Silly Shit Former Zygote Andrew Sullivan Says, Ctd.

The reliably depraved David Horowitz has puked up another gallon of racist bile which, predictably, found its way into "print" thanks the America's premier white supremacist dating advice magazine.

This is how Conservative writer Andrew Sullivan describes Mr. Horowitz's verbal droppings:

The Trouble With Islam, Ctd

...

The complete conflation of ISIS with American Muslims is so foul, and the use of such hatred for further religious warfare abroad so perilous, one has to hope it was a piece of high-trolling. But it isn’t. Horowitz and Geller are the most vicious of McCarthyite bigots, and need to be exposed and countered at every turn.

...

This is how Conservative writer Andrew Sullivan describes the magazine which published Mr. Mr. Horowitz's ghastly bilge:

...the kind of degenerate magazine (National Review) that would actually publish it.

And this is how Conservative writer Andrew Sullivan describes Mr. Horowitz himself:

...former Marxist David Horowitz

Which is true.  Mr. Horowitz is indeed a "former Marxist" in very much the same way that Conservative writer Andrew Sullivan is, say, a "former zygote."

But since is has been over 50 years since Conservative writer Andrew Sullivan was a dues-paying, card-carrying zygotist, it would also be incredibly misleading and just plain weird if I kept referring to him by that appellation so many decades after it ceased to be in any way relevant.

Similarly, since Mr. Horowitz is not writing his column in 1967, it seems incredibly misleading and just plain weird to continue to refer to what he was back then -- "former Marxist" -- as opposed to what he now.

So what sort of monster has Mr. Horowitz grown into over the last 50 years that is so unspeakably foul that Conservative writer Andrew Sullivan just cannot bear to mention it by its true name?

Let us consult Wikipedia to find out:

David Joel Horowitz (born January 10, 1939) is an American conservative writer.

Also TPM (where Conservative writer David Horowitz is pictured hawking one of his odious books at the Conservative Heritage Foundation):

Conservative Author Writes 'Thank You, ISIS' Following Beheadings

The Blaze:

The Horrific Story That Prompted David Horowitz’s Conservative Transformation

And, of course, Mr. Horowitz himself: 

The Black Book of the American Left: The Collected Conservative Writings of David Horowitz

I should conclude with something terse and snarky about beams and motes and eyes, but instead let me re-edit a little of Mr. Sullivan's own prose to suit the occasion:

...

These people believe that True Conservatism is the only way to achieve happiness, the sole guide for a good life and death, and that nothing should stand in the way of this ultimate goal. ... Just because that seems utterly odd to many dorm-room Conservatives like Andrew Sullivan doesn't mean it isn't true. Why should we not take the views of the Conservatives of Fox News and National review at face value? Why are we actually condescending to their sincere beliefs?

Yes, we need to make careful distinctions with respect to Conservatism in different places at different stages of development. Conflating the Conservatism of Edmund Burke and the Conservatism of David Horowitz and the Conservatism of Rush Limbaugh is, well, dumb... But to deny the core ideological element of the massive political dysfunction in the United States, to ignore the fact that Conservatism, to a much greater degree than other political ideologies, is still resistant to some core freedoms of modernity, to ignore the fact that Conservatism of this kind can do extreme damage to this country and the rest of the world … well this strikes me as another form of denial.

But what I find deeply dismaying is the lazy assumption that understanding these basic truths about Conservatism and being really, really fucking troubled by them is somehow beyond the pale...