"WHEN FASCISM COMES TO AMERICA IT WILL BE WRAPPED IN THE FLAG
AND CARRYING A CROSS." -SINCLAIR LEWIS

Thursday, June 17, 2010

Something Someone Else Said

"The Bush-Cheney presidency was, in some respects, the perfect pseudo-conservative administration. They waged war based on loathing of the experts (damned knowledgeable elites!); they slashed taxes and boosted spending for their constituencies, while pretending to be fiscally responsible; they tore up the most ancient taboos - against torture - with a bravado that will one day seem obscene; and they left the country in far worse shape than they found it.

Throughout all this, the Tea Partiers supported them. So how do they manage the cognitive dissonance that two failed wars, a financial collapse and a debt crisis have brought? How do they deal with the fact that their beloved president was manifestly the most incompetent and disastrous in modern times? They blame it on the next guy.

Yes, they are doing all they can to avoid facing the fact that they did all of this ... to themselves. And sometimes, the truly, deeply humiliated can only carry on through blind rage." -Andrew Sullivan, The Daily Dish, trying to understand the Tea Party.

And make no mistake: their anger is real. Obviously hypocritical and at times incoherent, but it's real. How that anger affects the midterm elections this fall remains yet to be seen.

8 comments:

Kevin Robbins said...

Sort of on-topic. Had you seen that Erik Prince is going ex-pat? Blackwater is up for sale as well. Thumbscrews sold separately.

squatlo said...

Isn't it interesting how Andrew Sullivan has come around from the dark side? I guess the Log Cabin closet got a little crowded, what with all the evangelicals and Congressmen hiding in there among the musty old coats.
Getting a die hard Republican to see the light of day concerning the Bush Reign of Error is like getting a cat into a coke bottle. You'll never make it happen without getting all scratched up, and even if you DO, you've only reduced our collective IQ level by adding a moron to the mix.

JBW said...

He's getting out while the gettin's good, ex DLB. Good riddance, I say.

JBW said...

I'd categorize Sullivan as more of a die-hard conservative than a Republican, squatlo. This is evidenced by his ability to change his mind on certain subjects, as opposed to walking in lock step with a political party.

Anonymous said...

wait, wait, wait... Andrew Sullivan is a conservative?

JBW said...

You obviously don't read much Sullivan one L, either that or the modern incarnation of the Republican party has now completely and permanently corrupted that word.

Anonymous said...

The only Sullivan I've read is what's been on your blog... which has seemed a good bit liberal, or at least moderate, in that timeframe.

I went and read his Wiki page last night. I was surprised to see all that. I love the way he's a conservative, gay, Catholic bear who employed Stephen Glass. Talk about being a unique individual.

I also applaud the fact that he tries to work WITH the bible to affirm his homosexuality as opposed to just saying, "eh, the book's old and I find large parts of it to be irrelevant." It's a tricky thing to be terribly picky and choosy.

JBW said...

He's an enigma and a contradiction, which is why I love his stuff, one L. Also, he's extremely intelligent and is intellectually honest enough to admit when he's wrong, both rarities amongst the political punditocracy today.