Quote of the day
posted at 10:20 pm on September 18, 2008 by Allahpundit
“At the same time, and perhaps with even more consequence, the center of political conservatism was moving ever west. Through such figures as Goldwater and Reagan, the American West was transformed into the vital center of the conservative impulse. Though the primacy of the East Coast conservatives remained, the status quo could not last. As conservatism absorbed heartland influences, it began changing to a more individualistic, more libertarian, more religious, and more American form. Almost unacknowledged, the division between American western conservatism and the European-influenced northeastern variety became deeper and wider with every year.
And at last (as was inevitable) a candidate appeared who embodied that division, a candidate with no connection to coterie conservatism, a candidate wholly of heartland America, a candidate who was as much a challenge to traditional conservatives as she was to the left.
And so isolated had the Northeast Corridor conservatives become, so deeply embedded in their Jamesian parallel universe (which can best be pictured as kind of a conservative version of the old Steinberg New Yorker cover, with E.35th St. and Allen Jay Lerner’s townhouse looming as the center of the earth while, off on the horizon, we see a dot labeled, ‘Nascar races’), that they couldn’t recognize her clear conservative stance, couldn’t recognize her personal courage, couldn’t, in the end, be bothered to stand with her when she and her family were victimized by the most repellent political attack of our epoch…
The Northeastern urban conservatives must find some way to connect with the rest of the country. If not, they’ll end up much like the ‘conservatism’ expressed by Andrew Sullivan (whose main outlet, it should be noted, is a European paper) – obsessive, strange, and isolated, existing in dream world with no connection or influence to anything else.”
Blowback
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Haha, you should send this to Ace, it might make him feel better after yesterdays rants.
JarvisW on September 18, 2008 at 10:26 PM
******Applause******
rockmom on September 18, 2008 at 10:27 PM
You’re giving her far too much credit. This woman doesn’t represent a break through in conservative thought and political positioning. On which of her positions or policy speeches do such grand statements hang?
foreverright on September 18, 2008 at 10:28 PM
The Krauthammers & Brooks of the GOP don’t like her, do they?
jgapinoy on September 18, 2008 at 10:29 PM
It’s like a psychological analysis of AP!
lorien1973 on September 18, 2008 at 10:29 PM
Geez, an northeastern conservative isolated from the rest of the conservative movement?
Obsessive, strange.
Anyone around here come to mind…..?
Lemme think
(kidding now, AP)
SteveMG on September 18, 2008 at 10:30 PM
This northeastern conservative hasn’t lost touch. I may be in a minority in NJ, but damn if I’m going to be considered an elitist.
Andrew Sullivan?
Feh!
JammieWearingFool on September 18, 2008 at 10:30 PM
That American Thinker, they’s got some good writin’.
Hannibal Smith on September 18, 2008 at 10:31 PM
Not sure what I just read. I reads like a James Joyce novel and I didn’t understand them either…..
JP1986UM on September 18, 2008 at 10:31 PM
From a university in Senator Obama’s home state, an electoral model based on math models:
http://election08.cs.uiuc.edu/home.html
Enjoy…. (except those Northeast Elite Republicans)
CC
CapedConservative on September 18, 2008 at 10:32 PM
Sullivan’s no longer a conservative (if he ever was; which, I think, at some time he indeed was). His “conservatism of doubt” has turned largely into moral relativism (he is, after all, a cultural liberal) and his emotionalism is purely of the left.
Add to that his transition from a man who happened to be gay to a gay man and the change is nearly complete.
Ladies and gentlemen: Gore Vidal, Jr.
SteveMG on September 18, 2008 at 10:36 PM
It isn’t the Mary Ann, Ginger, or Maggie Thatcher effect fueling her popularity. It is exactly what Allah put on the screencap…..authentic. Unique. Exactly what each and every one of us want to be, unique. There is no designer label on her anywhere.
Limerick on September 18, 2008 at 10:37 PM
According to that map, Lake Michigan is a toss-up!
Tom
marinetbryant on September 18, 2008 at 10:37 PM
Well, I guess all we need now is Zinn and Chomsky to complete the trifecta.
