Right Wing Snark -- Stop It!

Erick Posted articulates something that has bothered me for some time. Conservative pundits can be just as snobbish and condescending and snarky as their left-wing counterparts. I was so offended by some of the commentary on the Harriet Meiers nomination, some of it from people whose opinion I normally respect, that I quit reading blogs for several weeks. I still can't read David Frum and will never forgive him for the tone of his commentary during that episode.

Now the same sort of fecal material is floating to the surface with regard to the candidacy of Mike Huckabee. Don't get me wrong, I don't support the New Man From Hope, but the tone of some of the commentary is simply despicable.

Posted writes:

[T]he sheer snideness of most of the attacks on Huckabee makes me want to defend the guy. While the attacks are on valid issues, at heart, the attacks appear to be because he is a former preacher from the South -- a country bumpkin and a Jesus Freak.

The New York-Washington Corridor of Conservative Intelligentsia^TM loves the base when it does as it is told, but let's not actually let the Jesus Freaks run things directly. You know, we're all suppose to listen to James Dobson, but God forbid one of his ideological kin actually takes charge.

Read the whole thing here.

He points to this execrable piece of waste from Lisa Schiffren:

Hey, Huck, welcome to the show. Stop whining and face the music. You're not just a warm up act anymore. People want to know what you think. Everyone wants a real opinion from you. Some substance. It's not like being a preacher, or a local politician. These people, they have cameras and voice recorders. They listen to the words.They assume a correlation with your likely actions in reality. They aren't gonna give you a break because, you know, it came out a little wrong. Because, Huck, what the President of the United States says — about weirdo religions that believe odd things, (how about those Wahabis? Hindus? Kinda makes the Mormons look like, well, Christians.) or taxes, or college tuition breaks for the children of illegal immigrants — those comments can start wars, move markets, or encourage more illegals to move here. This is serious. You're not in Little Rock anymore. It's hard Huck, when your decisions matter.

Like back home, you were just trying to be nice to that castrated guy who had raped a few women. He had served some time. Why couldn't they forgive him? You could. You have a good heart. Lots of Christian love. So you pardoned him. And what did he do then, Huck?

What if you make a call like that on Iran, Huck? Or Iraq? Or Osama? Or some guy from China who is very civil and polite at the State dinner, and has a little plan for dominating Asia?

Read her whole rant here.

She can join David Frum on my "do not read" list.

Like Erick Posted I have no intention of voting for the Huckster, but he certainly does not deserve the kind of condescension that the people at NRO are dishing out.