Guest editorial by D.R. Tucker
As a disillusioned conservative, what I wouldn’t give to have someone who could make logical, fact-based arguments from the right. How interesting would it be to have someone just as intellectually skilled as MSNBC’s Chris Hayes, just as sharp as him, just as devoted to sound logic as him-but coming from the opposite perspective?
Where the hell are the public intellectuals on the right, anyway? It used to bug me that Fox “News” Channel would promote Bill O’Reilly and Sean Hannity as the main faces of their network. I never had the sense that O’Reilly was actually a conservative, merely someone who knew that repeating conservative memes over and over again would be lucrative. As for Hannity, he lost me back in 2001 when I tuned into his radio show and heard him declare that he would condemn his kid if he decided to get an earring. What is this, I thought to myself, 1978?
One can debate when the right stopped investing in its intellectual infrastructure, but one cannot debate the reality of this phenomenon. Oh, wait — the right debates the reality of certain phenomena all the time. Look at global warming, for just a start…
The climate issue is just one reason why the intellectual imbalance on the right is so irritating. One of the talking points that deniers have often hit me with over the last year is the following: “We can’t control the climate! God controls the climate!” (In fact, Bill O’Reilly used this talking point in a discussion with Rep. Charles Rangel about the issue; a clip of this exchange can be found in a 2011 Alliance for Climate Protection video.
A conservative public intellectual (which would be, by definition, someone who acknowledged, and accepted, the scientific verdict on the manmade causes of global warming) would say, in response, “That fundamentalist argument is, ironically enough, a blasphemous one, as it blames God for mankind’s pollution. If a corporation dumped raw sewage into a reservoir, one would not blame God for the sickness caused by drinking from that reservoir. If a criminal shot someone to death, the victim’s kin would not blame God for their relative’s death. If one is hit by a car driven by someone who was drinking or texting while driving, one would not blame God for being hit. So why would you, as a Christian, blame God for the emissions of carbon caused by the burning of fossil fuels? God isn’t the one extracting the oil, we are!”
In a debate over the merits of same-sex marriage, a conservative public intellectual who recognized the importance of equal treatment in a civil society would tell opponents of marriage equality, “If you want to stop same-sex marriage, it’s really simple. All you have to do is call for a constitutional amendment that would render null and void the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Then, you can stop same-sex marriage, same-sex adoption, gays in the military, the whole thing. Just remove the Equal Protection Clause. And by the way, good luck with that.”
When discussing the upcoming fortieth anniversary of Roe v. Wade, a conservative public intellectual worth his or her salt would point out the intellectual contradiction between banning abortion and cutting taxes, noting that by virtue of his own economic arguments, Grover Norquist must be staunchly pro-choice: “If you compel indigent women to have children they cannot afford, then at some point, you must raise taxes to pay for the basic needs of those children. Norquist opposes tax increases as a matter of principle, in the same of shrinking government. One cannot shrink government unless one somehow reduces the number of people that will need government assistance. What better way to do so than by stopping those people from being born in the first place? Therefore, a case can be made that Grover Norquist is a quiet but firm supporter of a woman’s right to choose.”
If we had real conservative intellectuals in this country-not the cognitive cruiserweights that dominate “conservative” media, but real thinkers-then perhaps this nation wouldn’t be dying from the disease of terminal partisanship. As Thomas Mann and Norman Ornstein have noted, the main drivers of partisanship in this country are on the right-and the force that gives this partisanship its power can be found in the dumbed-down “conservative” media. Where can we find a conservative Chris Hayes, someone who can make intellectually complex arguments from the right?
You can find one tonight, right after you go to bed.
D.R. Tucker is a Massachusetts-based freelance writer. He has been a contributor to the Huffington Post, the Boston Herald, Human Events Online, FrumForum.com, the Ripon Forum, Truth-Out.org, TheNextRight.com, and BookerRising.com. In addition, he also hosted a Blog Talk Radio program, The Notes, from August 2009 to June, 2010. You can follow him on Twitter here: @DRTucker.
Conservatism is a myth. The term is used to provide philosophical cover for another capital gains tax for the 1%. There aren’t a handful of genuine conservatives in the whole damn country. Gay rights, guns, god, abortion, it’s all the same. Those issues are used as bait to lure cultural conservatives to the polls at election time. But the real agenda is to advance the interests of powerful economic and political interests.
You can’t have him, he’s ours!
Mr. Tucker, I respect that you share this here and don’t mean this comment in a disrespectful manner.
But I can’t let your assumption that it is possible to justify “divide and coquer” wedge issues, fake grassroot “movements” that are actually PR stunts by billionaires, and the endless lies this all entails can be expressed or rationalized in an “intellectually complex arguments from the right.”
Because what you seem to define as “conservative” does not exist in this country nor never has, the entire platform you want to see “intellectually complex arguments” from are inherently dishonest and can only be propped up with massive amounts of paid ads and a mainstream media that props up this propaganda in its programming and noooooze.
I will give you the benefit of the doubt, but surely if you apply yourself and think very critically about the issues, you will see that “conservative values” are fully-a-house-of-cards.
Thanks for your perspective about conservative problems.
Well let me tell you about some of the truth.
When I lived in Cali under Reagan LA was Black with SMOG
John Sununu would eat Chris Hayes for breakfast.
Sorry I prematurely commented there!!!
I do appreciate you as a conservative taking actual personal responsiblity.
The biggest problem with conservatives is oil greed pays the bills and they try to please everybody.
When I lived in Cali as a kid the sky in LA Reagan were Black as night because of the oil refineries with the car exhaust.
In the USAF I lived in Texas under Bush and remember a trip to the beach in Corpus Christie with black oily feet from the beach (long before the gulf horizon).
