The 11th Commandment

With the once triumphant Obamacrats in disarray, the GOP is already looking towards a revival, if not return to power, in 2010. Sounds great, but certain elements of the right are already staking out their places, letting us know who they think is or is not worthy of carrying the mantle of conservatism. Some of the complaints about potential GOP leaders are more the product of pettiness and hysteria, more than anything else. Can't we all just get along? Consider Michelle Malkin excoriating Meg Whitman for saying nice things about Van Jones: Memo To GOP Candidates: Stop Mindlessly Praising Commies In Green Clothing

She met him at a liberal Aspen Institute event. “I got to know him really well. A lot of the work he’s doing to enfranchise broader communities. I’m a big fan of…I’m a huge fan of his. Very bright. Very articulate. I think he’s exactly right.”
Ooops.
Now, she’s disavowing him — telling the Weekly Standard that “of course I did not do a background check of his past over dinner.”
Lame.
She mindlessly name-dropped Van Jones, climate change snake oil salemsan, to try and bolster her eco-credentials — and ended up endorsing a left-wing nutball in green clothing.
Teachable moment.

To be fair, Jones probably didn't realize that Meg Whitman was a Republican, which would have brought that dinner conversation to an end faster than if Meg Whitman knew he was an avowed Communist. Also, if we're lucky, no one will notice that Whitman declared Jones to be "bright" and "articulate."

But, really, there is such a thing as being overly persnickity. Steve Poizner, Whitman's billionaire rival for the GOP nomination in the CA governor's race, is already running ads regarding the Whitman/Van Jones "connection." I was under the impression that we were living through perilous times in CA, but if the 2010 governors race is going to be resolved on these sorts of petty "gotcha" moments, then we are doomed to further mediocrity in our state's leadership. For his sake, I hope Steve Poizner has more in the rhetorical pipeline than this.

As for Malkin, I bow to her spotless record in enforcing conservative pieties, but surely she realizes that any CA pol will spend some time talking ecology with some major flakes. Not all Greens are cyncial communists like Jones; most are just idiots, but you still have to talk to them because eco-issues are the thing out here, even for billionaire tech company founders. Give Whitman a break, please.

Meanwhile Charles Johnson continues his peculiar crusade to declare every prominent GOP politician to be unacceptable for polite society. A particular focus of his ire has been MN governor Tim Pawlenty, who has been busily burnishing his "cut spending/low taxes/limited gov't" approach to governance. Pawlenty is a smart and passionate guy who has focused on tax and budget matters, but that is not what is bothering Johnson: Pawlenty Jumps Aboard The Nut Wagon

Creationist Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty is joining the bizarre bandwagon of deluded people who think Barack Obama is going to mesmerize their children into becoming commie robots with a 20-minute speech on the first day of school:

First, note that Johnson tags Pawlenty as a "Creationist." Really? If you go to Johnson's link (The Top 3 GOP Governors: All Creationists), you will find Pawlenty making one of those bland "we should teach both sides if that's what the local district wants" statements that is nothing more than a pefectly fine bit of political weaseling. Why he's practically handling snakes right there on Fox News!

As for the "commie robot" speech, I'll agree that some of the reaction to Obama's Grand Address to the Nation's Children has been over the top; but I don't think it's out of bounds to declare it ... peculiar, coming as it does in the middle of a dramatic and emotional debate over nationalizing health care. Pawlenty's objections are mostly based on the disruptive aspect of the speech; as if kids are just sitting around waiting for something to do at 11 AM CST. Pawlenty said absolutely nothing that deserves to be labeled "deluded," "bizarre" and jumping on the "Nut Wagon."

Johnson's a smart guy. he knows that governors are not federal employees, but the elected executive officers of their states. Education has historically been seen as part of the states' general powers. so the idea of the President sending out a directive to all 50 states demanding classroom time to give a speech, contents unknown, is unusual. I don't think it's surprising that a Republican governor would object to a Democratic president trying such a stunt. If he didn't, then the Presdident's Address to School Kids could evolve into one of those thoughtless annual rituals that litter the nation's calendar. Obama's aim may be true (and I'm sure it is), but it's a peculiar gambit, and one that Pawlenty is within his rights to question.

Johnson, on the other hand, is dangerously close to entering Andrew Sullivan territory: taking on the mantle of a self-professed "conservative" who simultaneously saves his harshest rhetorical attacks for his own "side."