Lucille
07-15-2010, 03:18 PM
The Coulter Wars (http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2010-07-12/ann-coulter-provokes-conservative-afghan-war-debate/?obref=obinsite)
Skepticism of nation building in Afghanistan is not new. The project has long been criticized on the paleo-con right. In escalating the conflict, President Obama drew sharp dissent from well known figures like Congressman Ron Paul and conservative columnist George Will. Until last week, however, it seemed like these skeptics were operating on the margins of the right-of-center coalition.
That is no longer true.
The war in Afghanistan is being debated as never before. And Ms. Coulter is being defended and seconded by many staunchly conservative bloggers, right-leaning pundits, and readers of hard-right publications. As a result, observers are wondering whether her column “may have officially kicked off the next great schism within the conservative movement,” as Politics Daily columnist Matt Lewis put it. “Until now, there has been somewhat of an unspoken rule, adhered to by most on the right, that conservative Republicans would vigorously oppose Obama's liberal domestic policies while supporting his efforts to win in Afghanistan.”
Why is this particular column so consequential?
That question requires a trip down the memory hole—a worthwhile one, because the answer speaks volumes about the conservative movement.
[...]
But her anti-war stance isn’t new.
Back during her February 28, 2009 address to CPAC, the nation’s premier gathering of conservative activists, Ms. Coulter said, “The one real problem with Obama on national security is… he’s putting more troops into Afghanistan... which could well be another Vietnam. So for politically correct reasons, we’re moving the focus of the war on terrorism to a very bad place for us. The Russians couldn’t win there. Peter the Great couldn’t win there. Oh, but maybe the messiah can win there, OK.”
[...]
Why did Ms. Coulter’s forcefully stated misgivings about Afghanistan attract so little attention in 2009, whereas her recent column, so similar in substance, has pundits wondering if a conservative schism is afoot? It doesn't have anything to do with specific arguments about the war. The answer is in the title: “Bill Kristol Must Resign.” Hawkish Republicans have been able to enforce foreign policy orthodoxy since 2001, especially among intellectuals and politicians intent on remaining movement conservatives in good standing. Cross them and they’ll question your ideological loyalty, your patriotism, and your fitness for a job inside the movement.
With a few deft phrases, Ann Coulter may have ended their whole game. “Bill Kristol and Liz Cheney have demanded that Steele resign...” she wrote. “Didn't liberals warn us that neoconservatives want permanent war? I thought the irreducible requirements of Republicanism were being for life, small government and a strong national defense, but I guess permanent war is on the platter now, too.”
The usual smears that foreign policy hawks use to discredit their critics simply cannot work on Ms. Coulter, and as a result, everyone inside the conservative movement who harbors secret doubts of their own about Afghanistan is thinking, “they can’t question her ideological loyalty, or her patriotism, or her hatred for liberals. I guess being anti-war isn’t verboten anymore.”
[...]
That’s a problem for the hawks. When even Ann Coulter is calling you a warmonger, it tends to frighten people.
It’s too bad that the conservative movement couldn’t have a free-wheeling debate about the war in Afghanistan ages ago. [...]
Skepticism of nation building in Afghanistan is not new. The project has long been criticized on the paleo-con right. In escalating the conflict, President Obama drew sharp dissent from well known figures like Congressman Ron Paul and conservative columnist George Will. Until last week, however, it seemed like these skeptics were operating on the margins of the right-of-center coalition.
That is no longer true.
The war in Afghanistan is being debated as never before. And Ms. Coulter is being defended and seconded by many staunchly conservative bloggers, right-leaning pundits, and readers of hard-right publications. As a result, observers are wondering whether her column “may have officially kicked off the next great schism within the conservative movement,” as Politics Daily columnist Matt Lewis put it. “Until now, there has been somewhat of an unspoken rule, adhered to by most on the right, that conservative Republicans would vigorously oppose Obama's liberal domestic policies while supporting his efforts to win in Afghanistan.”
Why is this particular column so consequential?
That question requires a trip down the memory hole—a worthwhile one, because the answer speaks volumes about the conservative movement.
[...]
But her anti-war stance isn’t new.
Back during her February 28, 2009 address to CPAC, the nation’s premier gathering of conservative activists, Ms. Coulter said, “The one real problem with Obama on national security is… he’s putting more troops into Afghanistan... which could well be another Vietnam. So for politically correct reasons, we’re moving the focus of the war on terrorism to a very bad place for us. The Russians couldn’t win there. Peter the Great couldn’t win there. Oh, but maybe the messiah can win there, OK.”
[...]
Why did Ms. Coulter’s forcefully stated misgivings about Afghanistan attract so little attention in 2009, whereas her recent column, so similar in substance, has pundits wondering if a conservative schism is afoot? It doesn't have anything to do with specific arguments about the war. The answer is in the title: “Bill Kristol Must Resign.” Hawkish Republicans have been able to enforce foreign policy orthodoxy since 2001, especially among intellectuals and politicians intent on remaining movement conservatives in good standing. Cross them and they’ll question your ideological loyalty, your patriotism, and your fitness for a job inside the movement.
With a few deft phrases, Ann Coulter may have ended their whole game. “Bill Kristol and Liz Cheney have demanded that Steele resign...” she wrote. “Didn't liberals warn us that neoconservatives want permanent war? I thought the irreducible requirements of Republicanism were being for life, small government and a strong national defense, but I guess permanent war is on the platter now, too.”
The usual smears that foreign policy hawks use to discredit their critics simply cannot work on Ms. Coulter, and as a result, everyone inside the conservative movement who harbors secret doubts of their own about Afghanistan is thinking, “they can’t question her ideological loyalty, or her patriotism, or her hatred for liberals. I guess being anti-war isn’t verboten anymore.”
[...]
That’s a problem for the hawks. When even Ann Coulter is calling you a warmonger, it tends to frighten people.
It’s too bad that the conservative movement couldn’t have a free-wheeling debate about the war in Afghanistan ages ago. [...]