As readers know, Sullivan routinely takes demonization of Republicans to the extreme. I've paid attention to his ravings, not just because he's still taken seriously on the left (and in the White House, of all places), but because his singular issue is gay marriage; and the radical gay agenda is shaping up to be the key issue of today's culture war. I've been reading Sullivan's Virtually Normal off and on, to get a feel for where this man is coming from. He's something of a tragic, tormented soul, as anyone who reads his blog would know. His narrow jihad against Sarah Palin is mindless yet endless, although he also continues his obssessive attacks on the GOP as a whole as if it were a new Nazi Party.
Sullivan's hysteria is simply unreal sometimes, but behold his post today calling for a purge of conservatives, "Who Will "Sister Souljah" Them?":
I'm not a Democrat and if pushed, I'd have to say right now I'm a libertarian independent. I'm uneasy about Obama's long-term debt, to say the least, but I'm intelligent enough to know it's not Obama's as such, but mainly Bush's, and I'm also cognizant that the time to cut back may not be in the middle (or beginning) of a brutal depression. On most issues, I side with what used to be the center-right, but the GOP is poison to me and many others. Why?Andrew Sullivan was one of the biggest and most vocal backers of the War in Iraq, and hence the Bush administration's policy of regime change. He renounced his views in 2006, and has become more bitter over time. You'd think he'd be more optimistic and, well, gay, considering the number of victories his radical homosexual agenda has achieved. My sense is that Sullivan, as much as anyone, knows that the gay marriage equality issue is far from guaranteed, so he's become more unhinged by the day, insuperably bitter, marinating in his hatred amid an extreme left-wing ideological environment that's presenting a chance of a lifetime.
Their abandonment of limited government, their absurd spending under Bush, their contempt for civil liberties, their rigid mindset, their hostility to others, their worship of the executive branch, their contempt for judicial checks, their cluelessness with racial minorities and immigrants, their endorsement of torture as an American value, their homophobia, their know-nothing Christianism, and the sheer vileness of their leaders - from the dumb-as-a-post Steele to the brittle, money-grubbing cynic, Coulter and hollow, partisan neo-fascist Hannity.
I'm waiting for the first leading Republican to do to these grandstanding goons what Clinton once did to the extremists in his own ranks: reject them, excoriate them, remind people that they do not have a monopoly on conservatism and that decent right-of-center people actually find their vision repellent. And then to articulate a positive vision for taking this country forward, expanding liberty, exposing corruption, reducing government's burden, unwinding ungovernable empire, and defending civic virtue without going on Jihads against other people's vices.
If today's "conservatives" spent one tenth of the time saying what they were for rather than who they're against, they might get somewhere. But the truth is: whom they hate is their core motivation right now. That's how they define themselves. And as long as they do, Americans will rightly and soundly reject them.
This man is not a "libertarian independent." He's got no long-term grounding and is bereft of values. He's a political leech who bites onto the ideological wave of the moment. Why he remains popular is something of surprise to me, but amid all the Obamessianism of late, nothing should be surprising.
Related: The Politico reports that "Groups push for first gay Supreme Court justice" (via Memeorandum). Maybe the first gay Supreme might brighten sullen Sullivan's day.
5 comments:
Sullivan is pathetic.
He is...Obi's Sis!
As homosexuals have so successfully co-opted the word "gay," which used to mean happy and carefree, one wonders who so many gay people are seemingly not very gay at all, but harsh and bitter.
Thing is, I have a fairly frequent visitor to my site who is a homosexual male, living with another hmosexual male he refers to as his husband, and he isn't bitter at all. His political positions come more from the left, but he is moderate in tone and constructs his arguments well. (He's a frequent commenter on Patterico as well.)
No, he didn't like the outcome of Proposition 8 -- he is a Californian -- but he doesn't act bitter or irrationally about it. He's the kind of guy who would have a picture of his husband on his desk at work, but wouldn't be screaming in your face, "You'd better accept me!" Whether he is gay, meaning happy, in his personal life I cannot tell; the internet provides anonymity, but he is neither confrontational nor hateful.
I'd much rather have him for a neighbor than Andrew Sullivan.
I'd take Andrew Sullivan over Rush Limbaugh any day. If only the GOP could be replaced by the Democratic Party and the Democratic Party could become the Progressive Party. Who knows, maybe that's what is already happening...
Dana:
Sullivan's job is to get a rise out of people and force them to confront the issues about which he writes, and even judging by this blog alone, he's obviously good at what he does.
That said--and contrary to the meme Donald wishes to sell--most gay folks are like the guy on your blog. As with just about every political or social movement, it is the outrageous, the offensive, the violent, and the loudest that get most of the attention. But they are just the visible tip of the iceberg peaking out above the water. Most of the people in a movement are normal folks, who support their party or cause, but generally go about living their lives. Sometimes, they don't agree with the loud, violent, offensive people who speak in their names. (Think of how many among you disavow or excuse the excesses of Coulter or Savage.)
Their job is to get a rise out of folks and get publicity for themselves and their causes. It'd be a mistake to think the things they say and do represent the majority thoughts or behaviors of the people whose side they claim to be on. Most people are not like Sullivan, or Coulter, or Savage, or any of the other outrageous, offensive talking heads. Hell, most people aren't even like us, who're moved enough to blog about the issues we care about.
Whether it's gays, conservatives, pro-choice folks, or advocates of traditional values, most of 'em are, and always have been, your neighbors, friends, and casual acquaintances.
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