Quick note on the John Cole post everyone's talking about. As Steven Benen notes, various Republican hacks are trying to write him out of the ideology, certain that his (annoyingly) constant application of political principles is a bid for all the money, fame, and attention a link from Crooks and Liars gets you. Benen links to John Hawkins at "Right Wings News" saying, "Personally, I haven't considered Balloon Juice to be a Republican/conservative blog for a long time. In my book, Cole traded in his party and his ideology a long time ago and the only reason he's still pretending otherwise is because it benefits him to do so."
Quick history: Back when I was but a baby Blogspot blogger, looking up the mountain at the mighty Matt Yglesias, I used to notice this guy John Cole in his comment threads. And I'd see Matt and him arguing back and forth, sometimes in comments, sometimes on front pages. I used to wish serious, tough rightwingers like John would take me seriously, and I took it as a major mark of accomplishment when, later on, John began blasting my beliefs over at Pandagon. This was, mind you, no more than two years ago. So here's a selection of John from back then:
• On Reagan's death, mocking the response of lefty bloggers (actually quite funny, too).
• John talking down to me about Clinton.
• John defending Republican chickenhawks.
• John parroting the "flip-flop" charge on Kerry.
And here's much more. Point is this: John's often been an asshole. But he's been a consistent asshole. He adores the military. He loathes political opportunism (which he often called out in me). He thinks Reagan is awesome. He thinks taxes are bad. And here he is, amidst all that, in February of 2004, suggesting Al Roker should play Jesus in Gibson's Passion of the Christ, because "[t]he look on Tom Delay’s face as he went to a viewing of my version of the Passion would be priceless."
At the time, he was a member of the right in good-standing. Now he is not. Why? Because as the Christian Coalition replaced the Reaganite Right, he said the same things he's always said. And as the political desperation of the GOP birthed a series of smear ads and lies, he called that out, too. He's not a leftist. And believe me, Democrats, you'll notice when you start trying to pass policy or retain power. He'll be a royal pain in the ass. And that's because he's a conservative. In the end, the current rightwing revulsion towards John isn't because he left his party. And it's not that they left him. It's that they're kicking him out for being insufficiently hackish.
