In Praise of Populist Rowdiness

Posted on | June 22, 2010 | 20 Comments

T.L. Davis employed a fine phrase, “The Soft Treason of Civility,” to describe what he sees as a problem with mainstream conservatism:

Upon my happy travels I have run into a few frustrating and annoying examples of intellectual cowardice. These are so-called conservative blogs and/or radio shows so terrified of being perceived as anything other than calm, rational voices of reason in the din of shouted demands that they really forfeit any weight at all. The left has had their way with them and turned them into sissies, too afraid to fight and not smart enough to just shut up.

Which is to say they’ve been punked. Turned out. Davis then goes on to describe an example:

There is a well-known conservative radio host in the Denver media market who is just this type of person. He never wants to be seen as desperate, or radical, or I guess gullible, and so without knowing it, or caring, he helps to march the conservative base over the cliff all the while pleading for reason and above all calmness.

While I don’t know which radio host Mr. Davis is referencing here, this is merely an example of a larger problem, namely the willingness of some conservatives to allow their opposition to determine the rules of debate.

“Civility” has been defined in such a way that Democrats routinely get away with rhetorical overkill, while Republicans are compelled to limit their discourse to terms acceptable to liberals.

You don’t win arguments that way. I’m all in favor of conservatives trying to keep to the discursive high ground, but I’m sick of watching Republicans being thrown under the bus by conservative pundits for speaking out bluntly.

Also, I’m tired of pundits trying to act as amateur P.R. gurus to the GOP. If you want to get a job as a Republican communications consultant, go hire yourself out to a client. But don’t sit on the sidelines preening for public admiration by offering nothing more helpful than erudite after-the-fact second-guessing.

The post by Mr. Davis was, we might suppose, inspired by watching Joe Barton being raked over the coals for his apology to BP. Without regard to any particular criticism of Barton, this points to a general problem with conservative worry-warts who devote their main efforts to fretting over Republican “gaffes.”

And to hell with that. When you’re in a fight, you need fighters.

Go read the rest of “The Soft Treason of Civility.”

Category: Blogging

Comments

20 Responses to “In Praise of Populist Rowdiness”

Roxeanne de Luca
June 22nd, 2010 @ 2:41 pm

We need both the bomb-throwers and the civil types: the former to show where the battle lines are, and the latter to entice people over to our side. Unfortunately, when you are left with nothing but “civil” types, those civil types are painted as the new radicals, and, in their rush to remain in the good graces of those who despise extremism, they go from abandoning toughness to abandoning principles.

On a side note, this “civility” is especially irritating to me – and other law nerds – in the judicial confirmation process. That Republican Senators allowed RBG to be confirmed by a 93-6 margin after Teddy Kennedy crucified Judge Bork is a crime. It should have been very simple: you ripped our people apart, now we will rip yours apart. Unfortunately, since the GOP-ers in the ’90s had their spinal cords removed, we were stuck with the 2005-era problem of arguing that John Roberts is not actually a crazy whack job – John Roberts, whose opinions are far more in line with the majority of Americans than are those of liberal justices.

Grrr.
Roxeanne de Luca
June 22nd, 2010 @ 10:41 am

We need both the bomb-throwers and the civil types: the former to show where the battle lines are, and the latter to entice people over to our side. Unfortunately, when you are left with nothing but “civil” types, those civil types are painted as the new radicals, and, in their rush to remain in the good graces of those who despise extremism, they go from abandoning toughness to abandoning principles.

On a side note, this “civility” is especially irritating to me – and other law nerds – in the judicial confirmation process. That Republican Senators allowed RBG to be confirmed by a 93-6 margin after Teddy Kennedy crucified Judge Bork is a crime. It should have been very simple: you ripped our people apart, now we will rip yours apart. Unfortunately, since the GOP-ers in the ’90s had their spinal cords removed, we were stuck with the 2005-era problem of arguing that John Roberts is not actually a crazy whack job – John Roberts, whose opinions are far more in line with the majority of Americans than are those of liberal justices.

Grrr.
Robert Stacy McCain
June 22nd, 2010 @ 2:50 pm

Unfortunately, since the GOP-ers in the ’90s had their spinal cords removed, we were stuck with the 2005-era problem of arguing that John Roberts is not actually a crazy whack job . . .

I’ve sometimes observed the shortage of Republican Senators with the necessary equipment. There doesn’t seem to be too many of them who possess a brain, a spine and fully functional testicles.
Robert Stacy McCain
June 22nd, 2010 @ 10:50 am

Unfortunately, since the GOP-ers in the ’90s had their spinal cords removed, we were stuck with the 2005-era problem of arguing that John Roberts is not actually a crazy whack job . . .

I’ve sometimes observed the shortage of Republican Senators with the necessary equipment. There doesn’t seem to be too many of them who possess a brain, a spine and fully functional testicles.
Joe
June 22nd, 2010 @ 2:51 pm

I have been slammed by PW readers for criticizing Barton’s comments (taking BP’s side in this mess is a mistake). I agree Boehner may have made things worse than they needed to be, and I am not convinced that BP voluntarily agreeing to some $20 billion dollar fund that BP was apparently going to do prior to its meeting with Obama is some massive threat to the due process clause of the Constitution.

