Ross accuses me of liberal cluelessness, but his attempt to write Jerry Falwell's influence out of the Republican Party is pretty depressing stuff. Falwell, after all, is the guy who co-founded the Moral Majority, unquestionably one of the most powerful groups in the Reagan Revolution. When Dinesh D'Souza wanted to become a star, he wrote a hagiography of Falwell for the adoring conservative base (“listening to Falwell speak, one gets a sense that something is right about America, after all.”). When John McCain wanted to become a maverick, he rejected Falwell. When he wanted to become nominee, he gave a speech at Falwell's university. Whatever Ross thinks, McCain, at least, seemed to believe a rapprochement with Falwell and all that Falwell represented was an important pitstop on the path to the Republican nomination. When Falwell died, The National Review, which styles itself as the leading journal of the conservative movement, convened a symposium on his legacy ("Reverend Falwell was certainly a man of God, but he was also an organizational genius whose political legacy will be with us for years to come.") and George W. Bush made a statement memorializing him. This wasn't some fringe figure. WRIGHT V. FALWELL.
Ross accuses me of liberal cluelessness, but his attempt to write Jerry Falwell's influence out of the Republican Party is pretty depressing stuff. Falwell, after all, is the guy who co-founded the Moral Majority, unquestionably one of the most powerful groups in the Reagan Revolution. When Dinesh D'Souza wanted to become a star, he wrote a hagiography of Falwell for the adoring conservative base (“listening to Falwell speak, one gets a sense that something is right about America, after all.”). When John McCain wanted to become a maverick, he rejected Falwell. When he wanted to become nominee, he gave a speech at Falwell's university. Whatever Ross thinks, McCain, at least, seemed to believe a rapprochement with Falwell and all that Falwell represented was an important pitstop on the path to the Republican nomination. When Falwell died, The National Review, which styles itself as the leading journal of the conservative movement, convened a symposium on his legacy ("Reverend Falwell was certainly a man of God, but he was also an organizational genius whose political legacy will be with us for years to come.") and George W. Bush made a statement memorializing him. This wasn't some fringe figure. 
