Conservative Rot
by digby
Eric Alterman takes up the case of the Republican wife beaters ("if only you'd stop making me hit you...") noting that the fundamental tenet of conservatism used to be personal responsibility which, judging by the epidemic of the blame the victim mentality among them, is clearly no longer part of the creed.
He mentions some of the most egregious examples such as the predictable Newtie and the whining newbie Ross Douthat, both of whom have blamed violent threats and perversion among conservatives on "liberal culture" in recent days. But this one was new to me:
Finally, and perhaps most shocking of all, was the reaction of conservative consigliore William Kristol to the terrorist atrocity that took place in Moscow this week, when two "female suicide bombers set off huge explosions in two subway stations in Moscow" killing more than three dozen people. Kristol, speaking to conservative radio host William Bennett, insisted that the Russians "in some ways have brought" the terrorism "on themselves" because "they've been pretty brutal in Chechnya." Well, it just so happens that American soldiers have, sadly, been "pretty brutal" in more than a few places themselves. This kind of thing tends to be unavoidable in war. Does Kristol therefore think this relevant in the case of the purposeful murder of innocent civilians on say, September 11, 2001, as well?
I was fairly shocked to see they would go there too, but when I stopped to think about it, it really isn't that surprising. After all, Kristol and the neoconmen have had no problem saying that it's wrong when others torture, but it's fine when we do it, so I think it's really a matter of their abiding belief in "American Exceptionalism" which is best defined as "do as we say, not as we do." When you think of it that way, "personal responsibility" is always something by which others must abide.
Alterman rightly notes that it's exactly this kind of intellectual hypocrisy that's infected the whole conservative enterprise:
To be fair to all of these conservatives, none of them exactly excused these horrific crimes. They merely sought to help the guilty evade responsibility for their actions. Conservatives used to laugh at liberals who concerned themselves with the social "environment" that allegedly led to criminal behavior. Now their most distinguished intellectuals have embraced exactly this same tactic and expanded it to crimes that are indefensible by almost any standards. It's not only Tea Partiers and birthers that have sullied this once proud tradition—this fish is rotting from the head down.
He's right about that. Newtie's been dumping intellectual compost into the conservative movement for a long time but it's really stinking up the place these days.
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