CC
CapedConservative on September 18, 2008 at 10:38 PM
Finally got around to this one, huh?
Awesome piece, and a must read.
thirteen28 on September 18, 2008 at 10:38 PM
Why do people keep calling Sullivan a conservative?
If I label myself a teapot that does not make me a teapot.
Elizabetty on September 18, 2008 at 10:42 PM
interesting. it’s all about the debates though. who ever wins those, wins the election. i think.
lorien1973 on September 18, 2008 at 10:42 PM
We’re not all elites up here, but then, I get my politics from my dad, a west coast Reaganite from before being a Reaganite was cool so…
SuperCool on September 18, 2008 at 10:44 PM
JR Dunn just told all the elite intellectual conservatives that they are in no position to lead, so they better follow or get out of the way. And he did so in a very elegant manner that will be difficult for them to ignore.
Congratulations JR, my hat is off to you, and thank you very much. I certainly hope that the Northeast Corridor Conservatives will be crying in their cocktails November 4th.
PS: Sorry, but it’s a snow machine, JR.
Loxodonta on September 18, 2008 at 10:44 PM
For well-to-do Republicans, as a rule, their good character and commonsense seem to hinge on how they got to be well-to-do. Nose to the grindstone, good. Member of the Lucky Sperm Club, bad. Notable exceptions ignored of course, but that’s true for every such rule.
RBMN on September 18, 2008 at 10:45 PM
Political elites of either stripe are always going to be disconnected from the majority of Americans who actually do something constructive for a living. The higher that the politicos and pundits climb on their particular ladders, the further isolated from reality they become, whether Democrat or Republican.
hillbillyjim on September 18, 2008 at 10:45 PM
i love it…
that “eastern corridor” is what got attacked on 9/11…yet whenever the “heartland” conservatives are done using 9/11 as justification for this or that…they go back to shitting on that eastern corridor. screw the heartland…you get us social conservative religious nonsense…you get us insane farm subsidies while NY gets 80something cents per dollar of federal taxes.
this heartland shit is a joke. “Just Folks” dont make great world leaders. just folks dont write great policy. just folks are just folks…painfully average, failing to exceed at anything, except maybe brewing shitty beer and driving cars around shitty left turn only tracks.
i dare anyone here to come up with something the heartland is actually good for, and no, promoting “small town values” whatever that means, doesn’t count.
/rant
ernesto on September 18, 2008 at 10:46 PM
If Obama has to have a teleprompter to give a stump speech and goes into vapor lock when it quits, add in his refusal to participate in the town hall debates and it becomes obvious he is afraid of McCain and having to be unscripted without the crutch. McCain will have to try to blow it in the debates (unless the moderators are all from MSNBC).
CC
CapedConservative on September 18, 2008 at 10:46 PM
This is absolutely right.
Terrye on September 18, 2008 at 10:46 PM
But can she define the Paulson Doctrine? Stump the candidate…that’s the important thing.
econavenger on September 18, 2008 at 10:47 PM
Hey, somebody call me a cab.
Mojave Mark on September 18, 2008 at 10:48 PM
ernesto:
Does that include Ronald Reagan and Barry Goldwater? Do you want to say to hell with them too?
You when 9/11 happened I knew a lot of midwestern and western conservatives who went to NYC to work for nothing as long as needed to try and find the fallen soldiers.
BTW, the people on those planes were not just from NYC.
Terrye on September 18, 2008 at 10:49 PM
Alaska,home,of the grizzly bears,and
can do,pioneering spirit,and Republican
way of life!
Maybe Alaska is all America,
and maybe America needs to get
back to Alaska,personal freedoms,
can do spirit,and the wild frontier,
and the way to live your life as you
see fit,without all the PC correctedness
that has dominated the Liberal America!!!
canopfor on September 18, 2008 at 10:49 PM
Look down your nose much?
hillbillyjim on September 18, 2008 at 10:49 PM
Jammie, where in N.J. are you?
Tony737 on September 18, 2008 at 10:50 PM
Abraham Lincoln was just folks. This country was built by people who were just folks.
My God, who is this ernesto person? He has managed to insult or disavow everyone and everything west of the east coast. That is most of the country.
