You really have to see this to believe it. There really is a whole body of ignoramuses out there who have willingly surrendered their critical faculties to embrace idiocy, xenophobia and a cult-like devotion to their very own Dear Leader (GWB). Shocking.
Here’s just a small sample; it gets worse:
Erickson was followed by Jack Abramoff, a powerful right-wing lobbyist and former College Republican chairman, who exhorted the next generation to fight hard, lest “the ascension of evil, the bad guys, the Bolsheviks, the Democrats return.”
That equation — evil = communist = Democrats — was nearly axiomatic at the convention. Ann Coulter’s latest book, “Treason,” which tarred virtually all Democrats as traitors, may have been denounced by conservative intellectuals, but its message has pervaded the party. Gene McDonald, who sold “No Muslims = No Terrorists” bumper stickers at the Conservative Political Action Conference in January, was doing a brisk trade in “Bring Back the Blacklist” T-shirts, mugs and mouse pads. Coulter herself remains wildly popular — Parker Stephenson, chairman of Ohio College Republicans, calls her “one of my favorite conservative thinkers.”
I’ve been away for a couple of years; is this mentality shared only by a tiny, contained fringe group or has it seeped into the mainstream?
1
By Conrad
“Anne Coulter” and “thinker” used, non-ironically, in the same sentence. Christ, the apocolypse is truly upon us.
BTW, have you seen the new Weekly Standard article entitled “Peking Duck”?
July 29, 2003 @ 8:51 am | Comment
2
By richard
Your a lawyer — can I sue them?
July 29, 2003 @ 9:04 am | Comment
3
By Adam Morris
Conrad’s a lawyer?
I’ll have to respond to that article myself sometime.
Anyway, Richard, I really like what you’re saying here, and it’s something I’ve noticed too. We’re at the point where people defend the president out of a very obvious “ends justify the means” argument that, honestly, to me, doesn’t sound much at all like America.
Ever since about a year ago I started noticing America becoming less and less recognizable. I’ve been away for three years, but I can’t image that it would have changed this much.
July 29, 2003 @ 2:17 pm | Comment
4
By richard
Well, I get the feeling America has gone through some sort of tectonic shift since 911 and three years of Bush, but like you, I’ve been away for three years and can’t really judge. I was hoping some non-expat American would jump in and set us straight.
July 29, 2003 @ 2:36 pm | Comment
5
By petes
I’m home. And it hasn’t changed that much. But if you were used to the news and politics under pres. Clinton, than it can seem to be a different face.
I would argue the republican party needs an overhaul, particularly along the lines of “intellegence” and “internationalization”. Being rather conservative myself, it makes me cringe when I realize people who think the same fiscally as I do also refuse to travel abroad or lack the desire to gain an education.
Ignorance is one thing, but the acceptance of ignorance is intolerable. (And to be fair, I think there are plenty in both camps.)
July 29, 2003 @ 7:33 pm | Comment
6
By Michael
Anne Coulter …
I simply do not understand why so many are so upset by a woman who has essentially destroyed any serious career outside the world of tabloids. She deals in snake-oil and has made a ton of money. That’s it.
The apparent fusing of Coulter with Bush is equally mystifying at any level above the gut level of hatred for both, or so it seems. Bush or Coulter might be bashed and properly so, but for dramatically different reasons. As the argument stands now, Bush gets trashed because he is in power and Coulter gets bashed because she made a pile of dough. Rough logic, that.
July 29, 2003 @ 8:01 pm | Comment
7
By richard
Michael, it is now a matter of fact that many conservatives consider Coulter to be a deep thinker and something of a guru on the sins of us liberals. Her book is selling hundreds of thousands of copies. I hate it when people compare anything they hate to Hitler, but bear with me: Adolph started off as a goofy fringe character way off in right field. But through stunning PR, his messages seeped into the mainstream. Coulter is certainly no Hitler; Hitler had much darker hair than she does. But there is no doubt she is shifting from fringe-right-wing crackpot to someone many conservatives take at face value, as The Truth. She is appearing on the talk shows and the news and on radio, and she is building up credibility, not with the book critics but with the American people. Should we be alarmed about this? Damned straight we should.
July 31, 2003 @ 7:24 am | Comment
8
By Ron
Ah gee, folks! You all seem so depressed — Cripes.
The problem is that you all misunderstand the conservatives: It’s as though conservatives have just recently smacked themselves in the head with the realization that they’ve wasted generations trying to mount serious, rational dialog with liberals — when it’s totally un-called for, unnecessary even.
Why? Because liberal’s positions are illegitimate. Liberals are illegitimate. There is no reason to extend even courtesy to liberals; they are to be disdained and lampooned. Liberals are not Real Americans.
Look, I mean, imagine that you, a Real American, meet a murderous mugger whose policy is to leave no witnesses. Clearly, our mugger has a fundamental philosophical view concerning your rights to life, individual liberty and private property that differs in the extreme from your own view of the matter.
Your view, in fact, you see as a birthright, enshrined in a Constitution.
Our mugger, you realize, is definitely NOT simply another “good American with an alternative point of view” In fact, there can never be a basis for a dialog between you. Ever. The mugger’s views are illegitimate.
Honest differences, debate and compromise are only possible between men who share the same fundamental philosophical principles and values.
The vile filth of collectivism and statism are totally alien to the Constitution of the United States.
And liberals are not simply “good Americans with an alternate point of view.”
Hope that helps, fellas.
August 18, 2003 @ 10:15 am | Comment