Kathleen Parker, Republican voice in the Washington Post, opines today
"I suppose it’s time for a confession: I’ve never been a Republican and never said I was. I’ve been an independent since the early ’80s and was a Democrat before that. If you’re disappointed, well, sorry. It’s not I who has changed...I’m a conservative, if this means everyone will leave me alone. "
Still trying to have it both ways, Ms Parker, who has dined high on the hog for longer than I imagined, trots out the "not me" excuse for what she has cheerfully supported and promoted, until recently.
Context is everything. I can understand her claim not to be a Republican, but there is the little matter of all those pay checks for flogging Republican notions of hate and divisiveness, mostly gentilely, but still there.
Now that the "Republican" brand is generally associated not only with hate and bigotry, but also with stupidity and ignorance, she claims to be a "conservative."
This is a perfect example of "go back and try again" because again, context is everything.
Ms. Parker claims to be a conservative, as if that somehow absolves her from her role in creating this disaster.
What passes as "conservative" in the United States is a coterie a racists, bigots, misogynists, dishonest moochers ("keep your government hands off my Medicare), homophobes, and xenophobes. They are hate-fueled, and against everything but themselves, country be damned.
The noisiest, most obnoxious, and controlling adherent group – – those from what used to be called the Tea Party, but now go by the name of "conservatives"– – are relatively well off, almost entirely white, and outraged that their now totally undeserved place in American society is being usurped by women, by brown people, by Asian people, by homosexuals, and immigrants, by people with different religions, or no religion at all. Members of these groups are all adaptable, and willing to work hard to get ahead.
The real problem is the entire brand, Republicans and conservatives alike, has been irretrievably tainted by hate, bigotry, international delusion, and stupidity. The grassroots supporters are losers: they can't make it in the 21st-century, and instead of owning up, buckling down, busting their butts to get ahead, they whine and complain and look for someone to blame.
America is a melting pot. Implicit in that notion is the idea that there are all kinds of different people in this country, different genders, different races, national origins, religions, skin colors, views on life. We are a country of immigrants and minorities.
What Trump has done, and what Ms. Parker has colluded in and promotes, is the finding of a new minority to blame for everything that has gone wrong for the people who expected to retain their place in society solely on the basis of skin color,religion, and gender.
There will always be a new minority, but the GOP, and the so-called conservatives, have made an art form out of this so that essentially 90% of the American population is fair game.
The GOP is fueled mostly by the "conservatives" she now wants to hitch up with, imagining they are somehow more pure, but who in reality provide the racist, bigoted, utterly uninformed and ignorant firepower for the GOP elite.
Go home and think again if your imagine that any of us are going to forget.