Terrye on September 18, 2008 at 10:51 PM
Hey, you must work for Watkins Glen speedway! I KNEW it!
fiatboomer on September 18, 2008 at 10:52 PM
i dare anyone here to come up with something the heartland is actually good for, and no, promoting “small town values” whatever that means, doesn’t count.
ernesto on September 18, 2008 at 10:46 PM
Providing our food and much of our miltary. Small town values make good soldiers and Marines.
joewm315 on September 18, 2008 at 10:52 PM
Damn Straight.
This is a very good piece. Three parts especially:
This is unquestionably true.
Painfully obviously, but even the base would like to hear it’s pundits strike solid notes from time to time. Hence the base has been more forgiving, until Palin, where they see something better to rally around.
This is perhaps my favorite quality of our President. Even when the members of his party in Congress grew weak-knee and preferred expediency to principle, he stood his ground on Iraq. I respect that, and I believe America as a whole respects strength. Shoot and dress a moose? It’s more then food, it’s a inner individualism and individual strength that echoes the core of what conservatives are trying to conserve.
Spirit of 1776 on September 18, 2008 at 10:52 PM
hillbilly:
I read a biography of John Adams and he said much the same thing you did.
Terrye on September 18, 2008 at 10:54 PM
CanOp, when are you moving down here? We need more people like you!
Tony737 on September 18, 2008 at 10:54 PM
This is not how conservatives see it. East or West, WE were attacked on 9/11. We don’t think THEY were attacked. The heartland volunteers because it is WE.
Spirit of 1776 on September 18, 2008 at 10:54 PM
I just completed visiting some clients in Kansas. While driving there, I saw a sign that said “One Kansas farmer feeds 128 people + you”. Nice sign.
From NY, what do we get? Derivatives? CDOs? Yum… very tasty…. except when the go bad.
CC
CapedConservative on September 18, 2008 at 10:54 PM
There is a townhall debate, the 2nd one.
Remember 1992, when the media stuffed it with clinton voters?
lorien1973 on September 18, 2008 at 10:55 PM
Ok, so far ive gotten that the heartland gave us goldwater, reagan, food, and soldiers…
tell me again why that makes the heartland better than the east coast?
and why is it when “coastal elites” find other areas of the country lacking we’re snobby elites…but when heartland small towners go on and on about how perfect small towns are its not considered elitist?
ernesto on September 18, 2008 at 10:56 PM
That’s the really good part… McCain is so very close to being a Democrat, they won’t be able to corner him ;)
I really don’t think Obama has much of a chance. Local applause may influence some, but I suspect he will reel it out and walk all over it.
CC
CapedConservative on September 18, 2008 at 10:57 PM
That ernesto is an arrogant snot, or the other thing? :-)
hillbillyjim on September 18, 2008 at 10:58 PM
LOL. True true.
lorien1973 on September 18, 2008 at 10:58 PM
She does.
Look, the left is continually saying that the ’06 election was a referendum on the war. Which is absolute bollox because they didn’t have the stones to force a withdraw. Why? Because they were afraid of the electoral consequences.
But the right did lose the midterms. The base was dispirited over corruption, over various scandals, etc. What you have is someone outside of the train-wreck that the party had become. I like Rove, but I really think he believes that people are too attached to social programs and that both parties must pander to that. But I think he is in error, because here from the literal wilderness comes someone outside with a proven record of restoring accountability to ideas and the base goes crazy. She is the opposite of all the dispiriting things that crushed the party spirit in ’06.
Spirit of 1776 on September 18, 2008 at 10:59 PM
RE: What good comes out of the heartland?
Steak and potatoes. Pork, chicken, canned vegetables, fresh fruit, wine, auto parts, wheat, bread, oats, cookies, ice cream, milk, cheese. . . .
rockhauler on September 18, 2008 at 10:59 PM
And…
I’d love for McCain to, just once – if Obama brings up bush – say, “Senator Obama needs to focus. Bush isn’t running. And I thought I was old. At least I know who my opponent is.”
lorien1973 on September 18, 2008 at 11:00 PM
how can something be more libertarian and more religious? the religious groups are often the ones against personal liberties.
