FrankRep
07-31-2009, 06:53 AM
Birchers to birthers: a GOP quandary
Politico
July 31, 2009
They’ve been christened the “birthers,” and they ask, “Is Barack Obama the left’s very own Manchurian Candidate, come out of Darkest Africa and smuggled into the New World to assume the presidency as Citizen of the World, ushering in an era of post-racial, big-government socialism?” As many have been asking, is the GOP being pulled under by its conspiratorial fringe?
This is not the first time the Grand Old Party has had a problem with conspiracy theorists who threaten to undermine the broader conservative agenda. In its infancy, the conservative movement faced a serious problem with extremists who threatened to discredit the integrity and seriousness of their political project. These were the “Birchers,” members of the John Birch Society, a far-right organization that originated the myth of the U.N.’s black helicopters, of fluoride poison in our drinking water and of communists hidden in every corner — even the Oval Office. Yes, they argued that Ike Eisenhower was a Commie.
Back then, leaders like the late William F. Buckley Jr. were thinking strategically about the future of conservatism in the postwar era. They wanted to get beyond the legacy of isolationism that had branded their party and led it to defeat after electoral defeat. Buckley and his associates made the decision to split with the Birchers and to do so in no uncertain terms. They cut them off. Publicly, in print and for the record.
And to be fair, the modern National Review has taken a similar attitude toward the birthers, writing them off in an editorial July 28. But NR is not the powerhouse it once was, and in the age of the blogosphere and 24-hour news coverage, it bears little resemblance to the institution built by Buckley.
The modern GOP doesn’t seem to have the stomach or integrity of those earlier conservatives. Confronted by loony conspiracy theories about the legitimacy of the president’s citizenship, too many conservatives are either silent or stammering, hemming or hawing when asked if our first black president is an illegal alien. The situation is sad and does not bode well for the future of the GOP and the conservative movement. Such as it is.
Read More (http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0709/25625_Page2.html)
SOURCE:
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0709/25625.html
Politico
July 31, 2009
They’ve been christened the “birthers,” and they ask, “Is Barack Obama the left’s very own Manchurian Candidate, come out of Darkest Africa and smuggled into the New World to assume the presidency as Citizen of the World, ushering in an era of post-racial, big-government socialism?” As many have been asking, is the GOP being pulled under by its conspiratorial fringe?
This is not the first time the Grand Old Party has had a problem with conspiracy theorists who threaten to undermine the broader conservative agenda. In its infancy, the conservative movement faced a serious problem with extremists who threatened to discredit the integrity and seriousness of their political project. These were the “Birchers,” members of the John Birch Society, a far-right organization that originated the myth of the U.N.’s black helicopters, of fluoride poison in our drinking water and of communists hidden in every corner — even the Oval Office. Yes, they argued that Ike Eisenhower was a Commie.
Back then, leaders like the late William F. Buckley Jr. were thinking strategically about the future of conservatism in the postwar era. They wanted to get beyond the legacy of isolationism that had branded their party and led it to defeat after electoral defeat. Buckley and his associates made the decision to split with the Birchers and to do so in no uncertain terms. They cut them off. Publicly, in print and for the record.
And to be fair, the modern National Review has taken a similar attitude toward the birthers, writing them off in an editorial July 28. But NR is not the powerhouse it once was, and in the age of the blogosphere and 24-hour news coverage, it bears little resemblance to the institution built by Buckley.
The modern GOP doesn’t seem to have the stomach or integrity of those earlier conservatives. Confronted by loony conspiracy theories about the legitimacy of the president’s citizenship, too many conservatives are either silent or stammering, hemming or hawing when asked if our first black president is an illegal alien. The situation is sad and does not bode well for the future of the GOP and the conservative movement. Such as it is.
Read More (http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0709/25625_Page2.html)
SOURCE:
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0709/25625.html