The GOP's Dead Jackal Wing, and Charlie Crist

[libertango]

Robert Heinlein once wrote the following definition of a gentleman: Someone who would rather be a dead lion than a live jackal. He had a character, Lazarus Long (who may have been modeled on Heinlein's friend, L. R0n Hubbard), say that he'd rather be a live lion, so he didn't qualify.

It's with that in mind that I read this piece in the New York Times, and this piece by E.J. Dionne, all about how there's a wing in the Republican party that's in a lather about the idea of Florida governor Charlie Crist running for Mel Martinez' soon-to-be-vacated seat.

Crist, who supported John McCain loudly and vigorously during the presidential campaign, is condemned by some for having the temerity to act in the best interests of his state and country by supporting Obama and the stimulus plan. You'd almost think there was a reason he'd support a candidate who spoke so often at a podium that read, "Country First." (Even if that candidate never did publicly acknowledge that every time he did so, he was supporting his opponent over himself. But it's the thought that counts.)

So they're supremely worried that someone who puts policy, morality, legality, and ethics ahead of the in-group out-group tribal dynamics of today's Republican party might... might... win an election, or something equally offensive to their delicate sensibilities.

So, now we finally have a label for these faux "conservatives," who wish to conserve nothing, and are far more radical than anything else:

The Dead Jackals.

Because that's clearly their stand: A candidate should value conformity to the tribal consensus above all else, even if that means losing elections, even if that means doing their worst for the country as a whole. Want to act to save business? Not if you're a Dead Jackal. Want to act with Christian charity and humility? Not if you're a Dead Jackal. Want to acknowledge that torture is overwhelmingly counter-productive, and serves no purpose other than to vent sadism? Not if you're a Dead Jackal.

Why? Because the tribe says so, that's why.

And so it goes...

Comments

The Dead Right

[randy-byers.livejournal.com]

I've started thinking of them as the Dead Right, after John Cole, also riffing on the anti-Crist spasm, reminded me of the old drivers ed ditty:

He was right, dead right
As he drove along
But he is just as dead
as if he were wrong.

They'd rather be Dead Right than be in power.

[farmgirl1146.livejournal.com]

They are crazy. Not just crazed, but crazy. The conservative party has been taken over by a well-financed lunatic fringe whose whole reason for being is to destabilize and ultimately kill our country. I keep noticing the word FOX everywhere these people are. -- The whole situation reminds me of the "new" Dr Who.