I won't lie, I have been getting endless entertainment out of reading the meltdowns on conservative blogs like RedState and HotAir. Plenty of paranoid posts about how Obama will prevent future elections, send them to reeducation camps, enslaves America, etc. Their tears give me essential nourishment :).
It would seem that RedState has avoided a true cannabalistic meltdown (short of what I stated above) for one reason: the front pagers have not yet recriminated anyone within the party or the website... until now!
Before you even read any of this, just know that the title of this post is "See, I Told You So"... This will be brutal:
http://www.redstate.com/...
Yep, I’m going to label it that way.
Only after the first debate did I start to think Romney could win (and frankly, given the way some of you people reacted when I said the polls weren’t rigged, I’d have kept my mouth shut if I thought otherwise), but for five years I have been saying roughly what is now happening would happen — Romney would be the nominee, lose, and the GOP would start trying to throw the conservatives out in an effort to redefine conservatism.
And yes, after weeks of hysteria from even some readers of this site for me not been keen on Romney, his team, telling you all the polling was not rigged and he was running behind, etc. I now post in its entirety a post I wrote one year ago on November 8, 2011.
What follows is a
post by Erick from a year ago that contain all my hopes and dreams for this country: the death of conservatism. I remember reading this post when it first came out and hoping that his prediction would come true (and wasn't just pessimism he felt at the time).
Well folks, it has arrived! The top dog of RedState has cast the first stone. What makes this post different from the others is that he has begun the recriminations by throwing Romney under the bus! And although there are only ~100 comments right now, be prepared for an outflow of anger (and defensive anger). I predict a minimum of 350 comments worth of hand-wringing and gnashing of the teeth.
Here is just a small sample of rage from long time RedState member Kowalski:
You just made me hate your guts again. Erick, why do you keep harping on Mitt Romney? You pretty much hated him from the beginning. Now you want to prove you hated him from the beginning. Well, you did your job, dude: we lost!
What's the pickup there? Your ability to say: "I hated him and he lost and now we're all screwed?" That's awesome, man. You're the greatest.
Is the only tune you have in your pipe the one about how you always hated Mitt Romney and told everyone so?
Don't know precisely what it is about you, but you never really got behind the Republican ticket this year. As the leader of what is supposed to be the most influential Republican/Conservative blog on the planet, you couldn't suck up your own bile enough. I think YOU suppressed a lot of the vote.
You also have nothing to say about how we go forward from here.
(emphasis mine)
Well, perhaps he has nothing to say because conservatism is dead, as Erick pointed out would happen a year ago.
Here, we even have a joke at Romney's expense from one commentor:
I was listening to a radio call in show the other day. A group of republicans were discussing who the future Republican candidates for president should be. One guy spoke up and said whoever it is, that person should be 180 degrees the opposite of Romney. Gov. Romney called in and said he could be that guy.
I like it, lets keep that one!
The best part is that Erick doesn't seem to be offering any way out for these angry conservatives, since, you know, conservatism is dead and all. And remember, Erick is a considered a major leader of the conservative/TP movement, so this election must have had incredible ripple effects in conservative communities.
Of course, we here in reality land (AKA DailyKos) know what has actually happened in not only this election but over the past 30 years.
The country has been dragged further and further to the right and its idea of paradise. Tax cuts for the rich, deregulation of wall street and their thievery, endless wars, predatory healthcare system, income inequality, discrimination of the LGBT community, government intrusion into the bedroom, constant government surveillance, willful ignorance about climate change (to ALL our peril), defunding of benefits for the middle class WHILE giving out all the goodies to corporations (and then claiming that people who want to roll that back are class warriors, socialists, takers!). I. Could. Easily. Go. On.
From their perspective, the country is becoming socialist (lol) and WE are the ones moving further left /w legislation like Obamacare. Of course, they completely neglect the fact that the Heritage foundation offered the individual mandate as a conservative alternative to single payer. The fact that this idea is considered "socialist" in 2012 is all the evidence you need that it is in fact THEM who have moved further to the right.
Don't let ANYONE try to tell you that this country has been drifting left this past 30 years when in fact the opposite is true. We can't let the right control the media narrative on this. We need to start rebutting this nonsense every chance we get! Now, although this is undeniably true, the rejection of Romney/Ryan and their extremist right-wing ideology emboldens me (as it should you)! We have the momentum now, so lets run up the score and begin hammering the right on this point.
With Obama reelected, a new electorate has awakened to this reality and are taking the country back! Hopefully, we can continue our long march from the right back to sanity. Of course, the right has been wrapped in their bubble for so long that they see this as conservatism dying/failing.
Well, if that's what it is, then I'm sure you all will agree with me:
Bring on the fail!