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| "Polite Company" Conservatives |
| 2010-03-24 |
| AoS note: this is NOT a tech/moderator note and is NOT WoT operations. Please check appropriate categories before posting! Tunku Varadarajan, The Daily Beast Yesterday, I got an email from a prominent conservative academic; it was, I think, a touch harsh on the object of its attention. Here's what it said: "Frum's pathetic, desperate whining reeks of self-loathing. At least that shows good judgment: I loathe him, too." The Frum in question is David Frum, former speechwriter for George W. Bush, and the "whining" that so goaded my correspondent was a blog by David, written on the day the House voted on health care, in which he described the bill's passage as a defeat for the Republicans akin to Waterloo.... David is a man I've known professionally for almost a decade, and with whom my social interaction has always been very genial. He is a good and energetic man, and has, in the years since he left service at the White House, dedicated himself to being what I call a "polite-company conservative" (or PCC), much like David Brooks and Sam Tanenhaus at the New York Times (where the precocious Ross Douthat is shaping up to be a baby version of the species). A PCC is a conservative who yearns for the goodwill of the liberal elite in the media and in the Beltway--who wishes, always, to have their ear, to be at their dinner parties, to be comforted by a sense that liberal interlocutors believe that they are not like other conservatives, with their intolerance and boorishness, their shrillness and their talk radio. Not to be confused with the "PCC" which is the world's greatest streetcar. The PCC, in fact, distinguishes himself from other conservatives not so much ideologically--though there is an element of that--as aesthetically.... See also, e.g., Chris Buckley, and most of the Palin-bashing crowd, many of whom deserve to be thrown under the other kind of PCC. |
| Posted by:Mike |
| #4 John McCain. The King of PCC. But I am sure he is now quite comfortable being in surroundings where he is out numbered by the enemy. I'd rather be on the front lines fighting rather than bring PC. |
| Posted by: Elmaiger Hatfield7630 2010-03-24 13:28 |
| #3 Akin to those who think they can negotiate with Iranians and North Koreans. |
| Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 2010-03-24 11:53 |
| #2 so a PCC is akin to a blue dog democrat? |
| Posted by: 746 2010-03-24 11:42 |
| #1 I think Jerry Pournelle owns the copyright on the phrase "The Egregious Frum" and has for something like seven years or so. |
| Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain 2010-03-24 11:08 |