The tail fires the dog: conservative critic excommunicated for heresy

"Republicans originally thought that Fox worked for us, and now we are discovering we work for Fox."~~ David Frum on Nightline

The venerable, conservative American Enterprise Institute has dumpstered conservative commentator and former Bush speech writer David Frum.

Frum committed the mortal sin of daring criticize the Republican Party for letting itself be taken over by its most extreme elements and being led by Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, and other Fox News talent.

It's a fascinating display of how the right handles self-criticism. Here’s what you better not say about the Nabobs of Nay:

I’ve been on a soapbox for months now about the harm that our overheated talk is doing to us. Yes it mobilizes supporters – but by mobilizing them with hysterical accusations and pseudo-information, overheated talk has made it impossible for representatives to represent and elected leaders to lead. The real leaders are on TV and radio, and they have very different imperatives from people in government. Talk radio thrives on confrontation and recrimination. When Rush Limbaugh said that he wanted President Obama to fail, he was intelligently explaining his own interests. What he omitted to say – but what is equally true – is that he also wants Republicans to fail. If Republicans succeed – if they govern successfully in office and negotiate attractive compromises out of office – Rush’s listeners get less angry. And if they are less angry, they listen to the radio less, and hear fewer ads for Sleepnumber beds.

Off with your head, apostate.

Comments

[sparky]

Well that's not surprising, is it?
I wonder if he will be like Andrew Sullivan, and find himself agreeing with progressives more than not...

[KS]

Then you also have those like Adam Baldwin and Dennis Miller who are apostate liberals - agreeing with conservatives.

Hey - don't forget David Brock, once a Republican - he has become a progressive/regressive propagandizer working with John Podesta, both have abandoned the truth and become sedicious liars.

[Mark C.]

Frum is still a conservative Republican. His crime was questioning the strategic value of driving the middle out of your Party and turning over the messaging to media figures interested most in their own numbers - not the future of their political party or the country.

[Coiler]

More are joining our side...

[KS]

Frum is no conservative and never was - he is a progressive Republican, like Bush 43 -everyone's poster boy.

Mark C's analysis is out in left field - don't let me deter you from spouting nonsense.

I doubt if many more statists are joining your lowest common denominator side, curley. But, go ahead and think that if it helps you sleep at night.

[mark]

Dave Horsey had it right...

http://www.seattlepi.com/dayart/20091106/cartoon20091106.jpg

[joanie]

We should exile klueless to Alabama. He'd fit right in. The north is just too damn ejacated for you, klueless.

[joanie]

To me, the interesting part is that I always considered American Enterprise Institute to be conservative but politically astute. Boy, were we ever fooled. I wonder what Frum thinks about all this.

Of course, Frum did say he would vote for Sarah Palin if she were the Rethug candidate. He came down on the side of his team rather than the side of integrity. So, he might not be a chip off his old mum after all.

[Mark C.]

The AET has been around longer as a right-wing Washington think tank than the Heritage Foundation. Frum is a free-market neo-conservative. His deal isn't about ideology, it's about strategy. The new right, hotheaded idiots that they are, can't tell the difference. One of these days, somebodys going to get hurt with all this shit flying around. Watch for April 19. that's when these freeks say they will strike. When they bombed the fed building in the 90's, it was the beginning of the end for Newt Gingrich and put Clinton on the road to re-election. It could all happen again.

[Coiler]

klueless thinks whenever someone jumps ship the "they were never one of us" shtick comes into play

[joanie]

Wouldn't you think AEI would support his views? Esp. if he's more about strategy. That's what I thought all these think tanks were about on the right.

God help us if we have another act of terrorism on that scale. I don't think this country could survive it. We are so much more jaded and bitter than we were. I can't imagine the consequences. We've become a more jaded and bitter society. That would be a horrific event.

[joanie]

Hmm: jaded and bitter - a little redundancy never hurts. (Insert smiley face)

[joanie]

Klueless probably doesn't know who frum is. I don't think klueless has a clue even about the people on the right except for Beck, Hannity, Levin and whatever other entertainers he watches/listens.

He doesn't know who's on the ship.

[Coiler]

The GOP and insurance underestimated outsourcing dirty tricks to the tea baggers. I like Frum's quote. The GOP thought FOX worked for us, it turned out to be the other way around. I think he penned all this knowing there is no room for moderation.

[Blatherwatch Security Flying Squad]

Hood, Blatherwatch regulars concerned about a Republican rightwing Tourette's Syndrome poster , who since Wedmesday night has been posting libelous and defamatory posts concerning nothing but his hatred and envy of Blatherwatch poster Tommy008..... the poster is rumored to be employed as a janitor for a mortgage company....

[Tommy008]

Obama ratings have crept back to 51% directly as a result of passage of the healthcare bill.

