Posted on 03/28/2010 6:57:28 AM PDT by Michael van der Galien
David Frum’s forced exit from the American Enterprise Institute has precipitated rhetorical fire from the company men of the conservative movement.
How disappointing is the Right’s reaction to David Frum’s dismissal from the American Enterprise Institute? Well, let’s review.
To the National Review’s Mark Steyn, the entire brouhaha is little more than a personality squabble involving David, Bruce Bartlett and Conor Friedersdorf. As such, Steyn argues, this incident is unworthy of anyone’s time or attention.
Steyn even belittles David for arguing with other conservatives, including the late great Robert Novak, Pat Buchanan, Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity, Sarah Palin, and Michelle Malkin. “At this rate, he’ll [David] be picking fights with Barbara Bush by late spring,” Steyn jokes.
Steyn has a sharp wit, but he’s wrong. Conservatives have a long and distinguished history of arguing with and amongst each other — a tradition once championed by Bill Buckley’s National Review.
But it is perhaps sadly telling, I suppose, that one of NR’s most prominent contributors now belittles another prominent conservative for partaking in this noble tradition.
In truth, David ought to be commended for his willingness to substantively engage other conservatives in robust and spirited public dialogue and debate.
Yet, for reasons that I can only attribute to the closing of the conservative mind, many conservatives seem to resent David for challenging them on first principles and for calling them out when they lack public manners and decorum.
(Excerpt) Read more at newsrealblog.com ...
“In truth, David ought to be commended for his willingness to substantively engage other conservatives in robust and spirited public dialogue and debate.”
Debate is one thing, constant bashing is another.
Out of all the long list of Conservatives in this column, Frum is the only one how openly endorsed Obama. Doing so at the blog he once had at NRO. Forcing Rich Lowry to terminate Frum’s relationship with NRO. Frum does this to himself. But, like Frum, Steyn is basically defending everything he believes in. Frum just happens to find himself on the outside of mainstream Conservative thought.
Fixed it.
Guardiano fails to mention that maybe the reason Frum was fired is that Frum failed to do his $100,000 a year job at AEI.
There are too many stories that Frum never occupied his office at AEI.
David Frum went after conservatives because they were not going liberal, like he was.
Many of us do, at times, criticize conservatives.....but that is when they stray from conservatives values or become hypocritical. Frum wanted conservatives to go liberal.
Beyond that, Frum is trying to drag the Republican party toward the left. That’s what he’s constantly doing over at his website.
Are you sure about that? Possibly confusing him with Christopher Buckley?
He's another who sold out to the left.
“But it is perhaps sadly telling, I suppose, that one of NR’s most prominent contributors now belittles another prominent conservative for partaking in this noble tradition.”
# 1, David Frum is no conservative.
And # 2, it's David Frum who has been spending the last 2 years belittling every conservative he can, in an attempt to pander to his liberal media pals. Even if he were being “belittled” by NR, he's only getting the same thing he's been dishing out.
“In truth, David ought to be commended for his willingness to substantively engage other conservatives in robust and spirited public dialogue and debate.”
Commended by who? The long list of conservatives that David Frum has been launching personal vicious attacks against for over a year?
David Frum has never done debate. He is an 0bama hired gun and bomb thrower, a useful tool and nominal “conservative” to be hauled into liberal media newsrooms to bash conservatives.
Plus no one is stopping him from really debating conservatives if he wants to. He doesn't have to work at AEI in order to debate anyone.
It's the left, not the right, that needs turncoats like Frum to discredit the conservative movement.
And we need these people — people like David Frum — now more than ever. Because, my fellow conservatives, if you haven’t noticed we’re out of power, in the minority, and losing badly. Enough.
That's completely moronic. You haven't noticed the massive resurgence of conservative and constitutional principles being put fourth in the public square? You didn't notice Virgina, New Jersey and Massachusetts?
It's true that the Thug In Chief was able to arm twist his temporarily large majority into walking the plank with him (who in Nov 2008 would have ever thought he couldn't), and possibly do massive damage for decades to come. But it's also true that it was a suicidal act. It was a suicidal act because the right is resurgent; no thanks to idiots like Frum that have been wrong about just about everything having to do with the Tea Party movement, as his pathetic "Waterloo" piece demonstrated clearly.
If wi had followed Frum's advice the Republicans could have gotten a few meaningless sops written into the same destructive legislation and then had their fingerprints on it. Now it all belongs to Barry and crew and we will beat them over the head with it and win elections for years to come as its flaws become clear.
Did I mention that Bruce Bartlett is damn near as disgusting as Frum?
Kudos to the ever-refreshing Steyn for calling it what it was. Frum has been a short-sighted, grumpy, Johnny-One-Note faux conservative fouling up the stables for far too long. AEI helps the movement simply by stopping subsidizing him.
Frum wanted to be paid 100K a year for no actual work for AEI. He should have been fired years ago.
If one is outside the mainstream of any political philosophy is he truly an advocate of that philosophy? Seems to me being out of the mainstream puts one outside the philosophy.
From the article:
His efforts are designed to build a bona fide center-right coalition which includes not just full-spectrum conservatives like myself, but moderates and inconsistent conservatives as well. These people may not agree with the organized Right on each and every issue; but they still are a necessary and important part of any viable conservative political strategy.
That idea is what has us out of power. Trying to woo the mushy middle by being more like the opposition is standard political strategy for "political consultants" but they are wrong and the strategy is foolish. McCain bought that idea and followed it in two tries for the presidency and the time in between.
The sharper the contrast between us and liberals the better off we are. Polls show that is true but "consultants" seem afraid to try it.
Look at what they did with Palin. She was the bright spot of the McCain/Palin ticket but the consultants not only silenced her but disparaged her. The results speak for themselves. Now, while running for reelection, McCain seems to be claiming he is solidly on the right and has been all along.
At what point was Frum ever an “unconventional and heterodox thinker”? He’s a lockstep liberal without an original thought in his head, or at least that he ever put on paper. The MSM are trying to lever this into their “the Republicans are turning into right-wing radical terrorist” meme, and it couldn’t be more transparent or manipulative. It also isn’t working.
Frum's been on the Teddy-Roosevelt-Big-Government-"Conservative" bandwagon for quite some time. I'm surprised the libertarians kept him employed as long as they did.
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