Losing Their Religion

Among other wonderful observations in a great post, Josh Marshall notices the Great Wingnut Meltdown and writes:

Let’s be a little more clear about what’s going on here. Having led the country perilously close to humiliation and defeat, the architects of the war want to shift the blame for what’s happened to their opponents who either said the whole thing was a mistake in the first place or criticized the incompetence of its execution as it unfolded. They take the blame, the moral accountability, by ‘wishing’ for a bad result. That at least is Podhoretz’s reasoning.

If ever there was an example of moral up-is-downism, this is it. And claiming that their political opponents — liberal, in Podhoretz’s usage here, is just a catch-all — want defeat and humiliation for their country is certainly the most gutterish sort of slander there is.

There’s something almost uncomfortable about watching the mix of desperation, panicked zeal and projection evidenced in Podhoretz’s column. It’s like the pornography of watching someone beg for his life or shift the blame onto someone else when they’ve been caught in the act — with the added twist of spasms of aggression mixed in. But on a broader level, it’s in character. Not for Podhoretz — this isn’t at all directed at him as a person — but for the movement, the crew, he’s part of and is trying to defend.

Smug or rabid. There is no in between.

This is the first time that the “conservative movement” has held the reins of power and they have not done well. Filled with hubris, dazzled by naive Leninist dorm room dreams, these people have proven that they are incapable of leading a great nation responsibly and competently. They are good at money politics, and they could win the next election — but the “movement” is dead.

The New Left went through something like this back in the 70’s. Luckily, we were only in our 20’s at the time so it wasn’t as ugly and depressing as watching a bunch of flaccid, middle aged adolescents lose their twisted idealism. This isn’t natural.

I wonder if they’ll be having the Conservative Prom this year or if they will they finally graduate. Let’s hope they opt for maturity. It’s long overdue.