Over at TNR, Jonathan Chait criticizes the producers of a new Fall TV show starring Calista Flockhart that tries to
portray conservatives in a sympathetic light:
Well, God bless them. Unfortunately, I think they have
a ways to go before they understand conservatism.
After showing how the producers misunderstand William F.
Buckley, he concludes:
I will say this, though, on behalf of my earnest,
benighted liberal friends: At least they're trying….
But where are the right's efforts at outreach? You don't hear
conservatives mourning their lack of common ground with the English
department at Columbia University. In fact, it's incredibly rare to
find a conservative who understands liberalism as anything other
than hatred for the rich and a desire to hand over our foreign
policy to the United Nations.
Winning, apparently, gives conservatives the luxury of not
having to care what the other side thinks.
Talk about not understanding conservatives! Has Chait missed
all of the conservative commentary that is a response to liberal commentary? Don't such responses
imply that we on the right are reading what liberals think and
trying to understand it?
What really irritates conservatives isn't that liberals
misunderstand us. It's that they don't really try, instead sneering
at us with the condescension born of a feeling of moral
superiority--a pretty good description, by the way, of Chait's
conclusion.
topics:
United Nations, Conservatism
