I hadn't chimed in to the growing phenomenon of conservative columnists piously telling us voting schlubs why they can't vote for John McCain and save America from at least two years of life in a Democrat-controlled hell.
The latest is Anne Applebaum, who says:
I would give anything to rewrite history and make McCain president in 2000. But in 2008, I don't think I can vote for him. Barack Obama is indeed the least experienced, least tested candidate in modern presidential history. But at least if he wins, I can be sure that the mobs who cry "terrorist" at the sound of Obama's name will be kept far, far away from the White House.
So, Applebaum is willing to allow the economy to tank even further, unemployment to rise to levels not seen in decades, rampant inflation, an influx of liberal activist judges who will spend decades finding stuff that didn't exist in the Constitution, higher taxes for virtually everyone, large scale government expansion, and a dangerous and disasterous foreign policy that would lead to a nuclear Iran and could lead to more terrorist attacks on Americans just so the not-elites of the Republican Party will not have a voice in our government?
This is not an uncommon refrain from the purists in the conservative punditry. These people complain vociferously because John McCain chose Sarah Palin, whom the base loves, not a stiff, boring suit like Mitt Romney, who most assuredly would not have gotten the independent vote at all.
I understand that John McCain has not run his campaign very well or very effectively. And I understand that not every conservative or independent likes either John McCain or Sarah Palin (or vice versa). But the myopia of the chattering class towards an Obama presidency is stunning. These same people will be tut-tutting the excesses which a Democrat-controlled Congress and White House will indulge in. They will write column after column about how terrible the Democrats are for the country.
But I say these people should not be allowed to lecture the rest of us about how awful things are with Barack Obama as POTUS after endorsing his presidency. It's a pity the rest of us have to live with the consequences of their ideological purity.
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