Both Obama and BP own this spill. BP was a big supporter of Obama and his cap and trade policies. Obama was rather detached from villifying BP until his poll numbers started to crater. Then BP and Obama have a 45 minute meeting and BP gives up $20 billion. Apparently putting Obama, Biden, Holder and Napolitano in a room is enough to get you to agree to anything (perhaps they should be interrogating al Qaeda prisoners). Obama’s administration was lax in inspecting the rig prior to the spill and in helping to mitigate the damage afterward (no Nancy Pelosi, no Bush moles were on Deepwater Horizon). The Jones Act being lifted to allow foriegn ships to assist(like Bush did in Katrina)? Nahhh, it might piss off the unions. Sorry pelicans, shrimpers, and turtles–that’s the way it goes.

My guess is Obama did not threaten as much as offer BP something to help Team O break the news cycle (and make it look like he accomplished something). It would help if what was really discussed at that meeting was leaked.
Joe
June 22nd, 2010 @ 10:51 am

I have been slammed by PW readers for criticizing Barton’s comments (taking BP’s side in this mess is a mistake). I agree Boehner may have made things worse than they needed to be, and I am not convinced that BP voluntarily agreeing to some $20 billion dollar fund that BP was apparently going to do prior to its meeting with Obama is some massive threat to the due process clause of the Constitution.

Both Obama and BP own this spill. BP was a big supporter of Obama and his cap and trade policies. Obama was rather detached from villifying BP until his poll numbers started to crater. Then BP and Obama have a 45 minute meeting and BP gives up $20 billion. Apparently putting Obama, Biden, Holder and Napolitano in a room is enough to get you to agree to anything (perhaps they should be interrogating al Qaeda prisoners). Obama’s administration was lax in inspecting the rig prior to the spill and in helping to mitigate the damage afterward (no Nancy Pelosi, no Bush moles were on Deepwater Horizon). The Jones Act being lifted to allow foriegn ships to assist(like Bush did in Katrina)? Nahhh, it might piss off the unions. Sorry pelicans, shrimpers, and turtles–that’s the way it goes.

My guess is Obama did not threaten as much as offer BP something to help Team O break the news cycle (and make it look like he accomplished something). It would help if what was really discussed at that meeting was leaked.
Joe
June 22nd, 2010 @ 3:49 pm

I am all for attacking Obama, civil or rowdy, because his policies are a disaster. But I am not for driving a wedge between Obama and BP when they were in fact kinda cozy together before the spill.

BP and Obama were dating. And they both have a social disease.
Joe
June 22nd, 2010 @ 11:49 am

I am all for attacking Obama, civil or rowdy, because his policies are a disaster. But I am not for driving a wedge between Obama and BP when they were in fact kinda cozy together before the spill.

BP and Obama were dating. And they both have a social disease.
Noel
June 22nd, 2010 @ 4:59 pm

If he means radio’s Mike Rosen, Rosen is a solid conservative who does not suffer LaRouchey fools gladly or otherwise.

And Joe Barton doesn’t speak for me. Screw his apology. BP and Obama are practically the same thing and neither deserve an apology.
Noel
June 22nd, 2010 @ 12:59 pm

If he means radio’s Mike Rosen, Rosen is a solid conservative who does not suffer LaRouchey fools gladly or otherwise.

And Joe Barton doesn’t speak for me. Screw his apology. BP and Obama are practically the same thing and neither deserve an apology.
Wondering Jew
June 22nd, 2010 @ 8:01 pm

Absolutely dead-on. We need to fight. We are going to get called names, and we are going to get attacked. That’s what happens when you threaten the power structure. Right now we are far to weak and timid in our criticisms of the disaster that is liberalism. We are in a war. To borrow Lincoln’s remark about General McLellan, If the Republican party doesn’t want to use a conservative army, would they mind if the grassroots borrowed it for a while?
Wondering Jew
June 22nd, 2010 @ 4:01 pm

Absolutely dead-on. We need to fight. We are going to get called names, and we are going to get attacked. That’s what happens when you threaten the power structure. Right now we are far to weak and timid in our criticisms of the disaster that is liberalism. We are in a war. To borrow Lincoln’s remark about General McLellan, If the Republican party doesn’t want to use a conservative army, would they mind if the grassroots borrowed it for a while?
Lazarus Long
June 22nd, 2010 @ 8:30 pm

Love this quote:

Bipartisanship: “A state of affairs in which Republicans betray their supporters in order to mollify their political enemies and the editorial boards of The Washington Post and New York Times. Cf., capitulation, professional suicide.”

-Tony Snow
Lazarus Long
June 22nd, 2010 @ 4:30 pm

Love this quote:

Bipartisanship: “A state of affairs in which Republicans betray their supporters in order to mollify their political enemies and the editorial boards of The Washington Post and New York Times. Cf., capitulation, professional suicide.”

