The ever-irascible Andy McCarthy has chimed in over at NRO's The Corner regarding the "one-term pledge" that has been floated by, among others, Ramesh Ponnuru. In his patented molar-grinding style, McCarthy reminds us once again that he is not a fan of McCain-Feingold (how quickly we forget), that the cap-and-trade scheme to combat global warming will increase taxes (on which I agree, but find it less offensive than anything Obama would do), and asks us why anyone should trust John McCain's pledge to appoint conservative judges in light of the fact that he doesn't particularly worry about making Andy mad.
More accurately, he laments the idea that McCain doesn't mind "infuriating conservatives", which seems a rather broad-brush statement given the fact that I'm a conservative and not in the least bit infuriated by McCain. But, then, that's typical of McCarthy and far too many others within the conservative fold. And, if McCarthy cares to know the truth, it's that kind of attitude which created the opening for McCain to land the nomination.
Contrary to what many conservatives would have us believe, the discontent within the Republican Party didn't develop the minute John McCain locked up the number of delegates necessary for the nomination. There's been all manner of contumely within the ranks for a few years now, going back to the Harriet Miers nomination. And, unsurprisingly, Andy was at the forefront of that initial skirmish.
I was among those who believed that Miers should get a fair, up-or-down hearing before the Senate and let the chips fall where they may. I was very obviously in the minority on that issue, and as such, I've come to accept it. We ended up getting a great nominee in her place. But, what I simply cannot accept is the way in which Miers was treated by some conservatives who were angered by her nomination.
Within the first few hours following the president naming her as his nominee, there was a whispering campaign that suggested that, since she was still single at the age of 63, she could very well be a lesbian. The rumor was pushed in the blogosphere and on bulletin boards, encouraged by conservatives who were "infuriated" that one of their pre-ordained favorites wasn't selected. So "infuriated" were they that anyone who dared to speak up for her right to be heard out was immediately slandered as a "Bush-Bot", a RINO, a sell-out, and a boot-licker.
Then came the Dubai Ports World deal, which stirred up the same outrage among many of the same conservatives. And any attempt to defend the idea was met with the same derision. Never mind that it turned out to be a part of what could have been an excellent source of intelligence in the gulf region. It rubbed certain tight-knit communities within the conservative movement the wrong way, and if you crossed them, you were howled out of the movement as a traitor who was willing to turn our ports over to Jihadists (a word which stirs McCarthy to white-hot rage these days) and put our nation at risk for touchy-feely PC purposes. Again, I and a few others came out on the short end of that one.
And then came Comprehensive Immigration Reform. Almost immediately after President Bush's re-election in 2004, blogs and bulletin boards began a push for action on the US-Mexican border. At first, I was among those who called for action to be taken on the border to slow the influx of illegal immigrants. But, I soon noticed a sharpening of the rhetoric and the increasingly angry tone of border security advocates. It wasn't long before it occurred to me that there was a concerted effort among grassroots organizations to target places on the internet where conservatives tend to congregate and sound the alarm. By then, the rhetoric had grown so outrageous that I and many other conservatives felt compelled to push back.
And, in a familiar pattern, those who spoke out against such rhetoric were labeled as traitors, sell-outs, one-worlders, open-borders fanatics, "Bush-Bots" and worse. Not surprisingly, the "infuriated" conservatives were often conspiracy theorists who with paranoid fantasies about the North American Union, the Council on Foreign Relations, the Security and Prosperity Partnership, and the Trans-Texas Corridor. As if that weren't enough, there were even those among the group who claimed that E. coli outbreaks were a product of Mexican illegal immigrants getting fecal matter on lettuce due to a lack of hygeine and that they were responsible for an explosion in the number of cases of leprosy (which never occurred).
So, if some conservatives are "infuriated" about the fact that John McCain managed to get the GOP nomination, they can thank themselves for their fury. And, they should understand that, by now, those of us who support McCain have grown quite accustomed to that fury. After all, we've been dealing with it for the past three and a half years.
Perhaps it's time they regroup and give a little thought to changing their tactics. The Next Right is a good start in that direction.
UPDATE: As if on cue, I stumbled upon this story at Lucianne.com.
