Conor rages on Middle America

What does Conor Friedersdorf know about the conservative movement?  Absolutely nothing.

His attempt at spelling out the ‘non-cohesive’ message of the conservative movement ignores a major fact that Bill O’Reilly regularly mentions.  That Bill is not only not a conservative, but that he has no ideology whatsoever.

Conor is confused by this because he does not know what a conservative is.  Had he known, he could not have put Rush Limbaugh and Bill O’Reilly on the same level in the first place.

The thrust of Conor’s post in the Atlantic, is that Bill O’Reilly backed down from criticizing Limbaugh on his tv show as he had on his radio show, because Roger Ailes told him not to.  So what.  But then, Conor assumes that Limbaugh and O’Reilly should somehow be equals since he considers them both, ‘right-wing’ media titans.

He inadvertently I’m sure, called Mark Levin a media titan as well.  Gosh, praise from a nobody neo-lib might rank if he was intellectually honest, but alas, Conor is neither intellectual nor honest.  One time I’d like to hear him try to refute Mark Levin on anything that matters, but he can’t so he usually does an annoying limp-wristed unfocused poke that I have described as flipping pebbles at Levin’s iron tank.

What has happened since 2008, has been Bill O’Reilly trying, unsuccessfully, to unseat Rush Limbaugh as the lead conservative radio host.  But O’Reilly failed, and hasn’t a radio show anymore.  The reason O’Reilly failed is because he’s not a conservative.  Don’t look at me, he says it constantly himself.  So, it isn’t truly a fight between O’Reilly and Limbaugh, but a real examination of what a conservative is, how the movement reflects the nation’s common sense, and its focus on the greatness of the individual, and core anti-controlling principles.

So where Conor fails is in his entire premise.

The problem with someone like O’Reilly, is that he continuously says he’s a non-ideologue.  What does that mean?  Well, it means that given any issue, he is free to find out what others think, and then jump on those thoughts as his own.  He does it all the time, and it exposes what small-minded, I-me-my groupthink gets you.

A core principle is based in centuries of human existence, and Rush Limbaugh’s principles as espoused daily on his radio show are based in that fertile soil.  In the end, that means that those who tell you they are ‘looking out for you’ are truly not that different than those looking to control you.

Conservatism is often described as rugged individualism, and I have yet to figure out how a channel dedicated to, ‘we report, you decide’ can feature a parade-jumping guy who thinks he’s your personal warrior.

Clearly, Conor favors O’Reilly over Rush, and he wants to be able to be the guy who helps pull some listeners from Rush aside, and tell them they are following the wrong fella.

But O’Reilly can’t do that and neither can Conor, because the Rush radio audience is more intelligent than both of them.

Clearly, Conor has not studied philosophy and American heritage and history enough to understand that there really isn’t such a thing as a non-ideologic person.  There are plenty of people that don’t think all that much about politics or worldly issues, but when they are pressed to, they always come down with a discernible ideology.  How Bill O’Reilly can call himself ‘non-ideologic’ is by playing to both sides and coming up with whatever is winning at the moment.  That way, he can seemingly be the guy who called it, and claim he’s ‘looking out for the folks.’  A glaring example of this blatant positioning has him at odds with his own viewers who believed him to be a culture warrior, and his highly offensive ‘thumping the Bible’ remarks.

More Americans consider themselves conservative than liberal, regardless of party affiliation.  That makes conservatism the mainstream ideology of the American people.  So, it doesn’t make Rush Limbaugh a ‘right-winger’ it makes him mainstream center.  So, if Conor wanted to pull people away from him, he would have to go to the right or the left.

Conor always darts left.   In fact, I can think of no issue that Conor is mainstream on.  But beyond that, the staunch, solid conservatives that make this nation great, aren’t for turning, as Margaret Thatcher would say.

So, another wishful-thinking tantrum from Conor Friedersdorf is like another sunrise, and his post reeks of his usual impotent rage at the very core of our nation, Middle America.