re: #146 shiplord kirel

biographical note: Bennett’s maternal grandfather was Heber J. Grant, the seventh president of the LDS church and the last to practice “plural marriage.” Mr. Grant died in 1945, when the future senator was 12 years old.
Bennett’s wife, Joyce, is the granddaughter of the ninth LDS president, David O. McKay.
The Bennetts have 6 children.
You could not get more Mormon than this couple, yet they are not conservative enough for the tea party.

As I understand it, in the Alternative Universe of the American Conservative, it is not because Bennett wasn’t conservative enough.

Really. That’s what I’m reading.

The argument is that he wasn’t activist enough. I quote, ‘despite coming from one of the reddest states in the country, he was never a leading light for conservatism. … I almost never saw Bennett out there in front of an issue - making a powerful case for conservative policies and castigating liberal ones…’

Emphasis mine. That’s why he’s out. He didn’t make enough big statements. He didn’t hate liberals enough. He didn’t publicly attack liberals enough. He was only a reasonably reliable vote. That’s not enough any more - it’s not enough for the modern Conservative to simply vote your beliefs or represent values, you must also actively war against the other side.

It is the only principle that matters to the modern Conservative cult. All of the rest - small government, low taxes, freedom of markets and individuals - are catchphrases at best, and negotiable principles more often than not. The only thing that matters is how much you hate ‘liberals’, and how much they hate you. Uphold that principle, and the Tea Party will vote for you every time.