In Cali as an adult Arnie now all the farm raised Salmon in the Sacramento River were dieing killing fishing because of the toxins from the chemicals getting into the water supply.
Greed does pay the bills.
Joann @5–
John Sununu may not be the brightest guy in the room but I have to admit it’s never occurred to me that he might be a cannibal. Please provide whatever evidence you’ve got to support your contention that John Sununu is a cannibal.
Another Bradblog exclusive–John Sununu outed as a cannibal. You heard it here first.
Maybe he’d be a good vp choice for Romney. They’re behind in so many demographics. At least they could sew up the cannibal block.
Then if Romney wins, the media will have a handy, credible, and ready-made explanation,”Surprisingly, the election turned on the GOP doing a superior job of getting out the cannibal vote.”
“Conservatism is a myth.” No, it’s more like a cult, actually. A myth is merely a an oft-repeated (and embellished) tale which is usually based on a kernel of truth. “Conservatism” on the other hand, is more like a cult built on various myths, which are in turn based only loosely on the truth. The myth of free markets and the myth of the market’s inherent ability to self-correct (as opposed to being regulated) are two of the most popular myths mindlessly embraced by the GOP “conservative” cult. And like most cults, it also relies on demonization of outsiders, control of information and mindless devotion to leaders.
I was going to comment but Madison Voices #3 just about summed it up perfectly.
You can NOT have a Chris Hayes on the Right for the simple easily provable reason that everything they say is based on bald faced lies.
They do not have a record to stand on that makes a lick of sense.
In order to have a Chris Hayes from the right you would have to hop into your Romney retroactive time machine and go back to the 50s.
Even then it would be a stretch but at least possible.
Funny i’ve always thought of Hayes as the liberal William F Buckely.
Thanks for these responses. Is it fair to say that the reason a conservative Chris Hayes cannot exist is because the conservative movement has made a point over the last several years of gearing itself to transparently stupid people (i.e., people who believe death panels are real, and that Obama’s birth certificate is fake)?
The one part of Global Warming bradblog & co won’t discuss rationally, problem, reaction, solution.
All based on what? Scientists who IGNORED exotic weapons.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXBh1mKhz7w
Oh yeah and the “journalists” here who ignore this will whine that it’s some kook site. I got news for ya, the kook sites are ABC, CBS, FOX, PBS, and NBC. There’s your corporate fascist kooks.
http://beforeitsnews.com/story/2387/612/Satellites_Focus_Microwave_Beams_on_Thunderstorms_to_Influence_Tornadoes..html
http://beforeitsnews.com/story/2290/336/Aerospace_Engineers_Present_Conclusive_Evidence_for_Covert_Chemtrail_Operation.html
Oh but you’ll dis the website, and go back to talking about CO2, Carbon Tax, and the wonderful UN treaties.
You won’t admit ICLEI’s (and others) influence.
Bradblog will attack the messenger, (this very message and every one like it) which isn’t journalism, it’s deception.
Even Iran knows.
http://www.hangthebankers.com/iran-accuses-u-s-of-using-weather-weapons/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=iran-accuses-u-s-of-using-weather-weapons
Have you tried Walter Block, Lew Rockwell, Tom Woods, Jeff Tucker, or Laurence Vance to name a few off the top of my head. If you can’t find these thorns in the side of warmonger, neo-cons purporting to be conservatives (e.g. Bush the lesser, then you are nto looking.
If those names are new to you, then start with the short volumes entitled Speaking of Liberty by Lew Rockwell and Defending the Undefendable by Walter Bock.
Spoiler Alert: The answer in all cases is: More Liberty is the Solution.
My friend John Washburn said @ 15:
Don’t know if that’s meant as your answer, or the answer you’ll find among Rockwell and friends. But, either way, you are suggesting that the solution for, let’s say, banks raping the American people is to allow them “More Liberty” to do so? The solution for the alarming increase in Black Lung Disease among coal miners (which has cost some 10,000 lives since 1995) is to allow the industry “More Liberty” to be free from those pesky government regulators who might like to curb the microscopic particles in the air that the industry now allows?
Is that the kind of “More Liberty” which, “in all cases” is “the answer”???
D.R. Tucker #12
“Thanks for these responses. Is it fair to say that the reason a conservative Chris Hayes cannot exist is because the conservative movement has made a point over the last several years of gearing itself to transparently stupid people (i.e., people who believe death panels are real, and that Obama’s birth certificate is fake)?
“”
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Yep that about sums it up.
Tpublicans today have a base that is made up of Fundamentalist Christian lunatics which are so easily fooled.
Problem is once you spew all these bald faced lies to this base of idiots you are now stuck with having to vote that way in Congress or be ousted.
Never under estimate the power or a large group of very stupid, delusional people.
John Sununu doesn’t have the intellect of a
Spotted Fever Tick.
If that is not obvious to you, cry for yourself.
Current American political “Conservatism” has
to be one of the most horrid and hideous “intellectual” creations in the history of Humankind.
It is ugly. It is a lie. It is greedy. It is intentionally evil. It kills people.
And it is tragically addictive to
morally confused individuals, which is
it’s only strength.
That this article comes from a conservative black man is a contradiction. Black and conservative are mutually exclusive.
Art Vasquez @20 wrote:
Tell that to Clarence Thomas.
One’s political orientation is not determined by skin color.
Welcome DR Tucker. Thank you for asking that question.
I would nominate Dr Andrew Bacevich.
Of course, he, like Frum, has been drummed out of the republican party and off the airwaves.
What’s a RINO to do?
well, although he doesn’t have his own show, we already have an extremely high profile public intellectual and conservative in our midst.
His name is Barack H. Obama.
If you don’t understand this comment, please google the phrase “Overton Window”. Obama is basically Ronald Reagan.