Professor Camille Paglia figured out the Internet early, impressed Matt Drudge, and has become a star online. By making catty remarks about the Clintons and other liberals, many conservatives consider her outspoken and been a friend.
I did.
But then I checked out her latest missive and realized, she is playing us for suckers. And we are.
In Salon -- red flag -- she wrote of the presidential race. While she stick it to Hillary, who doesn't these days? Jeb! Bush too. Americans want new presidential candidates, not lifers. Not exactly cutting edge. But then these two passages revealed her true purpose, which is to demonize conservatives as wackos:
I thought that Mitt Romney was an excellent choice by the GOP four years ago, even though he was opposed by the Tea Party. He was an old-style Rockefeller Republican, a type that doesn’t exist anymore. Nelson Rockefeller was governor of New York when I was in college in the 1960s, and he was flooding the state university system with tons of money in an attempt to make it equivalent to the University of California. I was very grateful for what he did, because I had a superb education at Binghamton, with wonderful new facilities and funding of programs like the film society. Rockefeller collected abstract art. It’s hard to imagine a Republican politician today – or actually a Democrat either – as an art collector. He was such a sophisticated, genial man, but today he would be considered a RINO by many Republicans – Republican In Name Only. It’s unfortunate, because there was value in that old WASP patrician style – where people were born to wealth and privilege and yet they devoted their lives to public service.Um, Earth to Paglia. Rockefeller did not get nominated in 1964, but Romney did in 2012. So much for the false narrative of Republicans becoming so super conservatives that they chased off moderates. As far as WASP patricians go, the Democratic Party has plenty of them still hanging around. They are throwing away taxpayer money while hanging on to their own, just like Nelson did.
But Romney was an excellent choice for Republicans in 2012, according to Professor Paglia.
So who did she vote for?
I was so happy when Obama took office – finally a president who projected class and dignity. I’m talking only about persona here, not policies – because while I voted for Obama in 2008, I would not do it again in 2012, when I voted for Jill Stein of the Green Party.Republicans nominated the man Paglia wanted and she still didn't vote Republican? To hell with her. Conservatives should not give this lady the time of day.
She is a mole. She is gaming Republicans. She will never, ever vote Republican. That should entitle her to zero influence. Read her for the catty remarks, but never mistake her counsel for anything but encouragement to commit political hari-kari.
Why Republicans insist on taking advice from people who will never, ever vote for them is beyond me. We had that Idiot Johnny Maverick McRINO who was the darling of the New York Slimes (Motto: All the news that's fit to distort) while seeking the Republican nomination and who played up to them looking for their approval only to have them (surprise!) turn on him once he received the nomination. Notice to Republicans, The New York Slimes (Motto: All the news that fits our views) is not your friend. Their editorial board and their news bureau do not want to see any of you get elected so why do you insist on taking their advice? Likewise the DNC. When they tell you to run as Dimocrats do you think they want you to get elected? Yet we have all of these candidates and their highly paid political consultants tellimg them they have to run as Dimocrats to win elections. Ann Coulter nailed it when she wrote that when voters are given the choice between a real Dimocrat (Obungler) and a fake Dimocrat (McRINO and Mittens) the voters will vote for the real Dimocrat.
ReplyDeleteHey Republicans: Look at who is leading in the polls. I wonder why? The last presidential candidate who ran as a real Republican (and not as a compassionate conservative) won two landslide elections. His successor ran as a real Republican and also won a landslide. Maybe if he had governed as one he wouldn't lave lost in 1992.
She thinks she's smart. I think she's smart-ish at best.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't take advice from her, but she has one attribute that's increasingly rare on the Left: she's actually reasonably honest. Who else on Team Blue can you say that about?
ReplyDeleteI don't agree with her on a lot of things, and do agree on some others, but I'd probably also say that she's honest about her views and not afraid to speak them. That I can respect. I could probably share a few beers and a hell of an afternoon arguing back and forth with her.
ReplyDeleteIf by successor you mean GHW Bush, you couldn't be more wrong. All the Bushes are establishment/company men. The first thing Bush '41 did after taking office was eliminate every Reaganite he could find. This is a "real" Republican?
ReplyDeleteAs for the poll leader, I hope you aren't referring to that blowhard Trump. He makes McCain look like Reagan. Trump has in the past openly favored open borders, implied the GOP was racist for being worried about the issue, advocated a single-payer system on the Canadian model, and contributed to Clinton's campaigns.
Just sayin'.
Thanks a lot, Don. I was looking forward to a good steak, but that pic destroyed my appetite.
ReplyDeleteCasey, you are correct, but there is a distinction: running vs. governing. GHW Bush RAN as 4 more years of Reagan, and then, as you note, promptly turned left. Likewise, Trump is RUNNING hard right, with no apologies, and attracting numbers. Will he BE a conservative? I doubt it. Very much. But he's doing the exact opposite of, for example, McCain, or Jeb! -- he's running right, and offering bold colors, vs. the so-called establishment types who simply KNOW that they need to preemptively compromise so as to get those 'Independent' votes.
ReplyDeleteMHO, of course.