November 24th 2008
Libs’ List Of 10 Conservatives Who “Should Go Away”
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couple weeks after the election, all is good for the Libs. They won; we lost, and by a margin beyond even ACORN’s ability to produce. Given their emotional bent, it’s not surprising they’re crowing as if this were a permanent mandate, as Ben Cohen wrote yesterday in The Daily Banter:
With a new political era looming, veterans of the old political arena will scramble to redefine themselves in order to make a living. Politicians, media commentators and analysts may be ill equipped to deal with the changing electorate, increased power of the blogosphere and massive discontent with the status quo. Who will survive in the modern epoch?
He lists 10 conservative voices that he says should not: William Kristol, Sarah Palin, Michelle Malkin, Dick Morris, Dick Cheney, Mitt Romney, Alan Greenspan, Bill O’Reilly, Sean Hannity and (big surprise here) George W. Bush.
With most of the names, I can’t say I’m too outraged, really. I started reading the piece prepared to get in a snit, but in the end, you have to admit that if you take a high profile and lose, you’ve opened yourself to criticism. And it’s not just these 10; it’s’ the entire GOP. We should all go away – but only to figure out how to come back stronger.
The pundits Cohen listed – Kristol, Malkin, Morris, O’Reilly and Hannity – are going to have to prove their staying power in the Obama era. What Cohen fails to acknowledge, however, is that the Obama era is just beginning, and all the folks who sided up against him still may ultimately be proven right.
Kristol is condemned, for example, because of his position on the war. But Obama’s not done with the war yet, and neither is al-Qaeda, Iran or Iraq. The question now isn’t what Kristol and other conservatives got right or wrong about Bush’s approach to the war; it’s whether Obama’s position is right or not, and we need people beside his fawning acolytes to consider that question. Whether it will be Kristol or not depends on the market.
The same goes for all the other pundits. Of the bunch, I think Hannity has the most to answer for, since he led the charge against Obama’s radical friends. If Obama does end up governing like a Centrist, Hannity will look the hysteric – not because of his concern, but because of the tenor of his concern.
The other group Cohen lists is politicians – Palin, Cheney, Romney and Bush. Throw Greenspan in this group too.
He dismisses a governor who’s fought corruption, crossed the aisle and garnered incredible favorables in her home state with:
Former Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin is the poster child of vacuous Republican imagery – hollow, loud and crass with no discernable talents other than an ability to attract stupid middle American house wives.
With Stevens losing his Senate seat, Palin will serve out her term and it’s up to her to put Cohen in a position where people will be calling for him to go away. Palin does have some loudness and crassness about her that served her well in the election but probably will have to be moderated with clearer statements of her position if she is to succeed. It’s not Cohen’s call; Palin resonates with the GOP, and if they want her and she’s capable, she’ll stay. But she’d better stop letting them tape her in front of a guy who’s manhandling turkeys.
All the rest – Romney, Cheney, Bush – who cares? Romney proved that he didn’t have what it took to attract GOP voters, huge cash accounts notwithstanding, and the GOP have already judged Bush and Cheney. Count the total number of campaign appearances they made – I think it was 6.3 between the two of them. They will not be forces in the party any time soon.
I bring the piece to your attention not because Cohen has anything interesting to say. His column is about as interesting as listening to a rooster crowing. I bring it to you because it utterly lacks perspective. Its basis is this: Today is Obama’s day and it’s a new day and it’s a new world and it will be forever. But Clinton and Nixon proved that even disgrace isn’t forever. Dan Rather weathered many more storms than W. before he finally fell – and people still pay to hear him speak. Both parties have bounced back, or crawled back, from ignoble defeat, and if the old voices weren’t part of it, the new voices were.
Certainly, conservative commentators and politicians have much to be reflective about and will have to work hard to find a way out of this defeat. But if the liberals follow Cohen and are dismissive of our beliefs and our numbers, they will be on someone’s “should go away” list not too many years from now.
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November 24th, 2008 at 9:42 am
So Bush and Chaney go on a worldwide speaking tour and tell the truth about the democrats drive to destroy freedom throughout the world. Everyone already knows that as fact but no one with the power has had the guts to day it out loud. GWB can continue to play the gentleman role or become an attack dog. The latter would put 90% of the democrats in a mental facility within days. A lot of them are already scheduling appointments with the shrinks due to Hussein O sticking it to them on a daily basis. Just think, you no longer have to dress and go to church, Just meditate at 11AM each Sunday with the ‘chosen one’. Not my words, but from his website if it hasn’t been flushed already as 99% of his promises have been.