Xolom on September 18, 2008 at 11:00 PM
ok, now we’re at foodstuffs…
still dont know why everyone here is convinced that great leaders and policy ideas can ONLY come from the “heartland”
ernesto on September 18, 2008 at 11:00 PM
The west is rugged country,and Sarah Palin is a product
from it,Code Pinko’s and Hillary types just don’t get it!!
The liberals don’t understand,that Alaska has tested
Sarah Palin into a Steely Resolve,she’s a fighter,it
has made her stronger!
The Liberals will not get that kind info from their fancy
polling data,me thinks!!
canopfor on September 18, 2008 at 11:00 PM
Being religious doesn’t necessarily imply you want to enforce those beliefs on others.
lorien1973 on September 18, 2008 at 11:00 PM
Ernesto: It wasn’t heartland folks that coined the term “flyover country”. The insults, implied and overt, have been around for a long time. I don’t think the abuse is directed at the East Coast (I live in an East Coast state)…. it is directed at a specific group of pseudo-conservatives that have long ago lost touch with conservatism.
CC
CapedConservative on September 18, 2008 at 11:01 PM
Where did the word ‘only’ come from?
rockhauler on September 18, 2008 at 11:02 PM
Add, maybe, oil, coal, natural gas, hydroelectric power, nuclear energy, and catfish.
hillbillyjim on September 18, 2008 at 11:02 PM
ernesto:
They give you elections you moron, if it were not for those worthless people out there who pay taxes and fight wars and grow food and build things and go to colleges and universities and get degrees and raise families and go to church and give a damn about conservative issues Republicans would not stand a snowball’s chance in hell of winning elections.
Because the coastal elitists with their regional snobbery and their Ivy League schools and their arrogant assumptions that they speak for everyone else can not inspire the kind of support necessary to create a real political movement. After all they are competing with the liberals and the slum lords and the urban poor in their natural environments.
Terrye on September 18, 2008 at 11:02 PM
and maybe for Palin to ask Biden if he thinks she’s a clean, articulate white woman?
CC
CapedConservative on September 18, 2008 at 11:02 PM
Nah. Obama saying Bush all the time though. It’d force him to rewrite all his commercials.
lorien1973 on September 18, 2008 at 11:03 PM
Who said only?
Spirit of 1776 on September 18, 2008 at 11:04 PM
But it IS directed at the East Coast. Maybe not this 1 article, but cmon, did you watch that convention? Are you really telling me that “heartland” small towners havent made shitting on NY a political campaign for like 20 years?
ernesto on September 18, 2008 at 11:05 PM
anyone who propegates the myth that “small town values” mean anything when it comes to good, thoughtful policy…
ernesto on September 18, 2008 at 11:06 PM
what the hell are you talking about???
that post made no sense
Xolom on September 18, 2008 at 11:06 PM
referencing Peggy Noonan? David Frum? Krauthammer?
jp on September 18, 2008 at 11:06 PM
“Little House On The Prarie” vs. “Sex In The City”
I’ll take The Ingall’s for the win, Alex.
SouthernGent on September 18, 2008 at 11:06 PM
Yes. All the animosity I heard in that campaign was directed at a city called Washington D.C.
joewm315 on September 18, 2008 at 11:08 PM
ernesto:
Oh cry me a river. NYC is attacked by terrorists and literally tens of thousands of young men and women, many of them from small towns, join the military ready to fight to the death to defend places like Manhattan.
And if you honestly do not get the point of the article, then you are just missing something here. No one is talking about everyone on the east coast. Sheesh.
Terrye on September 18, 2008 at 11:09 PM
Which one? :-)
baldilocks on September 18, 2008 at 11:10 PM
In small town America you don’t have to lock your doors, or your car, and you can leave a window open at night. In small town America you can trust your neighbors.
The result was a national policy voiced by President Reagan of ‘trust but verify’ that reduced fears of global thermonuclear destruction on a global scale. We call it common sense.
rockhauler on September 18, 2008 at 11:10 PM
I agree with some of this essay, but I think he is getting a bit ahead of events. Palin has not done anything nationally yet. She has had an impact over several news cycles, but no elections have been won by her. This will be true in Nov no matter who wins b/c she is not at the top of the ticket. Don’t get me wrong, I find her likable, conservative where it counts, and even inspiring, but the writing is far from on the wall.