[Lucas Foxx]

"Tail fires the dog" Funny!

[KS]

We should exile klueless to Alabama. He'd fit right in. The north is just too damn ejacated for you.

Posted by: joanie | March 25, 2010 at 11

WTF are you talking about Ph(J)oanie ? Do you have anything credible to back it up ? (doubtful) Take a deep breath and get back on your meds quickly before you rupture another gasket.

[KS]

That's OK - make me laugh with your hollow assertions, Ph(J)oanie, et. al. I don't expect you to understand the other side. After all, you are being duped by your side as useful idiots !&*>

[joanie]

Can I back it up? Of course. Your total ignorance in every post makes each of my comments perfectly credible. You are my proof.

You laugh like a fool on his way to the gallows.

[Duffman]

joanie, sparky:
On the order of the topic '..tail fires the dog', assuming we (as the Washington public) are the tail, should we ask Mr Dorn to step down or excuse him for this 'one-time' infraction. What's your call.

[Keil Mortgage]

T008 = FRAUD = DORI MONSON STALKER

OK 8th grader. You're asking Hood to ban me. When for 2+ years you hav relentlessly stalked Dori Monson on this blog with mindless accusations and veiled threats. You my man are a FRAUD. You my man should be banned or led off in handcuffs.

[KS]

Can I back it up? Of course. Your total ignorance in every post makes each of my comments perfectly credible. You are my proof.

Posted by: joanie |

That's funny as a fart under your sheets. Pot meet kettle. Thank you, I must have struck a nerve. Still waiting credible substance, phony Joanie. Keep chasing your tail.

[KS]

I'd say that Mr. Dorn should do 200 hours of community service (voluntary or otherwise) and go to Schick Schadel and take the treatment in order to keep his job.

Could he be recalled ?

[dori's_ghost]

Reading these comments is like watching 16 year old girls fight over a boy. Only in this instance, the boy is each of your giant egos.

[Puget Sound]

We should exile klueless to Alabama. He'd fit right in. The north is just too damn ejacated for you, klueless.

Posted by: joanie | March 25, 2010 at 11:04 PM

I'd say that Mr. Dorn should do 200 hours of community service (voluntary or otherwise) and go to Schick Schadel and take the treatment in order to keep his job.

Could he be recalled ?

Posted by: KS | March 26, 2010 at 09:06 AM

Spot on, KS. Spot on.

"Drinking Whilst Inter-netting" again, eh ph(J)oanie...

Hopefully under the Obama Care, coverage will be 'free' and we can get joanie to take the cure.

[sparky]

Good question, Duffman. I know nothing of him, so it's hard to get a handle on this. I talked to my principal today about it. We acknowledged that if he was a teacher, the State COULD revoke his teaching license, although it might depend on if this was a first offense or more, and the level of blood alcohol ( .09 for instance.) Since he is no longer teaching, I have no idea what will happen to him. Lots of professionals have drunk driving charges filed against them but they keep their jobs. However, people assume he represents kids--although he does not come in contact with them--so he is held to a higher standard than, say, a doctor or attorney. It probably would set a good example if he resigned, but it sure would mess up OSPI and that WOULD affect kids. Maybe he should pay a ginormous fine--one that would hurt--and be sentenced to a year of community service speaking to high school kids about how humiliating it is to be caught and charged ( they don't believe they will get hurt or killed so that would carry less weight with a teenager.)
It will be interesting to watch.

My other question--why Orting? Ew.

[Duffman]

Thanks for a very thorough answer. :)

[Coiler]

unlike the chief of the pacific police dept who played games by flashing his badge when pulled over by the Bunny Lake Po Po

[Duffman]

Since this was apparently his first incident (I know for every time caught, stats apparently show likely a 50x incident UNcaught), I think I might give him the benefit of the doubt and not ask him to resign. Provided that there be some other form of fairly stiff sentence that would resonate thru the public school system as towing the line on drinking and driving - yet recognizing that the circumstances here provide for some leniency. That w/probably be my call, knowing the facts as I do presently. If it's found that he lied and tried to deceive...I may amend that. [smile]

[joanie]

I expect he will pay the price anybody else would have to pay and be done with it. Or should we exact more from him? Is there a reason he owes us more than anybody else?

[Tommy008]

stale, corny jokes and slogans ("how's that hopey changey thign working out for you" "I'm doing my speech old school, with notes on my hand, and no teleprompters", "we'r taking our country back") right now , live, in front of the Teaparty Express3 in Searchlight Nevada......i must say rhe rubes and gunstrapping chowderheads in the audience are eating it up.....

[Tommy008]

Palin still efuses to take the .crosshair targets off the Dem Congress seats on her facebook, or renounce her "reload" teminology.... sealing the fate of her Prez aspirations.....Americans are fairminded and don't like a stubborn jackass.....

