Andrew Sullivan: GOP are 'not conservatives ... they are partisan vandals'

[Newsjock]

Source: The Atlantic

What we've observed these past two years is a political party that knows nothing but scorched earth tactics, cannot begin to see any merits in the other party's arguments, refuses to compromise one inch on anything, and has sought from the very beginning to do nothing but destroy the Obama presidency. I see no other coherent message or strategy since 2008. Just opposition to everything, zero support for a president grappling with a recession their own party did much to precipitate, and facing a fiscal crisis the GOP alone made far worse with their spending in the Bush-Cheney years. There is not a scintilla of responsibility for their past; not a sliver of good will for a duly elected president. Worse, figures like Cantor and McCain actively seek to back foreign governments against the duly elected president of their own country, and seek to repeal the signature policy achievement of Obama's first two years, universal healthcare.

... This is not conservatism, properly understood, a disposition that respects the institutions and traditions of government, that can give as well as take, that seeks the national interest before partisan concerns, and that respects both the other branches of government and seeks to work with them. These people are not conservatives in this core civilized sense; they are partisan vandals.

And if the GOP block the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell, despite the careful Pentagon study, a slow roll-out of its provisions, and support from the Joint Chiefs chairman and the defense secretary, then we will find out something else. The contempt the GOP has for gay lives, gay citizens and those who wear the uniform of the United States is as deep and as vile as we ever thought it was.

Read more: http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2010/12/the-dickishness-of-the-gop.html

[Mimosa]

1. Sullivan enabled and made excuses for Rethugs for years.

I don't care what he says. He's a sham.

[AnArmyVeteran]

3. I agree, he's been a part of what he is now condemning. They know no shame.

[Arkana]

5. So was David Brock. You gonna cast him out too?

[AnArmyVeteran]

7. Sullivan is still holding the rocks he used to vandalize ruthlessly.

I'm glad he spoke out, but where was he for ten years while supporting the destruction of our country? He was one of the vandals he's complaining about now. This one article by him is only because of DADT. He's not reversing his beliefs on all the other stuff he's been wrong about in the past.

[w4rma]

8. Nope. He saw something and it clicked. It happens to people.

People make bad choices, at least Sullivan is trying to undo his mistakes through his writing.

[SpiralHawk]

2. D'oh

About 10 years late with that...

[craigmatic]

4. They're just in it for power and nothing else they don't even believe the shit they say anymore.

[Bluenorthwest]

6. Sullivan who shilled for Bush/Cheney and for the Iraq war

Sullivan who disparaged those who opposed the war, who criticized Bush, Sullivan who later claimed he would never stop apologizing for what he did then. Sullivan who helped put these vandals in power, he wrote their press releases and played bully wing man for them, slandering those who said they were vandals.
So we should never forget that about Sullivan. His quotes from that time are loathsome. He seethed and anti Iraq war activists, and he said he was comforted by the presence of Cheney in the administration. Never forget that. Sully claimed he never would, but he has.

[PM Martin]

13. As you said. Bareback Sully is as bad as they come.

He never apologized for his treatment of the anti-war activists.

[bunkerbuster1]

9. Problem here is "conservatism" just doesn't exist.

Sully frequently makes a lot of sense these days, but for me to take him truly seriously, he'll have to come to understand that American conservatives are all more or less lying, thieving scum, that the ideology is bankrupt.

[Mimosa]

10. D.U. ought to ignore everything Sullivan writes.

It means NOTHING. he's a plagiarising jerk.

Sullivan used to rip off interesting things posted on a now defunct discussion board (board died in late 2003) by a gay man I know who knew Sullivan. It was amazing how much he ripped of this guy's posts, even his signature! But A.S. wasn't smart enough to move on as did my independent friend.

Sullivan is at best a second rater. Democratic Underground should ignore what he posts. He's proved he's for sale.He probably used to go to parties with Bill Kristol and that crowd. He should stay with them.

[wiggs]

11. I welcome his persectives. He used to be a republican and now isn't. He is

to the left of some here on DU and many in congress. He has written very pointed articles about torture, the wars, gay rights, and about republican tactics.

If only more would write as bluntly about what the republicans are doing, we would all be much better off. Instead, this guy gets pilloried because of past affiliations with the "other team" and its platform? Ironically, shunning him for past positions is similiar to the behavior he decries by republicans! Loyalty to doctrine above all, faith in party, punishment for straying from talking points even if in the past...is that what we demand of those who might otherwise contribute to public discourse? That's a prescription for teabagger membership...not for here.

No coherent message since 2008....scorched earth tactics...do nothing but destroy the Obama presidency...not a scintilla of responsibility for their past...not a sliver of good will...fiscal crisis the gop along made far worse...partisan vandals...deep and vile contempt for gay citizens and those who wear the uniform

...anything in there that isn't EXACTLY what many more dem leaders should be saying but aren't? These are observations that are so self evident that non-partisan pundits and journalists could be making them, but we can't even get our own party to put it on the line this clearly. I don't see what the problem is.

[QC]

12. No true Scotsman fallacy. n/t

[UTUSN]

14. I'm sorry but Andy was a "big time" Shrub-crotch-sniffer.Didn't listen to him THEN, won't NOW!1 n/t

[eilen]

15. Even when you agree with what he is saying?

I welcome those that come into the light. Those who have an epiphany and can be astute enough to stand away from themselves and change previously firmly held positions. That tells me there is hope. Hope that there are hearts and minds that can be recaptured. I firmly believe that if we could just turn off the radio and the tv, people will shake off the brainwashing and remember they are human beings and give up the hate. Otherwise, what will become of us?

[UTUSN]

16. Neh. I love your sweetness, but this dude helped the enemy when it counted.

I don't care about those who figured things out later. You and I knew what it was all about from the get-go. How come all these rich, famous, resource-rich fabulous people can't figure it out at the beginning?!


I don't wanna argue, am going to bed.

[QC]

18. True. I remember when Sully was calling liberals a treasonous "fifth column"

in the wake of 9/11.

And I remember when he condemned his fellow gays for "libidinous pathology" while secretly searching for bareback sex.

And I remember how enamored he was of George W. Bush.

And so on.

Sully is one of the very worst people in American public life, even though he is treated as some kind of prophet around here, ever since he said some nice things about Obama.

[CJCRANE]

17. K & R nt