My latest post on GOPinsantity, the news aggregator blog, a watchdog against nutty “conservatives” (quotes intentional) who are wrecking the once respectable conservative movement. Did you know that some actual conservatives see the hypocrisy in the the party’s current rhetoric about budget deficits?
Posts Tagged ‘Conservatives’
Republicans’ Uncivil War
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged Conservatives, MSNBC, POLITICO, Republicans, rhetoric, Ronald Reagan, Rush Limbaugh, tea party on April 8, 2013 | Leave a Comment »
Latest on the GOP Meltdown
Posted in Conservatism, Political Rhetoric, tagged Conservatives, Frank Luntz, Republicans, rhetoric on February 6, 2013 | Leave a Comment »
Another Know-Nothing Conservative?
Posted in Conservatism, Political Rhetoric, tagged Conservatives, Controversies, Education, North Carolina, Pat McCrory, Republicans, rhetoric on January 31, 2013 | Leave a Comment »
My op-ed today, written along with Scot Faulkner, on the controversial comments from North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory about liberal arts education — and how McCrory seems to be just one more conservative shouting into the know-nothing conservative echo chamber. Plenty of folks have commented on this, including many friends and colleagues in academia. Our take is a bit different: That McCrory is actually betraying conservative principles. But then again, as Scot and I have been writing over the past weeks, there’s not much left of the conservative movement.
Today, McCrory’s trying to walk back his statements but refuses to acknowledge what he actually said.
Article first published in the Raleigh News & Observer on January 31, 2013.
The Collapse of Conservatism Continues
Posted in Conservatism, Political Rhetoric, tagged Conservatives, Fiscal Cliff, John Boehner, POLITICO, Republicans, Ronald Reagan on January 11, 2013 | Leave a Comment »
My second installment at POLITICO co-authored with my friend and conservative veteran Scot Faulkner, on the total disappearance of anything resembling a conservative movement or conservative leadership. Scot and I share different political viewpoints, but have been coming together to address what we both view as a failure of governance on the national scale.
The Conservative Echo Chamber
Posted in Conservatism, Media Criticism, tagged Barack Obama, Bill Maher, Buckley, Conservatives, Fox News, Liberalism, Mitt Romney, POLITICO, Republicans, rhetoric on November 13, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
In the aftermath of the trouncing last Tuesday, some in the media and on the Right are finally beginning to examine the consequences of the conservative echo chamber. I’ve had friends who have been part of the conservative movement for decades complaining to me about this for years, and the chickens are — yes — finally coming home to roost. How far we’ve come from the days when an editor named William F. Buckley Jr. used media, like National Review and Firing Line (a program broadcast on PBS) to provide a forum for informed debate and exchange of ideas.
Insightful analysis here from POLITICO’s Jonathan Martin, and a personal portrait of one loyal GOPer’s personal bubble-bursting experience in the Post. And for reference, Bill Maher has been talking about this (with a literal bubble as a prop) for years.
The Right’s Schizophrenic Reaction to Romney’s Defeat
Posted in Campaign Trail, Conservatism, Political Rhetoric, tagged Barack Obama, Charles Krauthammer, Chris Christie, Chris Matthews, Conservatives, David Frum, Fox News, Laura Ingraham, Marco Rubio, Mitt Romney, Peggy Noonan, Republicans, rhetoric, Rush Limbaugh on November 8, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
After President Obama’s decisive victory last night, the reaction from the conservative chattering class has been fast and furious (to coin a phrase) and they’re all over the map. Starting with Karl Rove’s on-air conspiracy theorizing about stolen votes in Ohio, the bloviators and echo chamber residents — as well as the more thoughtful folks on the right — are at it with a wide array of finger-pointing allegations, none of which seem to include the fact that Americans just plain rejected the Republican message.
Here is the top ten list:
1) Romney wasn’t conservative enough. (Laura Ingraham)
2) Romney was too conservative. (David Frum)
3) Romney needed to reach minorities and broaden the base. (Marco Rubio)
4) White Americans have too much guilt to vote against the first Black President. (Rush Limbaugh)
5) Half of the country likes handouts rather than working so they vote Democratic. (Rush and in turn Sean Hannity)
6) Liberals like Chris Matthews were happy about the hurricane Sandy, which clinched it for Obama — and Chris Christie is a closet Democrat. (Fox News)
7) The entire mainstream media was in the tank and handed Obama his victory. (Rich Noyes)
8) The Romney campaign was inadequately managed. (Peggy Noonan)
9) Wingnuts like Donald Trump highjacked the mainstream GOP message. (Steve Schmidt)
10) The GOP did not rely enough on its “strong bench” of up and coming leaders. (Charles Krauthammer)
This schizophrenic reaction is telling. Another view, which I and some more thoughtful conservatives and students of conservatism hold, is that the movement has fallen apart, lost its intellectual bearings, and needs to right itself or accept its status as a permanently frustrated, disorganized minority.
Joltin’ Joe Has Not Gone Away
Posted in Campaign Trail, Media Criticism, Nonverbal rhetoric, Political Rhetoric, tagged Barack Obama, Conservatives, Debates, Joe Biden, Nonverbal rhetoric, Paul Ryan, Republicans, rhetoric on October 12, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
The debate tonight was a needed refresher after the dull performance last week. I’ve argued for years that the administration’s decision to muzzle the Veep was not in its best interest.
Biden was not just verbally aggressive on substance, but also effective in his nonverbals — in stark contrast to the President, who was seen as cold, disinterested, and not engaging. I might criticize Biden for his grins, which suggested a fatherly “oh come on now, young man,” but the spin from the Dems indicates they feel it was an effective way of telegraphing that the other fellow was lying, that his statements were, literally, laughable. Or for his scowls, which similarly expressed a fatherly disdain.
We also came close to a Lloyd Bentsen/Dan Quayle moment with the Veep calling out Ryan on his reference to John F. Kennedy. Biden didn’t know Jack Kennedy, but “Now you’re Jack Kennedy.”
Maybe the laughs were too much; decide for yourself.
Among my favorite moments was Joltin’ Joe confronting Ryan over his hypocrisy in requesting stimulus funds for his district while he voted against the underlying legislation. He was hardly the only GOPer to do this; happy to posture against spending, but then glad to take it.
Hopefully the next Presidential debates will be as lively. Veep debates rarely matter; the Quayle debate did — the Palin debate not as much, though the choice itself was of course controversial and “game changing.” Going back over history, it’s always interesting to note that even political junkies are hard pressed to name many Veeps, even, for example, any of Franklin Roosevelt’s over four terms, other than Harry Truman — and that despite FDR’s age and health. This VP race appears to be of a different category.
Shut down the GOP?
Posted in Campaign Trail, Conservatism, tagged Buckley, Conservatives, Mitt Romney, POLITICO, Republicans, Richard Nixon, tea party on September 17, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
All kinds of folks from the ideological Right are calling for a break with the newly and awkardly reconstituted Romney GOP. Is it time, as Laura Ingraham said, to just start over? My thoughts here on POLITICO this weekend.
Dog Whistle Politics
Posted in Campaign Trail, Conservatism, Political Rhetoric, tagged Barack Obama, Chris Matthews, Civil Rights, Conservatives, Paul Ryan, Racism, Republicans, rhetoric on September 5, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
My comments today in POLITICO on the ongoing use of “dog whistle” politics by conservatives. Racially charged code words and references are continuing to flow from the GOP message machine; the question I raise is whether younger generations, who may not have the context of older voters, will even hear the dog whistles, and be able to decode the rhetoric. And whether this is a good, or a bad thing.
