A Special Christmas Gift: Palin in 2020

I hasten to add that the gift does not come from Enduring America but from America's foremost columnist of sense and sensibility, Ms Anne Coulter:

Sarah Palin wins HUMAN EVENTS’ prestigious “Conservative of the Year” Award for 2008 for her genius at annoying all the right people. The last woman to get liberals this hot under the collar would have been … let's see now … oh, yeah: Me!

Exalting "our beauteous Sarah", our beauteous Ann spends 2000+ words saying nothing about Palin on the economy, international affairs, social issues, or even the latest Jolie-Aniston confrontation. Instead, Palin's qualifications come via the iniquities of the "left-wing" press: "discombobulated and angry", filled with "anti-religious hysteria", and "decid[ing] that a woman with children could not handle the stress of higher office".

OK, it's Ann Coulter, who could only exist as a "Legal Affairs Correspondent" or any other kind of Correspondent in the mythical polarised US of common-sense Americans fending off the evil liberals ruining the country. Still, it's quite amusing to see how Ann blurts one moment, "Who cares if Palin was qualified to be President?", and then in the next explains how Beauteous Sarah will assume that office.

She will do so by "becoming older and wiser", "being a good governor, tending to her children so none of them turn out like Ron Reagan Jr., and reading everything Phyllis Schlafly, Thomas Sowell, [and] Ronald Reagan have ever written:

Democrats may have a fleet of women politicians, but they don’t have a deep bench of attractive ones.

Thanks, Ann, for the Greatest Gift of All. Reading this supposed formula for Republican success, I'll sleep a little sounder tonight thinking that the GOP implosion 0f 2008 --- with all its humourous fallout --- may be with us for just a while longer.

Maybe even until 2020.

Why We Love Conservapedia: How Can There Be Non-Conservatives?

Our favourite on-line encyclopedia, still reeling in disbelief at the election of Barack Obama ("an apparent Muslim, Obama could use the Koran when he is sworn into office"), has started a special section, "Why Do Non-Conservatives Exist?" Answers include the contribution of Conservapedia founder and son of the legendary feminist-basher Phyllis Schlafly, Andrew Schlafly, "Self-destructive or contrarian behavior; some choose to do what is irrational."

So far there are 18 reasons, but I'm certain Enduring America readers can make valuable additions to the list. (Indeed, I took the liberty of slipping in my own contribution, which sparked an inadvertently comic discussion amongst the Conservapedia moderators.)



Conservative principles are based on reason. So why do non-conservatives still exist? Here are some reasons:

1. They made up their mind before hearing conservative principles, and will not reconsider their views.


2. They have something criticized by conservatives in their personal background, and feel compelled to defend it rather than let it go.


3. They pride themselves on doing well in school or reading the newspaper, can't accept that what they were taught was incorrect or biased.


4. They have liberal friends, and want their approval or acceptance.


5. Their job and salary, such as working for public schools, depends on keeping conservatives out of power.


6. They knew a conservative whom they dislike for some random reason.


7. They have trouble understanding some of the slightly abstract concepts in conservatism, such as "more guns, less crime," and "less taxes, more revenue."


8. They are more comfortable discussing simple issues like race and poverty than complex issues like globalism.


9. Media bias acts to caricature conservatism, making it seem unpalatable, conditioning people to reject its teachings.


10. Schools reward politically correct, liberal answers on tests.


11. Unthinking rebellion against conservative parents.


12. Impressionable individuals buying into Bush derangement syndrome, and reacting with emotion rather than reason.


13. A desire for large government inculcated by personal weakness and reluctance to take personal responsibility.


14. A disproportionate focus on biblical passages that appear to support liberal positions, eg the adulteress story, the disciples holding everything in common, etc.


15. An admiration for historical figures whom liberals claim were liberals.


16. Self-destructive or contrarian behavior; some choose to do what is irrational.


17. Mind-altering drugs.


18. Charismatic leaders trading on image, rather than experience, can dupe the unsuspecting.