"One of the Last Sane Conservatives"
Mark Shea writes:
Bill Moyers Interviews One of the Last Sane Conservatives: Andrew Bacevich.Wow. "One of the last sane conservatives", huh? So, I guess that means most of the rest of us who identify as "conservatives" are insane? When questioned on this very point, Mark responds:
Just watch the interview, dude, and ask yourself if [Bush & Co. and all the conservatives who enabled them] are sane.Without getting into the merits of - or whether I happen to agree or disagree with - whatever Mr. Bacevich might have said in the interview with Moyers, let me just say this (and it REALLY OUGHT to go without saying):
When I want to get "facts" about the sanity or lack thereof of conservatives, the ABSOLUTE LAST place I'll go to get it is Bill Moyers.
Recall that it was Bill Moyers who, while working as a campaign strategist for LBJ coined the phrase "In your guts, you know he's nuts" in reference to Barry Goldwater - not to mention the fact that Moyers is the one who gave the go-ahead to the "Daisy" ad, which implied a vote for Goldwater was a vote for nuclear destruction.
Finally, Moyers has taken it as his solemn duty to expose those people of faith who take their religion with them into the public square as a bunch of fundamentalist zealots bent on theocracy.
Yeah, I'm going to take Bill Moyers as the last word on conservative "sanity".
Not.
UPDATE
In response to this and this (that's getting to be a pretty tired analogy, by the way):
The purpose of my objection to Mark's post was never to take issue with anything Mr. Bacevich says.
But I will take issue with the notion that most conservatives are insane, and, for the reasons I cited above, I will particularly take issue with citing to a Bill Moyers interview as the authority for the notion that most conservatives are insane.
UPDATE #2
Mark responds:
Jay:
I didn't cite Moyers as an authority.
My point about Bacevich is that what used [to be] conservatism has been dominated throughout the Bush era by, well, the craziness Bacevich describes.
Really, just listen to the guy. He's not saying anything serious social conservatives haven't said for years.
Previous Pro Ecclesia posts on this subject:
"Reporting's Easier When You Don’t Worry About Facts"
Bill Moyers: "Rove Turned Religion Into a Weapon of Political Combat"
Feddie, on Behalf of Jimmy Akin, Tells Bill Moyers and His Lawyers to Go Pound Sand
Bill Moyers - Still An Idiot After All These Years
Labels: "Religious Left", "Religious Right", America, Bush, Conservatism, Hypocrites, Iraq, Media, Social Conservatives, Values Voters, War on Terror
posted by Pro Ecclesia 2:38 PM
4 comments
4 Comments:
We're getting lectures on sanity from a guy who wants Bush tried for war crimes.
Okay.
Really, just listen to the guy. He's not saying anything serious social conservatives haven't said for years.
So Bacevich is a unique conservative - one of the last sane conservatives - and he is expressing views shared by most social conservatives. In other words, a lot of people agree with him and are, one would assume, "sane."
Which is it? Is Bacevich a lone wolf, or is he expressing sentiments that a lot of others happen to share?
You know, it reminds me of something I read in either in of the Washington dailies today - I forget if it was Post or Times - talking about how the White House issued a press release criticizing something the WSJ had said about Bush. The gist of the article was that "suddenly" some conservatives are expressing some dismay with the administration. Where has the guy been for the past, oh, seven years. Even those of us who voted for GWB have been expressing concern over many aspects of his policies from year one. But you have this holier than thou section on the right that think it's been one big lovefest for the administration.
Puh-leeze.
Bacevich lost a son fighting in Iraq so I am very reluctant to criticize him, however calling him a "conservative" now is a stretch. He has endorsed Obama, abortion be hanged.
http://rossdouthat.theatlantic.com/archives/2008/03/prolifers_and_08.php
In regard to Iraq he predicted that the surge would fail. His bitterness over Iraq colors his entire political outlook and he is a "conservative" now in the same way that Zell Miller, former senator for Georgia, was a Democrat when he addressed the GOP convention in 2004.
That of course is why Bill Moyers interviewed him. Mark Shea apparently will embrace anyone now who is against the Iraq war, including someone who has endorsed the most pro-abort candidate to run on a major party ticket in our nation's history.
I don't think Mark should cast stones. One of his frequent commentators, previously touted by Mark as an expert in all things military, has his own baggage.
http://coalitionforfog.blogspot.com/2006/12/augusto-pinochet-1915-2006.html?showComment=1166015940000#c116601595590639756
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