Truman's Conscience

Redstate.com? More like redfaced.com...

Whenever I feel the need to get the feel of the conservative blogosphere's thinking on a particular issue or event my first port of call is usually someone like the articulate and resonably dispassionate Tacitus. Here I can get a crystallization of the issue perspective from the right without all the hyperbole and bloviation one can expect from sites such as Malkin's or Free Republic. Malkin's hyperventilation over what she calls "Chuckiquiddick" isn't even amusing for the usual rightwing molehill into mountain hijinks one can expect from that sector of the wanker blogosphere. Unfortunately for her it's just boring. Though Redstate was hyped to be on the same level as Tacitus in this respect I had never taken the opportunity to make my way over to look around until this morning. As I've been on vacation, I hadn't really been following the saga of Ben Domenech and his recent fall from grace as a contributor to the Washington Post.

Be that as it may, my first trip to Redstate's house of conservative thought yielded some interesting finds this morning. Though krempasky's requiem to a fallen hero followed by Mr. Domenech's passionately penned contrition under his Redstate nom de plume "Augusine" was no doubt touching to their huddled masses. What I found amusing and interesting though were comments from their followers as they performed acrobatic semantics proving they were for principle and character before they were against it:

[...]
He'll be back and we'll be waiting. Godspeed, Ben and our prayers and thoughts are with you. Much love.
~MrsNachos

[...]
I hope he will continue
to post at Redstate.org and over time the questions and accusations will
attenuate under the weight of his new material. I for one will not allow a
moment's victory to those that threw the most scurrilous charges over the past
week hoping something would stick. Those were wrong and betrayed the true hate
and prejudice that many on the left were trying to pin on him. ~KentMiller

[...]
They, the vicious people who celebrate
and seek to benefit from Ben Domenech's mistakes, work under a false assumption.
They think that people can be perfect.

It's why they make such a ridiculously big deal over their own definition of
hypocrisy, and why they take such delight in pointing out what we on the right
are flawed. ~Neil Stevens

[...]
Regardless of Ben's actions as a teenager and young man,
he did not deserve the vitriol that has been thrown at him and his family the
past few days. If you want to challenge his behavior, that's fine, but do not
excuse the absolutely abhorrent behavior of those that brought him down.
Remember, they started with attacks on his very being, not his work. That is
inexcusable. ~c17wife

And my personal favorite:

[...]
[O]nly if the right allows that to happen. Plagiarism
hasn't stopped Joseph Ellis from getting published and you can't seem to get
"Hairplugs" Biden off your tv set. He's already paid a price, will conservatives
in their zeal to prove themselves to liberals exact another pound of flesh?
~johnt

Then there is krempasky himself:

[...]
Certainly it may seem strange today to describe him as a
"man of principle." But those who know Ben -- and all of us on the RS leadership
team do -- know that he is passionate in his beliefs. They also know that he is
human. It was ignoring this humanity that led to our earlier posts about the
situation. It is fitting then, that he chose “Augustine” as his nom de plume
here at RedState – for who could serve as a better reminder of the full
potential of fallibility and sin – and yet existing within that peril - real
hope of forgiveness.

Okay, Mr. Domenech is still a man of principle dispite his character flaw. Then this is followed by what really matters:

[...]
Our critics can raise their glasses and toast to what
they think is success – tearing down a flawed conservative. But therein lies
their greatest weakness: destroying a conservative is not to destroy
conservatism. And while they put all their energy and venom into this campaign,
it is worth remembering that for all the noise – they have yet to present a real
alternative to an America that rests on the foundation of freedom, free markets
and family. Against that, the only answer they have is yet another personal
attack.

Let's forget for the moment the next to last line of krempasky's usual conservative tactic charging that being against conservatism means you are against freedom, free markets and family. Let's forget for the moment the mea culpa's weaved without the expense of principle by their suddenly compassionate conservative followers. Let's forget for the moment that an alternative America offered by liberals gave us everyday things we take for granted like social security, medicare, an interstate highway system, a post WWII containment policy against communism [NATO & the Marshall Plan], the lowest poverty level in the world, the greatest post war economic expansion period [WWII] the world has ever seen. Let's forget all that.

Here's something I won't forget. Bill Clinton's character flaw was directly linked to his principles by the same people now defending Ben Domenech. In Redstate's world apparantly you can have it both ways, unless of course you are Bill Clinton. Unless of course you are a liberal. Unless of course you are not on the side of all conservatives.

Al Franken of Air America Radio has a life long friend on his show he calls their resident dittohead. Franken frequently invites him on the show to defend Rush Limbaugh after playing a series of audio clips where Rush proves daily he is an outright liar. I'm always amused by Franken's friend whenever he admits that in fact Limbaugh lied on that particular occasion of the audio clip but will contend that his principles are what counts.

So Redstate is another example of IOKIYAAR [It's Okay If You Are A Republican] state of mind. What a surprise.