The NRO people seem like a smart bunch, but every so often they go off in a very stupid direction. The latest is they're (some of 'em) saying what frustrated Conservatives say Every. Freaking. Election. Since. The Dawn. Of Time.
Maybe it'll be good for us to lose the election badly so the Party hacks will learn their lesson and the Party will be small and pure.
I stipulate that the Republicans deserve to lose this election because they've gotten corrupt and lazy; this is because they face no serious opposition. A revival of the Democratic party would be a good thing, but I hardly think letting Nancy Pelosi into power is the ticket to salvation of either party.
In my lifetime there has never been a choice other than that between the Stupid party and the Evil party.
Dem proposal: Let's burn down the country.
Rep. counter-proposal: let's phase-in the burning over a 10-year period.
However:
1) The Republicans aren't going to lose
2) This is the attitude of people who don't understand politics. Parties are loose coalitions, not ideologically pure movements.
3) If this is their attitude, then I no longer understand what their beef with Rod Dreher was.
4) It's a particularly weird argument for a pro-lifer to make, since the Republican (Stupid) Party manages to interpret every loss as a sign "Religious Conservatives" are weighing it down. No amount of data showing just the reverse will persuade. And: you want Henry Waxman in charge of the Judiciary Committee? What about the babies?
5) Who says such a thing in the middle of a war he called for, knowing it could mean the impeachment of the President, the withdrawal of US forces in the Middle East-- with the concommitant effects on our allies and future national security-- is guilty of an unseriousness and moral corruption that offends me more deeply than letting Jack Abramoff take you to St. Andrew's. Remember what happened to the Iraqis when we encouraged them to revolt after the Gulf War --and then abandoned them? Bodies in shredders, my friend. You want to abandon people to slaughter for the sake of --maybe, someday, in the future, being able to cut the budget? I have rarely heard such an immoral proposition.
One of their readers puts it nicely:
I’m Bruce Wayne.You’re telling me I should WANT my parents to be murdered in front of my young eyes because THEN I’ll be motivated to eat my vegetables, lift weights, and grow up to cleanse Gotham City of all its evildoers.
[UPDATE: The more I think about this, the more steamed I get. All over the country there are interesting races --races w/ candidates to make Conservatives happy-- and the key to those elections lies in voter turnout. NRO has just announced to all Republicans: stay home. They have no right --and especially not in the name of Conservatives, who are in the trenches district by district. The original column was something better said after an actual defeat --find-the-silver-lining kind of thing, not 53 days away from an election. Think Michael Steele and Ken Blackwell are happy?]
I suppose it's just activist burn-out. I'm hoping after a nice nap they come to their senses.
