"But Reagan’s Republicanism has long gone, replaced by militarism and paranoia."Telling themselves fairy tales of a bygone Golden Age of Conservatism is how discommendated Conservative Public Intellectuals
-- Andrew Sullivan, May 29, 2013
manage to sleep at night, wake up in the morning and go right back to work spinning newer, shinier fairy tales.
6 comments:
"But Reagan’s Republicanism has long gone, replaced by militarism and paranoia."
Right, 'cause as everybody knows, in no way was Reagan a militarist or paranoid. Sure, ok, whatever you say Andy.
Ronnie was a piece of work, but there is a grain of truth in what Sully said there in that the current GOP has somehow, remarkably, managed to become unfathomably worse.
But, that's part of the ongoing trick, right? Whitewashing how abhorrent the GOP was in the recent past by comparing it favorably to the present. Well, bollocks to that. Reagan doesn't retroactively become less of a dangerous loon just because even more dangerous loons have come along since. And also stubbornly refusing to acknowledge that the shitshow we're stuck in now is the predictable result of spending the last 50 years pandering to the batshit insane, encouraging them to add to their membership, gradually but persistently mainstreaming their insanity, and keeping them scared and ignorant.
Let's skip all that and note that Reagan wasn't as much of a lollygagger as Ted Cruz. Because Burke's humility requires it. Or something.
Shorter Andrew Sullivan:
The conservative Republican monsters of days gone by could never fit into the modern conservative Republican party of monsters.
And he thinks it is a compliment to older conservative Republican monsters, and a criticism of current conservative Republican monsters.
Gooooooo Conservatism!
OT, but how cool would it be to live in a crumbling monument to the Invisible Hand of the Marketplace in the shape of a religious idol?
Here in Reno, there's a used bookstore closing its brick and mortar location, and today they had a five-dollar bag sale to clear out stock. One of the books I picked up was "`in the face of cruelty' The Reagan Administration's Human Rights Record in 1984" issued January 1985 by Americas Watch/Helsinki Watch/Lawyers Committee for International Human Rights. This was of course before Iran-Contra came to light in November of 1986.
I’m betting this one isn’t in Aunty Andy’s library.
Right, 'cause as everybody knows, in no way was Reagan a militarist or paranoid.
dunno. How many marbles do you need to be a functioning paranoiac?
The militarist thing, well yeah. Space Lasers! Boom!
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