,
15 tweets,
3 min read
Read on Twitter
I'm just some rando on Twitter, but I have some thoughts on this whole @BulwarkOnline dustup. So welcome to my first ever Twitter thread. I can't speak for anyone but myself; but I am an avid consumer of conservative media and consider myself thoroughly average... 1/x
...so maybe I'm a representative sample. I don't have any personal or professional dogs in this fight (although I did intern at the Washington Examiner during its first year of existence!) so I feel like I can impartially say: can we give it a rest? 2/x
This whole song and dance has been tedious and exhausting, at least to this reader. Yes, I get it, the Bulwark rubbed a lot of people the wrong way with the whole "making green rooms uncomfortable" bit, fine. 3/x
And a lot of people find it hypocritical to have the slogan "Conservatism Conserved" and then send a liberal writer to belittle CPAC, while mocking pro-life activists on her Twitter feed. Stipulated. 4/x
But I fail to see what is gained by five days of "HOW ARE YOU CONSERVING CONSERVATISM WITH THIS, HUH? ANSWER THE QUESTION YOU COWARDS!" 5/x
Anyone who doesn't own a red hat knows what a grift-tacular scam CPAC has become, and @MollyJongFast was treating it with appropriate derision. No one seemed to have a problem with it until the comments about the pro-life panel... 6/x
...which to me seems a bit like going to a Don Rickles show and laughing until he makes a joke about you. Well, lighten up, Francis. 7/x
As far as "HOW DOES THIS CONSERVE CONSERVATISM?!" well, I mean, maybe it doesn't? I dunno. But so what? A slogan isn't a law. Esquire's slogan is "Man at His Best." I dare say that not every piece ever published there has been Man at His Best. 8/x
If not every piece written at the Bulwark has the express goal of conserving conservatism, I guess I don't find that unreasonable. All the tut-tutting over their slogan and their alleged failure to live up to it just strikes me as incredibly petty and humorless. 9/x
"You say you want to conserve conservatism, but this piece doesn't conserve conservatism at all!" Wow, yeah, you really nailed them there. The Bulwark took a chance on something novel. If that's not your thing, fine. But take it for what it is: a piece of entertainment. 10/x
I will say though -- as an outsider -- it's been so discouraging to watch so many presumed allies and fellow travelers snipe at each other, and in some cases get pretty personally nasty. 11/x
Moreover, it's been discouraging to watch people who normally oppose Outrage Culture to so willingly engage in it. I thought we were supposed to be the adults in the room, and yet here we are wailing and gnashing our teeth because the liberal lady made fun of us. 12/x
We're hardier than this, aren't we? Politics has been absolute garbage for the last four years or so, mostly because we keep insisting on splitting off into ever-smaller factions. The prospect of yet another internecine conflict is simply wearying. 13/x
Plus, there are enough joyless scolds out there without us doing it to each other. As I said at the outset, I'm just some rando on Twitter. I enjoy all of your work. Many of you have fantastic podcasts. 14/x
You're a welcome shelter from the unceasing river of sewage that is our current politics, and I wish you could cut each other a little slack is all. Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk. 15/15
