I've always been right-leaning, for the most part. Truth be told, I seem to fall closest in line with libertarianism (I know what you're thinking... and no... I'm not going to go on a 1200 word libertarian rant) but my political views are not fervent (see Disclaimer, below). What I want to do is, in as monotonous and boring a fashion as possible, report what's going on with the Angry Right: the Katrina of barely concealed rage.
A brief Disclaimer... I really am looking at the playing field from an outside perspective in more ways than one, not the least of which is as an ex-military, ex-pat, politically moderate libertarian. And, for what it's worth, I do believe that Obama is the first major politician since Bobby K. to resonate so well with the heart of the United States and the only presidential candidate on the playing field... like a Babe Ruth, or a Wilt Chamberlain. The phrase that comes to mind? "Dance like a butterfly, sting like a bee?" Or rather, "roundhouse kick the Washington Establishment in the nuts a la Chuck Norris."
So... what I propose to do, for the next 3 weeks, is to pithily (is that a word?) summarise the tactics of failure of the Right: The Elephant in the Corner.
More below the fold...
Now, and I'm really not trolling here, the way the Angry Right is currently behaving is today as revealing and relevant as the machinations of the Angry Left four years ago that predicted the re-election of Bush.
What I think I've been observing is not partisanship but more along the lines of human nature. Please don't get offended, but there were a lot of Angry Left outbursts here on Kos in 2004, with or without reason. Do rest assured that the tables have turned. The Angry Right is imploding. What it tells me is that the Republicans are screwed. Their comments, with or without reason, are the haemorrhaging ravings of impending failure. Look out Chuck Norris!
The terms "Angry Left" and "Angry Right" can be, I believe, attributed to James Taranto, whose Best of the Web at the WSJ's Opinion Journal website I have been reading since the Clinton administration. I love the way Taranto's column, while solidly toeing the Republican line, twists logic to an effect that borders on irony, then dips into real irony and sardonic wit that is truly entertaining.
Since the invasion of Iraq, however, the logical twister Taranto's had to play has left him contorted like a piece of corporate art. Since Bush's re-election, anyone with sense has had to tuned him out.
Lately though, as the Republican party is going down in flames, I have been checking up on that side of the fence more often, only to find a surprising and revealing tone of thinly veiled panic from everyone except Taranto who, true to form, is trying to logically work things out.
Poor guy.
Look, if any of you are interested, I'll gladly recap for your reading pleasure, the travails of the Angry Right. I'll do this every 2-3 days, focusing on Pajamas Media/Instapundit, National Review Online, Michelle Malkin, Gateway Pundit, James Taranto, and others who are writing weird, comical and desperate things.
--------For example--------
Against it before he was for it!
Michelle Malkin has finally replaced her 2-day-old "look in the mirror" piece about how Obama/Biden supporters are just as bad as McCain/Palin supporters (not mentioning, of course, any baiting coming down from the McCamp or the supremist flavour).
And what has she come up with? OBAMA FLIP-FLOPPED on the mortgage moratorium issue. How? Well, he said it was potentially disastrous would benefit banks that profit from high interest rates... 8 MONTHS AGO. As if nothing has happened to the banking industry in the past 8 months, Michelle plays the FLIP-FLOP card. Hey, it worked in 2004.
Throw in the obligatory "friends at ACORN" reference and POW: A roundhouse air-guitar kick worthy of Chuck Nugent... or is that Norris... or Ted.
What're the odds that her next piece will uncover Obama's secret haughty French ties? Her hysteric playing of the FLIP-FLOP card is an act of such desperation that it has its own blogring: Re-elect Bush!!!
Michelle, ma belle,
Sont des mots qui vont dans la poubelle -
Dans la poubelle!
Anyway... I'll put it to poll... if I get 100 YEAs I'll do it.