The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

Matt Lewis Says You’re a Stooge

Posted on | September 21, 2011 | 19 Comments

“Spend some time on Twitter and it becomes obvious that there are some (not all) grassroots conservatives who blindly adhere to whatever a handful of politicians, cable news pundits, and talk radio hosts, say — and punish those who dare object.”
— Matt Lewis, “Examining the new conservative schism,” The Daily Caller

Category: Politics

Comments

19 Responses to “Matt Lewis Says You’re a Stooge”

  1. Anonymous
    September 21st, 2011 @ 1:36 pm

    He’s (no relation) right, more or less, but there are a lot more than 2 groups.  As humans, we do tend towards groupthink, whether we’re progressive brown shirt useful idiots or tea partiers.

    Of course, once you add in the anonymity of the internet (NSFW, language), things often go downhill.

  2. JeffS
    September 21st, 2011 @ 1:53 pm

    No kidding, Matt.  Spend some time on blogs, like on Kos, Democratic Underground, or even Hot Air.  Or, hell, check out the office water cooler some time.   I see it all the time on the INTERNET.

    It’s known as debate, (constructive) criticism, discussion, and maybe even disagreement. 

    It’s a human thing, dude.  Knock off the whining, grow a thicker skin, and deal with it.

  3. Bob Belvedere
    September 21st, 2011 @ 2:00 pm

    That’s rich, coming as it does from Tucker Carlson’s Lord Of The Chamber Pot.

  4. Anonymous
    September 21st, 2011 @ 2:12 pm

    Well Matt, the truth is the truth and will always come out in the end, always.

  5. Dave
    September 21st, 2011 @ 2:19 pm

    Looks like someone is angling for David Brooks’ job.

  6. Joe
    September 21st, 2011 @ 2:20 pm

    That sums it up well! 

  7. Anonymous
    September 21st, 2011 @ 2:24 pm

     Indeed.

    For me, Matthew 7:13 came to mind:

    “for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction”

    Daily Caller has been barreling down the broad road lately.

  8. rosalie
    September 21st, 2011 @ 2:25 pm

    There will always be people who “blindly adhere” to anything in any party affiliation.  What a ridiculous comment.   And you know what, the DC seems to be punishing Palin and she didn’t do a damn thing.  The Daily Caller should be doing the job they set out to do.  They’ve diverted from it.  They should stop their bellyaching and get back on track.  

  9. Richard Mcenroe
    September 21st, 2011 @ 2:47 pm

    Daily Caller?  Is that still online?

  10. Garym
    September 21st, 2011 @ 3:08 pm

    Nice downfall video!
    The DC is probably hanging on by a thread.

  11. Anonymous
    September 21st, 2011 @ 3:19 pm

    They are really threading the Culture 13 needle.

  12. Anonymous
    September 21st, 2011 @ 3:42 pm

    Matt Lewis takes on a supposed “creation myth,” which he claims was fashioned by the “country class” of conservative (grassroots) activists to explain the unreliable tendencies of elite, establishment, “cocktail circuit” Republicans/conservatives.   

    In challenging this simplistic myth, of course, Lewis just turns around and duplicates it, by dividing all the relevant actors into two groups: rubes versus intellectuals. 

    After mentally dividing everybody into two piles, Lewis then points out that his pile – the pile to which conservative intellectuals like Matt Lewis supposedly belong – is actually really diverse, and consists of many people who are seriously committed to the pursuit of conservative/libertarian ideas.

    In other words, Matt Lewis is explaining to us rubes that you can find a considerable variety of types among very large, mostly undifferentiated populations.

    Lewis offered another brilliant insight, as well. Apparently, unlike us rubes, who must rely on “cascading” (i.e., believing whatever Rush Limbaugh tells us to believe) and other cognitive shortcuts to make ideological sense out of a bewilderingly complex modern world, the intellectual elites are capable of forming their own opinions via pure independent reasoning.

  13. Nobody
    September 21st, 2011 @ 3:49 pm

    Which stooge? Curley? That’d be pretty cool.

  14. Anonymous
    September 21st, 2011 @ 4:25 pm

    While that may be true, many times the “end” is so far down the road from the “beginning” that few hear the truth and the lie replaces the truth forever.

  15. Anonymous
    September 21st, 2011 @ 4:30 pm

    A lack of guiding principles can make the modern world more complex than it actually needs to be.

  16. Tennwriter
    September 21st, 2011 @ 6:50 pm

    I am not a stooge.

    I am an Inquisitor.  Now repent of being arrogant and stupid.

    🙂

  17. rosalie
    September 21st, 2011 @ 6:53 pm

    And oftentimes, the lie is on the front page of the newspaper, and farther down the road, the truth gets the last page.

  18. Joe
    September 21st, 2011 @ 8:52 pm

    Meanwhile, Obama is generating his own copy all on his own.  The power of the bully pulpit!

    Sometimes we just have to quietly point out the obvious. 

  19. Adjoran
    September 21st, 2011 @ 10:13 pm

    Matt Lewis:  His Long Journey from Anonymity to Irrelevance:  meh.

    Methinks the DC is bruised by the cruel treatment of Tucker Carlson over his sexual relationship with Mike Tyson, and they hope to assuage their hurt feelings by lashing out at the meanies who said mean things about them, things even rainbows and glitter can’t disguise.