Conservatives with Apostate Problems

I have recently mentioned my admiration for Glenn Greenwald -- I'm using his post on summarizing the domestic spying scandal as an example in the new "meme theory/Say Ain't" article I'm still wrestling to the ground.

Mr. Greenwald wrote a great post yesterday on how "conservative" now seems to mean "I support George Bush" rather than, oh, limiting the intrusiveness of the federal government and fiscal responsibility. Basically, no matter what your long-held policy views or conservative bona fides, as soon as you say "I think George Bush might be screwing up job X", you get to star in the Broadway Revival of "Galileo vs, The Catholic Church", and you ain't playing the role of Pope Urban VIII, if you get the drift.

He was then, of course attacked by people who promptly confirmed his argument for him. Glenn's ability to boil down complex ideas into simple, clear concepts, and his equanimity in the face of idiocy without descending into my weakness -- snark, sweet intoxicating snark -- makes him a valuable voice in the current political miasma. Go read all his stuff.

I would merely advise Mr. Greenwald that when you say the same thing with jokes, nobody gets pissed off. Hell, I still get e-mails about putting that on t-shirts ...