Last month, The National Review’s Kathleen Parker called for Sarah Palin to step down in order to save the Republican ticket. Since then, Parker has been deluged with emails—12,000 at her last count—which have covered the gamut from calling her a traitor to outright death threats. One enlightened person suggested that Parker’s mother should have aborted her. How classy!
Not even the scion of TNR’s founder William F. Buckley has been spared. Christopher Buckley, in his blog on the website The Daily Beast, wrote that, for the first time in his life, he will vote for a Democrat. He purposely avoided saying so in his column in TNR because he wanted to spare the publication the grief. Nonetheless, no sooner than this entry was posted at the Beast, he started receiving the same sort of filth that Parker had: “In fact, the only thing the Right can’t quite decide is whether I should be boiled in oil or just put up against the wall and shot.” Buckley submitted his resignation to TNR s editor, which Buckley said was “briskly” accepted.
Parker and Buckley are just two of the traditional conservatives that have come out against the McCain/Palin ticket—something that the frothing-at-the-mouth neocons cannot abide. So much for free speech.
They are far from being the only conservatives jumping ship—or coming to their senses. Christopher Hitchens, David Brooks, Frank Schaeffer, Matthew Dowd, Ken Adelman, and Francis Fukuyama have railed against the ticket, saying that McCain does not have the temperament to be President, that Sarah Palin is not qualified to be Vice President, and that neither displays true conservative values—one of which is appreciation of intellect. That anti-intellectualism has become a rallying point for the GOP does not sit well with traditional conservatives. Gay conservative Andrew Sullivan, who seems to have come to the center over the past decade, excoriated Palin for her out and out lies. Even acid-tongued curmudgeon Robert Novak saw defections in the ranks on the horizon back in June.
Not even the scion of TNR’s founder William F. Buckley has been spared. Christopher Buckley, in his blog on the website The Daily Beast, wrote that, for the first time in his life, he will vote for a Democrat. He purposely avoided saying so in his column in TNR because he wanted to spare the publication the grief. Nonetheless, no sooner than this entry was posted at the Beast, he started receiving the same sort of filth that Parker had: “In fact, the only thing the Right can’t quite decide is whether I should be boiled in oil or just put up against the wall and shot.” Buckley submitted his resignation to TNR s editor, which Buckley said was “briskly” accepted.
Parker and Buckley are just two of the traditional conservatives that have come out against the McCain/Palin ticket—something that the frothing-at-the-mouth neocons cannot abide. So much for free speech.
They are far from being the only conservatives jumping ship—or coming to their senses. Christopher Hitchens, David Brooks, Frank Schaeffer, Matthew Dowd, Ken Adelman, and Francis Fukuyama have railed against the ticket, saying that McCain does not have the temperament to be President, that Sarah Palin is not qualified to be Vice President, and that neither displays true conservative values—one of which is appreciation of intellect. That anti-intellectualism has become a rallying point for the GOP does not sit well with traditional conservatives. Gay conservative Andrew Sullivan, who seems to have come to the center over the past decade, excoriated Palin for her out and out lies. Even acid-tongued curmudgeon Robert Novak saw defections in the ranks on the horizon back in June.
But the most damning blow came this past weekend when Colin Powell endorsed Obama on Meet The Press. Powell “had been disturbed in recent weeks by the negative tone of Mr. McCain’s campaign, particularly its focus on Mr. Obama’s passing relationship with William Ayers.” He said that he feels that Obama is what America needs now. He also bemoaned the ever-more-rightward shift of the Republican Party as a whole.
Predictably, the neocons descended on the whole lot of them, particularly Powell, using the “blacks stick together” meme. Rush Limbaugh, George Will, Pat Buchanan, and “journalist” Mark Halperin ludicrously tried to insinuate that Powell is supporting Obama because they are both African American.
Step out of line, and the GOP neocons will mow you down. Nice bunch to associate with, huh?
The Republican Party and its ticket are unraveling faster than thread on a cheap shirt. Still, we cannot let down our guard. They pretty much have no choice but to try and steal this election. Let’s keep out wits about us—only fourteen more days until liberation!
Republicans for Obama
The Vanishing Republican Voter
The Republican Party and its ticket are unraveling faster than thread on a cheap shirt. Still, we cannot let down our guard. They pretty much have no choice but to try and steal this election. Let’s keep out wits about us—only fourteen more days until liberation!
Republicans for Obama
The Vanishing Republican Voter
How Anti-Intellectual is Sarah Palin?
The Class War Before Palin
Palin’s Failin’
The Right Choice?: The Conservative Case for Barack Obama
A Conservative Case for Obama
The Class War Before Palin
Palin’s Failin’
The Right Choice?: The Conservative Case for Barack Obama
A Conservative Case for Obama
Why McCain has lost our vote (Barry Goldwater's granddaughter)
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