[Duffman]

T008, please take note...Ms Palin will never seriously be considered for political office again, so get over that notion. She does tend to draw a crowd, like Limbaugh, Hannity, Monson, etc, et al and that fact is what she and many others are capitalizing on. Ms Palin was DONE the second that she walked out of the Katie Couric interview. She can realisticly say that that interview was the turning point in her aspirations of political power. She is now but a celebrity, no better, no worse than those I mentioned or Kate Gosslin. It seriously wouldn't surprise me to see her possibly vie for DWTS next, as Kate and Pam Anderson and our moon-walker Buzz Aldren has done.
I believe that Sarah Palin realizes there is no further hope for politics...only a possible recurring 15-minutes of fame. Hope she banks it wisely and that her family is well taken care of and that there is no divorce in her future - as that would destroy her. So, relax Tommy there is absolutely no chance that she will be your next POTUS.
[smile]

[Tommy008]

preaching to the choir Duffman, -to put it more clearly.....Palin had zero chance before the Facebook flap of becoming Prez....if she had taken the offending crosshairs and "reload" off her facebook, she would still have zero chance...being a stubborn jackass about it, and refusing to change the page now gives her a -50% chance....

[Tommy008]

don't assume Palin knows any of these facts mentioned above- she doesn't and i fully expect her to start up her Prez campaign in about 13 months...

[joanie]

A nice analysis of Frum's words and the debate about whether Rove or Frum is correct about the consequences for Republicans.

Joe Gandelman at the Moderate Voice thinks Frum shows a good grasp of Republican history: “Political parties have kept power by only appealing to true believers, but coalition building which requires some consensus and compromise has proven to be the enduring and politically endearing course, (go back and read how Ronald Reagan upset many conservatives: Reagan is categorized as a ‘moderate’ by one historian due to his willingness to work with the opposition and compromise to achieve his broader goals).”

Reagan? Heresy!

Wait! There's more: (from same source)

“Folks, if you want to know why bipartisanship failed, don’t look to Democrats,” writes Justin Gardner at Donklephant, naming the names that Frum left out. “Look to Boehner. Look to Palin. Look to Rush. Look to Hannity. Look to McConnell. Look to Beck. Look to Fox News. Look to the Tea Party.” He continues:

Democrats came to the table ready to deal. What they weren’t ready to do is develop a health care bill that was based almost solely on Republican economic philosophies. Still, they askewd a public option, even when their base was crying foul and demanding it. But Republicans made the political calculation that defeating the legislation was more important.

And from Frum's wife, a writer herself:

As for the response from conservatives, well, let’s let Frum’s wife, the writer Danielle Crittenden, give us a window into their lives (via Huffington Post):

For days I’ve been sitting here in the bunker beside him (and our three dogs), watching the whizzbangs land all around. What is distressing is not the predictable hate mail he has been receiving — and thanks to the internet, he’s been receiving it in hundredfold; we’ve both seen that before. What is distressing (to me, anyway) are the dishonest slurs on his character and integrity by people who know him, and in some cases have known him for many years — truly ugly suggestions that David is motivated by cynicism or sycophancy, or both …

We have both been part of the conservative movement for, as mentioned, the better part of half of our lives. And I can categorically state I’ve never seen such a hostile environment towards free thought and debate — once the hallmarks of Reaganism, the politics with which we grew up — prevail in our movement as it does today. The thuggish demagoguery of the Limbaughs and Becks is a trait we once derided in the old socialist Left. Well boys, take a look in the mirror. It is us now.

C'mon, KS. Find your sanity again and quit watching Fixed News.

[KS]

Max Baucus - D, the senate budget chairman was quoted as saying the following last week after passage of Obamalosi Care:

“Too often, much of late, the last couple three years, the mal-distribution of income in American is gone up way too much, the wealthy are getting way, way too wealthy and the middle income class is left behind,” he said. “Wages have not kept up with increased income of the highest income in America. This legislation will have the effect of addressing that mal-distribution of income in America.”

Problem is, Baucus is economically challenged, as he apparently doesn't understand that the middle class is going to be gouged by the increased taxes across the board to finance this debacle. Hopefully the voters in Montana are smart enough to elect someone competent to replace this mediocrity.

OMG, the prediction of this by conservative talkers turned out to spot on. Who woulda thunk ? I believe that this is little surprise to the hard core resident statists here (you know who you are), but certainly disappointing to others of a pro-American mindset.

[Tommy008]

IT'S MUSIC TO MY EARS TO HEAR THE arrogant Repug punk and bully Laura Ingraham obviously so upset over the passage of the healthcare bill.......she's lashing and flailing out in nasty vicious attacks and impersonations of Nancy Pelosi's voice......hahahaah you're a loser Ingraham.....