I noticed in the comments that a lot of people were referring to the Miers nomination. I think we have to give the NE corridor elites some credit on that one. It was a terrible nomination. I hated it from the beginning and it was a final break of sorts for me with GWB. At least the guy didn’t try too make the argument that GWB is some kind of conservative standard bearer. Point being, they are not always wrong about these things.
Also, some called Douthat anti-Palin and I think that is far from the actual case. Although I haven’t had a lot for respect for him since he whined about Ace and Michelle in a non-defense of Scott Beauchamp and the New Republic, I think he genuinely wants Palin to do well. It’s McCain he can’t stand.
DB on September 18, 2008 at 11:10 PM
You can take up your complaint with Jefferson then, as that was his vision.
I’ve nothing against the east coast nor the minds that live there, AP, Ace, especially. But the power of the conservative movement is not there.
Spirit of 1776 on September 18, 2008 at 11:10 PM
extolling the virtues of small town america at the expense of its vibrant, culturally defining urban centers is a elitist as extolling the virtues of vibrant culturally defining urban centers at the expense of small town america…its a dangerous game to play.
i personally STILL cant for the life of me figure out what small town values have to do with policy and government…sell a policy for crying out loud, not a borderline mythological way of life…like WASILLA ALASKA…
40 meth labs in a town of 9000…i have family in the worst manhattan and bronx projects…and i KNOW theres not 40 labs worth of ANYTHING on a per capita basis like WASILLA
ernesto on September 18, 2008 at 11:12 PM
One time I had a visitor from the coast show up at my farm. The first thing she asked me was if I had running water. The next thing she asked me was how could I live in a place like that. I would never have gone to someone’s home and talked to them like that. But hey, I am a just hick and she was a sophisticated city gal. No need for her to treat me like a human being or anything.
That kind of stuff happens all the time. It is snobbery, plain and simple.
Terrye on September 18, 2008 at 11:12 PM
You epitomize the modern Northeasterner.
TheBigOldDog on September 18, 2008 at 11:15 PM
This article accurately describes the supposedly conservative Davids (Gergen and Brooks)of the East Coast. It also describes Paul of Powerline. It would be amusing if it came at a different time. Coming right now, it’s disgusting.
Buford Gooch on September 18, 2008 at 11:15 PM
Maybe it’s because when you go to New York.. You get people who will let you die instead of helping you. You have people who avoid eye contact with each other and God forbid if you smile at them. You will get a “what the f*** are you lookin at”
In the heartland, strangers hold the door open for people, Someone driving down the road will wave at people they don’t know.. just to say howdy. If you’re in trouble, someone will be there to lend a hand.
That may be part of it.
GoodBoy on September 18, 2008 at 11:16 PM
ernesto:
And I can’t figure out what living in some rat infested concrete city with a lot of crime and a lot of traffic and a lot of snobs has to do with policy either.
This week we all sat out here in the middle of freaking nowhere watching a lot of city people practically bring down the banking system out of sheer stupidity. That was not a bunch of hicks that made that mess.
You are a snob. Really you are. Without people like Palin and Reagan and even McCain who would elitist conservatives run?
Terrye on September 18, 2008 at 11:16 PM
Many big cities, like New York, are just being monitored by its current residents. The greatness lies in the people who are dead who built the cities and made them what they are. The people currently residing in these cities just make them depressing.
San Fran is a good example of this. The middle class is gone or leaving. It’s a ghost town at night, except for the bums. If it weren’t for people, now dead, who made that city great and made it a thriving community, no one would want to live there.
You should really read Atlas Shrugged. It dissects this big city complex quite well.
lorien1973 on September 18, 2008 at 11:17 PM
I suppose all those GIs who died in the Pentagon and all people who have joined the military since 9/11 were Northeasterners, right?
baldilocks on September 18, 2008 at 11:17 PM
Look at your own words, Mr. Potato Head. You say you find other areas lacking, but the small towners aren’t attacking you, they’re proud of where they come from. I don’t know that you’re an elitist, but you do come across as a bitter idiot.
