The article that got David Frum fired

[Bluesky]

http://www.frumforum.com/waterloo

This time, when we went for all the marbles, we ended with none.

No illusions please: This bill will not be repealed. Even if Republicans scored a 1994 style landslide in November, how many votes could we muster to re-open the “doughnut hole” and charge seniors more for prescription drugs? How many votes to re-allow insurers to rescind policies when they discover a pre-existing condition? How many votes to banish 25 year olds from their parents’ insurance coverage? And even if the votes were there – would President Obama sign such a repeal?

I’ve been on a soapbox for months now about the harm that our overheated talk is doing to us. Yes it mobilizes supporters – but by mobilizing them with hysterical accusations and pseudo-information, overheated talk has made it impossible for representatives to represent and elected leaders to lead. The real leaders are on TV and radio, and they have very different imperatives from people in government. Talk radio thrives on confrontation and recrimination. When Rush Limbaugh said that he wanted President Obama to fail, he was intelligently explaining his own interests.

[Blue Lotus Rising]

The truth hurts, even from one of their own. He'd better board up all his windows before he ends up with a rock through one of them.

http://www.frumforum.com/so-what-happened

"At lunch I am told that AEI wishes to terminate my salary, office, benefits, and research assistance."

Son of a gun, they took his benefits away. Good thing that bill passed, eh Davey?

[R W G R]

He's Canadian, so he really is not a conservative.

[R W G R]

When AEI, one of the premier conservative think-tanks in D.C., asked Frum to remain a fellow sans pay, he resigned. Because he had recently written that refusal of Republicans to compromise on health reform marked a generational “Waterloo,” it was assumed by Frum and many of his fellow pundits that had been pushed out by AEI for being critical of the GOP.

Of course, this wasn’t the first time Frum has criticized Republicans and/or conservatives. For the past few years the failing of conservatives (at least the ones that disagree with him) has been one of his chief preoccupations. As he once wrote, “We all have our vices, and yes, I have always had a tendency toward deviationism.” Indeed he does. Frum is the type of “conservative” that believes we should embrace abortion rights, same-sex marriage, and the carbon tax. If AEI had decided that he had deviated a bit too far to represent their mission, they would have been warranted in pushing him out the door.

But it doesn’t appear that AEI was trying to get rid of him, and least not completely. Something more banal, and yet more interesting since it sheds light on Beltway thinking, seems to be going on.

http://www.firstthings.com/blogs/firstthoughts/