-Tony Snow
radar
June 22nd, 2010 @ 8:49 pm

Barton was half-right. This was a shakedown. What was stupid was the apology to BP, who is hardly an innocent bystander in all this. They screwed up, they caused this thing, and they have pimped lefty politicians and pet causes for years. Thus, I have zero sympathy for that company. This thing takes us down the old, very well traveled Patterico/Jeff Goldstein path, and I’m leaning towards the Patterico/Ace position on this one. Barton blew it, big time, by making a very good and effective point in the most ham-fisted way possible. I live in Pensacola. This area is generally as red-state as it gets, but people are seriously pissed beyond the boundries of reason. Apologizing to BP, whatever the context, was idiotic. Barton missed an opportunity to frame this issue in a way most damaging for President Bozo and his lackeys in Congress. Just the usual GOP bungling that I’ve come to expect.

I come from as rock-solid a Republican family as there is. My grandpa still practically spits when talking about FDR. My other Irish Catholic grandpa (RIP) hated the Kennedys more than almost anyone ever has, forever furious that other Irish Catholics venerated those people simply because of their ethnicity. I’ve volunteered in Republican campaigns since George Allen ran (and won) the gubanatorial race in Virginia in 1994 when I was 17. My sister is a staffer for a Republican congressman. And after all this time, I’ve had it. I sure as hell would never consider voting for a Democrat, but I’ve finally reached the point that I feel no more allegience to the GOP. They’re the gang that couldn’t shoot straight, a bumbling crew of Keystone Kops that keep getting handed dynamite by the even more incompetent and insidious Dems and keep letting it blow up in their own faces like a trick cigar. Chris Christie has become my last hope. If he succeeds and inspires like-minded candidates in other states, there might be hope yet. If he falls on his face, I give up.
radar
June 22nd, 2010 @ 4:49 pm

Barton was half-right. This was a shakedown. What was stupid was the apology to BP, who is hardly an innocent bystander in all this. They screwed up, they caused this thing, and they have pimped lefty politicians and pet causes for years. Thus, I have zero sympathy for that company. This thing takes us down the old, very well traveled Patterico/Jeff Goldstein path, and I’m leaning towards the Patterico/Ace position on this one. Barton blew it, big time, by making a very good and effective point in the most ham-fisted way possible. I live in Pensacola. This area is generally as red-state as it gets, but people are seriously pissed beyond the boundries of reason. Apologizing to BP, whatever the context, was idiotic. Barton missed an opportunity to frame this issue in a way most damaging for President Bozo and his lackeys in Congress. Just the usual GOP bungling that I’ve come to expect.

I come from as rock-solid a Republican family as there is. My grandpa still practically spits when talking about FDR. My other Irish Catholic grandpa (RIP) hated the Kennedys more than almost anyone ever has, forever furious that other Irish Catholics venerated those people simply because of their ethnicity. I’ve volunteered in Republican campaigns since George Allen ran (and won) the gubanatorial race in Virginia in 1994 when I was 17. My sister is a staffer for a Republican congressman. And after all this time, I’ve had it. I sure as hell would never consider voting for a Democrat, but I’ve finally reached the point that I feel no more allegience to the GOP. They’re the gang that couldn’t shoot straight, a bumbling crew of Keystone Kops that keep getting handed dynamite by the even more incompetent and insidious Dems and keep letting it blow up in their own faces like a trick cigar. Chris Christie has become my last hope. If he succeeds and inspires like-minded candidates in other states, there might be hope yet. If he falls on his face, I give up.
T.L. Davis
June 23rd, 2010 @ 5:25 am

Noel, I’ve listened to Mike Rosen for the past 13 years. He is the standard-bearer for the type. I didn’t use his name because he is just a type and I wasn’t trying to point him out directly, which would divert the conversation into a critique of him and his show, but since you have correctly identified the culprit, I will acknowledge it. Conservative yes, but he as much admitted that what he advocates is a “slower” march to socialism. I want it killed, destroyed and ripped out by the roots.
T.L. Davis
June 23rd, 2010 @ 1:25 am

Noel, I’ve listened to Mike Rosen for the past 13 years. He is the standard-bearer for the type. I didn’t use his name because he is just a type and I wasn’t trying to point him out directly, which would divert the conversation into a critique of him and his show, but since you have correctly identified the culprit, I will acknowledge it. Conservative yes, but he as much admitted that what he advocates is a “slower” march to socialism. I want it killed, destroyed and ripped out by the roots.
T.L. Davis
June 23rd, 2010 @ 5:38 am

Yes, Mr. McCain, Barton was just another in a long line of those the Republicans have tossed under the bus to appear above the fray. On the other hand the Democrats have supported a president who committed perjury, a former KKK member, etc, etc. Charlie Rangle (too many scandals to list) Thanks greatly for the spotlight, it is an honor.
T.L. Davis
June 23rd, 2010 @ 1:38 am

Yes, Mr. McCain, Barton was just another in a long line of those the Republicans have tossed under the bus to appear above the fray. On the other hand the Democrats have supported a president who committed perjury, a former KKK member, etc, etc. Charlie Rangle (too many scandals to list) Thanks greatly for the spotlight, it is an honor.