Tuesday, April 26, 2016

Bozell Goes Bozo on Schlafly, Carson, Palin, and Huckabee

L. Brent Bozell, of the Media Research Center, and a scion of the Buckley brand, has published an "open letter" to conservative leaders that have endorsed Trump. I say "published" because Bozell, like many leaders in the modern conservative movement, has a reputation of riding on the writing skills of a ghost writer. Nonetheless, let us suppose that Bozell wrote his open letter.

If you would like to read that letter in full, you can find it here.

The essence of Bozell's appeal to his conservative friends is that Trump has flipped and flopped, from quite progressive and liberal positions to conservative ones, and has only done so in the context of his campaign, and that, as to many issues, he still holds quite liberal views. So far nothing new there.

But Bozell fairly pleads for Sarah Palin, Mike Huckabee, Ben Carson, and Phyllis Schlafly to "Do the most courageous thing [they]’ve ever done, in a lifetime of bravery. Retract [their] endorsement."

I wonder how Bozell can claim to be the friend of these folk.

I am not calling him a liar ... and I assume we are not talking about "ghost-friending" through some convenient and socially skilled other. But how can retracting an endorsement that, based on Bozell's view of things is so ill, so wrong-headed, and so poor a judgment be difficult? Is there any thing more refreshing than turning over a new leaf, turning a corner, starting a new venture?

But more to the point, how can Bozell, knowing the personal stories of these four conservative leaders, suggest that flip-flopping on their endorsement of Trump would be a courageous act, let alone the most courageous acts of their lives?

Pompous buffoonery!

"Do the most courageous thing you've ever done in your life, retract your endorsement of Donald Trump."

Nah.

Palin gave birth to a child at high risk of profound medical problems when most women these days would murder such a child in the womb (some would after too).

Schlafly stood against the Equal Rights Amendment to the tune of being a "traitor to her gender."

Carson turned from the path so many black sons of single mothers take in America, made himself a student and a scholar and a surgeon and a leader.

Huckabee fought the battle most Americans surrendered on Big Mac hill, changed his life permanently, and for the better.

No. The most courageous decisions are behind these folks.

Moreover, their evident profiles in courage warrant Bozell's reconsideration, and his repentance of joining in the ugliness of the National Review's attack on Trump earlier this year.