I’m not being snarky when I say that the best thing George W. Bush has done for conservatism has been to withdraw almost completely from the national stage, and to devote himself to private life and doing low-key good works. He has nothing else useful to say or to do in American politics. So, bless him, he’s saying nothing.
I thought about Bush’s good example this morning when I read this quote from Dick Morris, from “Hannity”:
Sean, I hope people aren’t mad at me about it… I spoke about what I believed and I think that there was a period of time when the Romney campaign was falling apart, people were not optimistic, nobody thought there was a chance of victory and I felt that it was my duty at that point to go out and say what I said. And at the time that I said it, I believe I was right.
Got that? Dick Morris believed it was his “duty” to go on TV and say that Romney was going to win this thing, because everybody on Team Romney at the time was depressed. It’s hard to know whether Morris really believed what he was saying, as he claims to, but there can be no doubt that he saw his role as cheerleading for the Republican candidate, not offering straightforward analysis.
Dick Morris is a conservative figure who really ought to never be heard from again. He’s a hack. I say give him a Dubya Award for Meritorious Service To The Conservative Movement, and push him off the stage. (“Meritorious” in the sense that, say, a boss who is firing an employee for screwing up makes an insincere but face-saving statement about how much the company has benefited from the employee’s service, and wishes him the best of luck in his future endeavors).
Which other prominent conservatives should get a Dubya? Newt Gingrich is one. He has nothing left to say or to do, except go on whatever the GOP version of the dinner theater circuit is, where celebrity has-beens go to live out their senescence. Karl Rove is another. Megyn Kelly, bless her, sealed Rove’s place on the Dubya List, when, listening skeptically on Election Night to Rove trying to spin bad Romney news into a GOP victory, said to him: “Is this just math you do to make yourself feel better as a Republican, or is this real?”
We need a lot more of the spirit of Megyn Kelly among public conservatives.
So, let me put it to you: Who else is on the Dubya List — Republican and conservative personalities (politicians, pollsters, pundits, et alia) who ought to be retired because their advice and analysis is not credible, and/or they are a source not of new, smart, and innovative conservative thinking, but are only good for saying things that make Republicans feel better? Please don’t post names of conservatives you don’t happen to like, or merely disagree with. It’s possible for a conservative to be abrasive or wrong about this or that issue, but still be a valuable source of insight, commentary, or leadership. I’m thinking, for example, about Rick Santorum, but there are many others.
I’m looking for conservative leaders — media and political — who are well and truly tapped out, but don’t know it. Who’s on your Dubya List?
UPDATE: Please give a reason or reasons for your selection, and make them thoughtful. I’m not going to approve posts that just throw somebody’s name out there.
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Miss Coulter:
I feel silly defending people with whom I have been disappointed with. But Miss Coulter is not incoherent as much as incomplete in her analysis of some very complex issues.
Very few people are wrong about everything, including Miss Coulter, her unique angular analysis is often poignant and humorous – conservative do need bold outspoken women – could she use fine tuning — I agree. But I see Miss Coulter as a woman in transition. Her analysis has shifted from her early years, and that is an indication she responds to new information and aware. Those conservatives are valuable.
I am not sure what her dillemma is about blacks, she is certainly bright enough to know that they are primarily responding to a political and social dynamic they did not create. That does not exonerate them from error any more than whites.
Smile. Being reactionary and conservative are not synonymous. She is no m,ore reactionary than her friend Bill Mahaer or Jon Stewart, but her dance between entertainment and politics/policy can be confusing. There are some things about which conservatives have not ben reactionary enough. Her desire to win, to have republicans win, that passion along with a keen mind — conservatives need. Incredible vulnerability there —perhaps, my defense is more heart than head — but I don’t think so.
I sincerely appreciate your observation as to education. But we are going to have to do more than engage in intellectual reasoneddiscussion. We need conservatives on the front lines from elementary to university education. There are plenty of intelligent conservatives who possess reasonable rhetorical skills. But invites as guest lectureers will not get the job done.