It was bad enough when, at a "Tea Party" event in Austin over the weekend, courthouse-violence-apologist Senator John Cornyn and sometimes-secessionist Governor Rick Perry were booed as sellouts by attendees.
But now right-wing blogger Ace of Spades has been effectively marginalized on his own site by commenters unhappy with his view that Sarah Palin's resignation from office probably means she's through with elective politics.
To be clear, Ace of Spades is vehemently pro-Palin. He claimed that she was "badgered and harrassed and slimed out of office" by a "vile left" that utilized "abuse of process," "the worst attacks possible on her children," and a willingness to "cross every boundary of decency to impose their sick will on others." He just argued that her entirely understandable (in his view) decision to resign made her less likely to attain the presidency, and for this he became, essentially, persona non grata on his own blog. A sampling of his comments:
Sorry to be the guy living in the real world and being the buzzkill. But I'm sick to death of being told that my addiction to reality and aversion to fantasy is somehow cowardly or defeatist or lacking in virtue....
[T]his is the fred thompson thing all over again. Where I and others were criticized for taking note of the fact that he wasn't gaining any traction in the polls. With the suggestion, sometimes implicit, that if we all just played along and behaved as if he was catching fire (as we expected he would) we could shape reality accordingly....
I am tired of the bullying. The magical thinkers don't understand how fucking nasty they get when their fantasies are disturbed. they start lashing out at anyone who won't feed them....
I DID NOT FUCKING SAY SARAH PALIN SHOULD BE ABLE TO TAKE A LITTLE CRITICISM, YOU FUCKING RETARD.....
Whatever. I can't deal with you people. I'm taking the week off...
Apologies, I am being a real baby. Although I'm being a baby, and I admit that, I am telling you it is not fun when The Group decides it doesn't like your opinion and will not just say you're wrong, but that you're a bad person for holding that opinion.... At any rate, sorry for the "I'm taking the week off" stuff. But I won't be blogging a single word about Sarah Palin because it is fairly clear to me there is only One Permissible Opinion on that, and I find that state of affairs unacceptable and revolting.
The morbidly curious can read the whole interminable exchange here, with Ace of Spades' comments beginning around number 256 (yes, you read that right).
It's hard to envision when, or how, the mutually reinforcing trends of GOP shrinkage and GOP radicalization will reverse themselves. But any conservative tent that doesn't have room for the likes of Ace of Spades is getting small indeed.
--Christopher Orr