A True Conservative Would Be Ashamed of Fox "News", Limbaugh, and Anne Coulter

[Yavin4]

When I was a kid, I clearly remember being in awe of William F. Buckley's intellect. I may have vehemently disagreed with him, but I respected his intelligence and the thought that he put into his arguments, the same goes for George Will and William Safire. I disagreed with them, but I didn't think of them as complete buffons in the process. To win a debate with one of them, I had to bring facts, do my homework, and really research the issues.

Today, with the rise of Fox "News", Rush Limbaugh, and Anne Coulter, conservatism has taken on cartoonish quality. Conservative opinion makers have become self-satiarizing. Their statements are so ridiculous that all Jon Stewart has to do is run one of their clips for laughs. The Daily Show wins Emmys for best comedy, variety specials just by showing a Steve Doocey quote reel.

Now, as Liberals and Progressives, we should not rejoice in the dumbing down of conservatism. We have to be careful in taking the other side for granted by simply laughing at them. Our philosophy needs to be challenged vigorously and intelligently in order to survive. We must realize that one day soon conservatism will produce a sober, sane, intelligent, and charismatic opinion-maker who won't turn off millions of Americans and who will be able to attract an audience.

[ck4829]

1. "Cartoonish quality", you can say that again

Looking at today's Conservative Movement reminds me of The Itchy & Scratchy Show from the Simpsons.

[n2doc]

2. Would agree about Buckley, but Safire and Will have drunk deeply of the kool aid

And they no longer do anything except spew Rovian talking points. I have seen them write way too many demonstratable lies in their columns. There are only a few conservatives who have sayed true to their roots in the face of the bribe and attack Bushco machine.

[Parche]

3. CONSERVATISM

I think it has taken on a 'hate' and ignorant position.

They are now called 'constipated conservatives'

The party of the corporation, and screw the people....GOP

[rodeodance]

4. I have to say the same for some congresscritters,

such as Lindsey Grahm and

sometimes Specter When they talk they gen put forth a reasoned argument--not that I agree with it.

[rodeodance]

5. k

[Bobbie Jo]

6. How appropriate you should characterize this as "dumbing down."

As it appears this is exactly the audience the RW is targeting....the cognitively challenged, that is. :eyes:

You nailed it alright.

[GrumpyGreg]

7. Steve Doocey is NOT a journalist,he's a buffoon !

[monmouth]

8. I was thinking of William F. the other day, I also miss his intellect and dry sense of humor...

[TlalocW]

9. I've never been impressed with George Will

He loads his columns with impressive sounding words and baseball references, but in the end it's just basically his saying, "Tut-tut, America."

TlalocW

[NewJeffCT]

10. When Buckley was at his most prominent - in the 50s & 60s

It was Republics who were the 'party of ideas' and the intellectual ones, while the Democrats were the populists who appealed to the great unwashed masses (meaning, less educated) Will (in his early days at least) carried that forward with his image as a nerdy & uptight intellectual.

However, I think with Reagan coming to power in 1980, the pendulum started swinging the other way, and it was a full 180 when the Republics seized Congress in 1994. And, now I think they have gone way beyond any dumbing down Democrats did back in the 50s and 60s.

[Joe for Clark]

11. What makes you think they are not??

I am certainly no conservative - but I sure know many - and Limbaugh is a standing joke -

He really is a comedian - is to me - I listen to him sometimes cause he is funny. You just know he doesn't believe half the crap coming out of his mouth - but he sure can get some nuts willing to come on the air and just destroy themselves, you know??

Limbaugh I give credit to for being an entertainer - I don't know what Coulter is exactly - but I don't think she is human. I think she is Kang out of a Simpson's episode.

I heard her say once that she is a constitutional attorney - I thought that was a joke - but than she was serious - Maybe she just needs to adjust her medication.

Joe

[Bronyraurus]

12. That's a good point

Of course, Limbaugh and especially Coulter are basically buffoons. Limbaugh is a straight entertainer (when was the last time he wrote a book?) and Coulter isn't really taken seriously by anyone but the most fervent right-wing jackasses. Their public intellectuals, if they can be called that, are people like Kristol, Jonah Goldberg, etc... Not great shakes. They often have to rely on pseudo-leftists like Christopher Hitchens to bolster their gravitas. (Although, Mark Steyn who writes in The Atlantic is a very clever writer and conservative. His Atlantic stuff is tolerable because it's largely obituaries and cultural writing, but all of his stuff is both thoughtful and humorous.)

The left has Noam Chomsky and Gore Vidal, as always, but we could always use some more. Michael Moore doesn't classify as an intellect to me.