Throwing conservatism under the bus

In response to Three More Reasons to Appreciate Rush Limbaugh:

You wouldn’t happen to have anyone else in mind as a contrast to those three excellent points about Rush Limbaugh, would you?  Hmm… a prominent conservative media figure who recently made public statements that most other conservatives are heartless monsters, while ostentatiously drawing attention to his own act of charity, and then pre-martyring himself by assuring his audience that the rest of the Right would beat him up for doing something humane.  Whoever could that be?

It really is a remarkable achievement for Limbaugh to ignore those temptations for decades, because they’re so easy to fall prey to.  When the Left is driving the media bus, there are always rewards to be had for anyone on the Right who plays along.  Even if you don’t quite reach the level of earning a Strange New Respect award, you can still count on plenty of free publicity if you criticize your fellow conservatives in strong terms, especially when that criticism folds into one of the Left’s hot media narratives.  You’re going to get a zillion favorable links and media mentions along the lines of, “Even Ben Gleck says that his fellow right-wingers are insensitive beasts who don’t care about children!”  [Note the completely made-up name that I fabricated off the top of my head just moments ago, and which bears absolutely no resemblance to any real person whatsoever.]

On the subject of charity, it’s monstrously unfair to cast conservatives as heartless, because they’re vastly more generous than liberals, both individually and through civic organizations, such as churches.  Rush Limbaugh is a great example of someone who gives generously and uses his voice to support those charitable endeavors, without grandstanding… not even to push back against years of lazy liberal stereotypes that he’s a selfish, uncaring brute.

I’ve got a news flash for anyone tempted to get a little taste of lefty link love, or even go for that Strange New Respect award: it won’t last.  They won’t permanently change their opinions about you.  They’ll use you until it suits their purposes to attack you again, and they’ll turn against you with no loss of vigor.  And one of the reasons, beyond raw political opportunism and tribalism, is that the Left doesn’t think private charity matters.  You can’t win their enduring respect with acts of personal compassion, because they think the only meaningful compassion comes from the State.  Therefore, you’re either fully on board with an expanded State – and every tool used for its expansion, including immigration chaos – or you’re a beast.