Is it possible to be so wrapped up in a media culture that one could minimize a sacred religious holiday in a shoddy attempt to write a clever headline? Mediaite’s Tommy Christopher and his editors seemed to have pulled this feat off.
Christopher, who has had a much-publicized run-in with Andrew Breitbart, [1] has a new hero, former American Enterprise Institute scholar David Frum. Christopher elevated Frum to messianic status in a Good Friday April 2 post [2] headlined “Did David Frum ‘Die’ For GOP’s Sins?” specifically praising the former AEI scholar for his appearance on Comedy Central’s April 1 “The Colbert Report.”
According to Christopher, Frum still wants to be a conservative and hasn’t converted to the liberal ideology, like others have before him [3]. He argued that lends credence to Frum, who is more known for levying criticisms about conservatives and Republicans [4], and not his conservative world view. (As if being popular with the liberal blogosphere was a badge of honor.)
“See, he still wants to be a conservative,” Christopher wrote. “That really cuts down on his job prospects. If he was a true apostate, he’d be the toast of the liberal blogosphere, telling appreciative millions how he’s seen the light.”
Christopher took it a step further and opined that “Colbert Report” host Stephen Colbert was right when he said the Republican Party was like a "cult" for opposing ObamaCare so fervently.
“Colbert hits the nail on the head when he compares the GOP to a cult,” Christopher added. “The 2008 election, and the health care debate after, saw the Republicans increasingly whipping up and harnessing the energy of that fringe that Frum spoke of. The big difference now, though, is that it is the cult’s followers who are offering the Kool Aid, and the cult’s leaders who must now drink.”
Christopher, who has determined to take the role of economist [5] (and didn’t get what unemployment numbers released April 2 really could mean [6]), hedged his bet that unemployment numbers will improve and the GOP could possibly be forced to eat their words and embrace the likes of Frum.
“Still, these are unique times,” Christopher wrote. “With the GOP pursuing its promise to run on repealing health care reform, and with today’s encouraging job numbers, Frum and I could look like geniuses come November. That’ll be good for me, but what it does for Frum is anyone’s guess. If November goes badly enough, maybe the Republicans wake up and start listening to voices like Frum’s.”
Christopher’s employer, Mediaite, which has a home page that at first glance appears to be a sounding board for media critics against all things conservative, was founded by Dan Abrams [7], a former MSNBC host and the Chief Legal analyst for NBC News. According to Mediaite, the Web site had a record-breaking month of March [8], as it attempts to establish a foothold in the blogosphere.
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