The Sarah Palin of the 2014 cycle.
The
National Review is what's supposed to pass as the "reasonable" right, or at least that's what it pretended to be. But given the economics of right-wing media, only the craziest gets traction, and as such, the
National Review has had to adjust. For example, witness this
reality-bending piece.
The popular reaction to Cruz will be immediate and noticeable; the more the old bulls carp, the more the public will rally to Cruz’s side. The country has been spoiling for a real fight since the election of 2008, and now it has one.
Conservatives love to quote the "public", the "country", the "American people" without ever pointing to a single poll because, as we all know, they're on the wrong side of virtually every issue. So they say that Cruz will lead a new American renaissance, with no evidence of any such thing, because "the country has been spoiling for a real fight", without any evidence of that either. The only way that makes any sense is if the definition of "the country" is Fox News and the Breitbart comments. In other words, deep in their bubble. Reality looks
much different.
Let's continue this exploration into the bubble-addled conservative mind, below the fold.
[C]onservatives understand that rather than form a third party, their only hope is to seize control of the corrupt, rotting hulk of the GOP, which they now can do with the help of a reinvigorated Tea Party — especially with Lois Lerner’s IRS off its back.
Be surprised Benghazi didn't make it into this paragraph. The IRS was never "on their back" anymore so than groups with the words "progressive" in their names. But note how this writer talks of the tea party as an electoral force to replace the existing Republican Party—precisely the type of function that is not allowed to have non-profit status. Or put another way, if this is what they think the tea party is, they
should have the IRS on their backs.
The Cruz faction in the Senate, and its allies in the House (whose leadership is now up for grabs) must now press their advantage. The louder the Democrats squawk, the more they are wounded; the one thing they’ve long feared is a direct assault on their core beliefs as translated into actions, and the deleterious effects of Obamacare, just now being felt by the population, are the most vivid proof of the failure of Progressivism that conservatives could wish for.
Squawking? We're
laughing. But this is another formulation of the old conservative cannard: If liberals hate it, it must be good. So, a health care mandate was good when Heritage championed the idea and it was adopted by their eventual presidential nominee. But once Democrats adopted it, it was
bad.
And what deleterious effects are being felt by the population? The fact that premiums are coming in much cheaper than expected? That the law's budget savings are so real, they are even being adopted by the GOP's own budget? That real people (not fake ones inside Cruz's feverish mind) will be helped by this? Again, lots of assertions taken for gospel with no evidence to back them up—a hallmark of the conservative bubble.
Win or lose, the battle is now joined: First the struggle for the GOP and then the battle for control of Congress and the presidency. Cruz just struck at the kings he could reach — the Republican “leadership” — and has most likely dealt them a fatal blow.
United they fall, divided they stand. Or something. But who are we to stand in the way of their circular firing squad?
Nevertheless, control of the Congress by the current GOP “leadership” would only serve to increase frustration on the right. The citizenry does not want “deals” or more legislation — it wants action.
And by "citizenry", remember that he doesn't actually mean the citizenry.
But perhaps my favorite line in this bit of conservative fanfic is ... this:
Make Chuck Schumer and Dick Durbin into the faces of the Democratic party and watch the votes peel away from the Left.
What happened to House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and President Barack Obama? Are they no longer effective boogeymen? And who actually thinks that anyone knows or cares about Schumer and Durbin, much less be scared by them? It'd be like me saying, "Make John Barrasso and Johnny Isakson the face of the Republican Party and watch the votes peel away from the right." People would be like, uh,
who?
The problem with the GOP isn't "the faces of the Democratic Party", it's the fact that they're grossly out of step with public opinion.
