Douthat’s Nixonian Delusions

Some helpful factual testing of Ross’s wishful thinking that Sarah Palin is the Evita for the right, ushering in a new era of criminalized abortion, closeted gays, federally subsidized churches, and lots of subsidies for “real Americans”. Mark Blumenthal analyzes herChristianist base here; Charles Franklin shows why everyone else is slack-jawed.

He didn’t even bother to cite his subject: Douthat’s original article, Palin & Her Enemies.

Douthat never claimed “Palin is the Evita for the right,” nor does Douthat advocate “criminalized abortion, closeted gays, federally subsidized churches, and lots of subsidies for “real Americans.” This really makes no sense because Douthat is clearly not Palin’s cheerleader:

But last Friday’s bizarre, rambling resignation speech should take her off the political map for the duration of the Obama era.

I suspect Sullivan is carrying a grudge against Douthat for this little gem:

If Palin were exactly what her critics believe she is — the distillation of every right-wing pathology, from anti-intellectualism to apocalyptic Christianity — then she wouldn’t be a terribly interesting figure. But this caricature has always missed the point of the Alaska governor’s appeal — one that extends well outside the Republican Party’s shrinking base…

…Male commentators will attack you for parading your children. Female commentators will attack you for not staying home with them. You’ll be sneered at for how you talk and how many colleges you attended. You’ll endure gibes about your “slutty” looks and your “white trash concupiscence,” while a prominent female academic declares that your “greatest hypocrisy” is the “pretense” that you’re a woman. And eight months after the election, the professionals who pressed you into the service of a gimmicky, dreary, idea-free campaign will still be blaming you for their defeat.

Ouch. These words must have burned bouncing around Sullivan’s tiny mind.

Maybe, too, Sullivan is just jealous that Douthat got the coveted NYT columnist slot and HE didn’t.

It wouldn’t suprise me. Really, it wouldn’t.