Patrick S on September 18, 2008 at 11:18 PM
You’re ascribing to me things I’ve never said.. unless you’re just venting. Which is understandable. Nobody likes to feel that their region, their defining shared local culture, is being slighted.
I just don’t think that this article was directed at the city of New York or it’s citizens, but more a mindset among some of the appointed “intellectual elite.”
Wealthy northeastern conservativism gave us WFB, after all. (Or maybe the latter gave us the former.) I think everyone recognizes your region’s contributions.
joewm315 on September 18, 2008 at 11:20 PM
Poor poor ernesto;
It seems he has issues
So let’s pass the plate
And send him some tissues.
hillbillyjim on September 18, 2008 at 11:23 PM
So ernesto finds us lacking?? We do not live up to his vibrant standards?
This guy has to be a troll, no one is this stupid.
I am proud of where I am from. I expect other people to feel the same way.
The idea of heartland values is not just about geography, it is about what matters to people. It is about honesty or integrity or authenticity. It is not about excluding people because they did not go to a certain school or share a certain narrow point of view. What bothers me about guys like Frum is that they are so exclusive, they have turned themselves into a fringe.
Terrye on September 18, 2008 at 11:24 PM
thats just not true. i work in midtown…people hold more doors and are nicer there than they are in the direct suburb that i live in.
and small towners insisting that this show is theirs to run does offend me.
the idea that because you are regressive in your worldview, thick-headed, and religious makes you better for government than someone who has friends from all over the world, respects logic in argument as opposed to “guts”, and isnt religious just doesnt make any sense
growing up in a small town, being religous, regressive in the way you view the world, antagonistic to allies and enemies alike, extolling vitriolic outrage at gays, all while running campaigns that point to straw men CONSTANTLY does not make you fit to operate a motor vehicle…let alone the levers of power.
as arlen spector said not too long ago “this party’s becoming a pretty lonely place for us”
ernesto on September 18, 2008 at 11:24 PM
So what is a Hawaii conservative? I am feeling left out of the east coast/heartland debate. Kidding.
IMHO, it is when we turn upon ourselves with this nonsense, that the Dems sit back and smile. Remember who we are fighting people.
Also ernesto gets the award for the most frequent use of the word sh*t in its various forms that I have seen on HA. Thought I was on AOSHQ for a minute.
HawaiiLwyr on September 18, 2008 at 11:25 PM
ernesto has issues.
The heartland people feed you, fight for you, finance you through their taxes, and forgive you when your stupid liberal ideas screw up everything they work so hard for.
Mojave Mark on September 18, 2008 at 11:25 PM
You could easily make the case the WFB and others convinced the average american that republicans/conservatives are the party of the rich. When in reality; its the party of walmart.
For many many years, democrats claimed to be the party of the middle class. Look at it now – this election, it’s obvious that republicans stand up for small town america and democrats are all about big cities.
lorien1973 on September 18, 2008 at 11:26 PM
and we have, in fact, been slighted. not just by this article, but by the whole party…the whole ideology. we’ll see where it gets us.
ernesto on September 18, 2008 at 11:26 PM
Barry Goldwater was indeed a libertarian as well as a conservative. He was also rather irreverent towards religion to say the least. Barry Goldwater was the idol of my youth and Sarah Palin is no Barry Goldwater.
A lot of so-called conservatives don’t know what the word means. They think I’ve turned liberal because I believe a woman has a right to an abortion. That’s a decision that’s up to the pregnant woman, not up to the pope or some do-gooders or the religious right.
- Barry Goldwater
I look at these religious television shows and they are raising big money on God. One million, three million, five million. They brag about it. I don’t believe in that. It’s not a very religious thing to do.
- Barry Goldwater
You don’t have to be straight to be in the military, you just have to be able to shoot straight.
- Barry Goldwater
Barry Goldwater who took a lot more $hit than Sarah Plain ever has never thought of himself as a poor victim. With him it was always, bring it on.
MB4 on September 18, 2008 at 11:27 PM
lol stupid liberal ideas like financial deregulation…right?
ask texas how that deregulated energy market’s doing for them
ernesto on September 18, 2008 at 11:27 PM
She isn’t whining either.
