to conservatives to question that expense.
That’s because the media will not. This election proves every claim of liberal media bias and then some. Obama’s limited qualifications would be laughable if he were not the incoming president. But his empty-suit rhetoric went unchallenged by the media who almost wear Obama buttons during interviews.
Those on the Left are, as usual, impolite and erratic, but no less troubling for Obama:
No, Barack Obama made such outlandish promises on the campaign trail that buyer’s remorse is going to set in soon. In fact, it may already have.
“Comedian” (and I do use the term loosely) Patrice O’Neal dialed the John Gibson show on Friday night to explain that Obama’s election was nothing more than a propped up mechanism to falsely relieve “white guilt” over the idea that all white people are racist, and that they’ve now elected an “acceptable black man” so as to believe that America is now a post-racial nation. O’Neal went on to decry that Obama can’t and never will be able to get “black America” to forgive “white America.”
Man I’m glad that Obama’s supporters took all that “one America” stuff to heart!
But if Obama can’t make headway on a “chicken in every pot” or digesting most of Reverend Wright’s racism left overs, he’ll at least bring the troops home… right?
Have you noticed how since he’s been getting his daily security briefings that the discussion of bringing the troops home completely disappeared from his public speech? It’s also bankable that since he’s begun to see the high-level advanced intelligence on what our enemies are doing abroad, he’s regularly having to censor himself in private so as to not let all the profanity he knows be uttered in shock at what we’re actually facing in the war on terror.
Uh and oh. So, what is Obama, squished like a ripe tomato in a vice, to do? Wheeeee! Executive orders!
John Podesta, Obama’s transition chief, said Sunday Obama is reviewing President Bush’s executive orders on those issues and others as he works to undo policies enacted during eight years of Republican rule. He said the president can use such orders to move quickly on his own.
“There’s a lot that the president can do using his executive authority without waiting for congressional action, and I think we’ll see the president do that,” Podesta said. “I think that he feels like he has a real mandate for change. We need to get off the course that the Bush administration has set.”
Here’s the thing: I have more faith that the furious Lefties will squeeze Obama more than the spineless Republican squishes. However, the Republicans have some rather incensed constituents of their own to help stiffen spaghetti spines. Conservatives should not reward the terrible Republican losing streak. Mealy-mouthed undercutters should be dealt with and swiftly. Too much is at stake for the future of America. Republicans better be the counter pressure to an unchecked Obama.
Cross-posted at RightWingNews.com
Republican Change You Can Believe In
Thursday, November 6th, 2008Republican Change You Can Believe In
Get to work!
Something To Believe In
Thursday, November 6th, 2008What can Republicans believe in that can unify the party AND the nation? Fiscal responsibility. That’s right. Money. As in, the government is going bankrupt and with the economy constricting, tax receipts dwindling, and Barack Obama’s big plans all costing more money, what are the alternatives? Cut spending or raise taxes.
Did John McCain even mention cutting taxes? Um, not that I recall. He mentioned a government wage freeze. That’s it.
I’ve been reading Michael Gerson’s book Heroic Conservativism. Maybe I haven’t gotten there yet, but through chapter 3, he’s waxed poetic about Bush’s compassion (big spending for agreeably important projects) but said little about how mean it is to sock the next generation with this generation’s ostensible compassion.
Compassionate Conservatism has meant big debt. Big debt makes the person, or the state, a slave to the master who owns the debt. As much as oil dependence is a national security issue, indebtedness is a security issue. A global recession means that everyone’s money constricts. Those who need money, need it now. Can America pay up?
The Bank Bailout is like the new Hydra. Who knows what head this thing will grow. It’s bad news.
Republicans need to get back to being the party of personal responsibility. That message alone will stand in stark contrast to everything the Democrats stand for. Conservatives believe in the power of the individual to affect change. At a certain point, bills come due. Compassion doesn’t seem so kind, then. And Socialism will go one step further and make the individual a slave to the state. Freedom constricts when money is taken away. It’s just that simple.
Thomas Jefferson says it best, “Dependence begets subservience and venality, suffocates the germ of virtue, and prepares fit tools for the designs of ambition.” And this, “I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them.”
Cross-posted at RightWingNews.com
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