Former speechwriter for George W. Bush. Editor of the National Review. Editor for the Wall Street Journal. Resident fellow of the American Enterprise Institute. David Frum is a thinking person’s conservative if such a thing can be said to exist.
And the right has lost him, it appears.
In a column the Los Angeles Times yesterday, Frum had this to say about the current state of the conservative movement and the message coming from the teabagger wing and idiots like Joe the Heckler:
They are “wild accusations and the paranoid delusions coming from the fever swamps,” said David Frum, a conservative author and speechwriter for President George W. Bush who is among the more vocal critics of the party base and of the conservative talk show hosts helping to fan the unrest.
But Frum didn’t stop there.
“Like all conservatives, I am concerned about this administration’s accumulation of economic power,” Frum said. “Still, you have to be aware that there’s a line where legitimate concerns begin to collapse into paranoid fantasy.“
As the article says, Frum is one of a number vocal conservatives rejecting the the WorldNetDaily and its increasing influence in the Republican party.
Sounds to me like Frum is starting to get more than a little nervous about the direction of his party. Given that he’s one of the more intelligent conservatives out there (and I’m not saying I agree with his politics — I don’t), losing him is a big blow to the Republican Party and conservatives in general. Hopefully it’s the beginning of a “movement” of sorts, where the more reasonable and thoughtful conservatives wake up and realize their party has been hijacked by lunatics. Maybe, just maybe, we can then get back to something that passes for reasonable debate and dialog in this country.
If you ask me, it’s about damn time.
I’m just sayin’…