Spirit of 1776 on September 18, 2008 at 11:28 PM
They don’t define my damn culture.
Tengripundit on September 18, 2008 at 11:29 PM
Where are the east-coast conservatives that inspire us? Where is the enthusiasm? I suppose I’d be crabby, too if I had to live in a metropolis full of metrosexuals riding metro public transport. But seriously, when was the last time a northeasterner showed up on the conservative stage and really started a movement?
Ace, AllahP, ernesto, etc… You are well informed, but I think the urban lifestyle seems to leave people jaded or something. Less joie de vivre than the flyover folks.
innominatus on September 18, 2008 at 11:29 PM
Dude, in the same sentence?
hillbillyjim on September 18, 2008 at 11:31 PM
Barry Goldwater wrote “Conscience of a Conservative”. What did Sarah Palin write? “Moose shooting and cooking made simple”?
MB4 on September 18, 2008 at 11:33 PM
ernesto:
you said:
the idea that because you are regressive in your worldview, thick-headed, and religious makes you better for government than someone who has friends from all over the world, respects logic in argument as opposed to “guts”, and isnt religious just doesnt make any sense
growing up in a small town, being religous, regressive in the way you view the world, antagonistic to allies and enemies alike, extolling vitriolic outrage at gays, all while running campaigns that point to straw men CONSTANTLY does not make you fit to operate a motor vehicle…let alone the levers of power.
That has got to be one of the most ignorant, simpleminded, obnoxious and absolutely ridiculous things I have ever read.
I am not regressive, I am no more religious than a lot of good Catholics in Boston, I have never said anything vitriolic to any gay person and I have no idea what that strawman thing was.
But I do have family living all over the country and some of the most small minded, provincial, intolerant people I have ever encountered came from a big city. And some of the most tolerant and open minded people I have ever known came from the sticks.
You sound like you grew up in a closet or something. You need to get out more.
I live in Indiana, my Senator is Lugar. He is just about as moderate as he can get and still be a Republican and his area of expertise is foreign relations. You do not even know what you are talking about.
Terrye on September 18, 2008 at 11:34 PM
If 9/11 happened Amarillo, Texas, New Yorkers wouldn’t have given a damn.
Let me tell you, after 9/11, all those heartland conservatives became New Yorkers.
Ernesto,
Nobody is gonna take your golf courses from you, or your trophy wife, or your big expensive houses and cars. Get a hold of yourself. Without US, you get Obama.
Think about that REAL good.
Sapwolf on September 18, 2008 at 11:35 PM
MB4:
What did you ever write? Other than other people’s words?
Terrye on September 18, 2008 at 11:36 PM
Michael Moore said 9/11 should have happened in Dallas because that is where the Republicans lived. Such a funny funny man.
Terrye on September 18, 2008 at 11:37 PM
Living in small town America is more in line with the natural state of peaceful existence.
We leave our doors unlocked. We don’t shoot each other over parking stalls. Courteous driving is the rule, not the exception.
I’ve lived in large cities, medium sized cities and small towns. I find more contented, happy, and kind people in the small town I live in now. I don’t feel threatened that my kindness and trust will be seen as a weakness to exploit.
Try living that way in most big cities and I’ll show you a potential victim.
csdeven on September 18, 2008 at 11:37 PM
What the hell does that have to do with anything? Lincoln’s books? Oh, non-existent. Washington? Oh, non-existent. You’ll find one thing about men of action, people write books about them, not the other way around.
Spirit of 1776 on September 18, 2008 at 11:40 PM
I find it interesting that you would limit conservatism the way you have. Margaret Thatcher, Keith Joseph, and numerous other genuine conservatives thrived overseas and represented the core logic of conservatism much better than Reagan or any of the current crop of American posers. Sullivan is not out in any wilderness. He merely articulates a more fundamental conservatism which many American neocons don’t like because they prefer to pick and choose which tenants of conservatism to adhere to depending on the issue. The fact that American conservatives incorporate religious values shows how far the US branch has moved from the basic form and logic of genuine consevatism.
lexhamfox on September 18, 2008 at 11:41 PM
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