Jerry Dunleavy took it upon himself to write a fairly merciless thread about Tom Nichols and his various stances asking people on Twitter to decide for themselves whether or not what we’re seeing from him is actual conservatism.
Hey, Jerry let others decide for themselves …
So @RadioFreeTom’s whole shtick is that he is a True Conservative™ fighting in the wilderness against everyone else who has sold out & don’t believe in conservative principles anymore.
Let’s take a quick survey of his stances. I’ll let you decide if it’s actual conservatism. 1/
— Jerry Dunleavy (@JerryDunleavy) March 4, 2019
Whoa boy. Here we go.
Abortion? I think his views on that have been pretty obvious in the current discussion, but you don’t have to take my word for it. And look at the way he talks to one of the best pro-life writers out there. Is this conserving conservatism? 2/ pic.twitter.com/JQUdsc0Mvk
— Jerry Dunleavy (@JerryDunleavy) March 4, 2019
Gosh, we always thought being pro-life and wanting to put an end to abortion on demand was a fairly important conservative principle, but hey, what do we know?
What about the Second Amendment? Apparently the conservative position on that is to misrepresent the position of pro-Second Amendment advocates, to argue for strict gun control, and to call on Senators to run gun manufacturers out of their states. Conservatism! Who knew? 3/ pic.twitter.com/eGYgR9e7KG
— Jerry Dunleavy (@JerryDunleavy) March 4, 2019
If we didn’t see Tom’s avatar on these tweets we’d think most of these were from Shannon Watts.
Recommended
True Conservative.
Alrighty then.
Okay so he’s socially liberal, but at least he’s fiscally conservative, right? Super concerned about the debt & deficits & stuff like that, right?
LOL. Nope. 4/ pic.twitter.com/53oFgJ2X4y
— Jerry Dunleavy (@JerryDunleavy) March 4, 2019
Again, we’re hardly the experts in the room, but this tweet makes Tom look sorta fiscally liberal as well.
What about confirming originalist Supreme Court Justices? Well… no he doesn’t think that’s the conservative thing to do if the nominee gets angry when he’s baselessly accused of running gang rape rings. 5/ pic.twitter.com/3Tmv1UPbIA
— Jerry Dunleavy (@JerryDunleavy) March 4, 2019
*sigh*
This doesn’t look good.
How about recognizing Jerusalem as the rightful capital of Israel? If you’re a real conservative, you “couldn’t care less.” 6/ pic.twitter.com/hMqpQKhTY3
— Jerry Dunleavy (@JerryDunleavy) March 4, 2019
At least he got the ‘couldn’t care less’ thing right. Right?
Wow.
The version of conservatism that @RadioFreeTom is Very Disappointed™ in the rest of us for not fighting for requires: being pro-abortion, pro gun control, meh on fiscal restraint, opposing an originalist SCOTUS nominee, and not caring about moving the embassy to Jerusalem. 7/
— Jerry Dunleavy (@JerryDunleavy) March 4, 2019
Pass.
I’ll let y’all decide if that’s actually conservatism or not. But the bottom line is that Tom Nichols is Jennifer Rubin with more cats and a book on why he’s an expert. And he should probably be taken with that level of seriousness. /fin
— Jerry Dunleavy (@JerryDunleavy) March 4, 2019
With more cats.
We didn’t say it.
We included it.
We laughed at it.
But we didn’t say it.
And surely once he saw all of these tweets and positions put together in one thread it gave Tom pause.
The piece is online here. https://t.co/c8stGbHBo1 https://t.co/oRi0rylHld
— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) March 4, 2019
Nope.
My Dear Wormwood,
Through my good offices I have managed to keep you in harness. For now. But there is not, shall we say, a lot of faith in your abilities at the Office of Tempter Assignments. So they have assigned you one even the most guileless imp could turn to our uses. pic.twitter.com/zP0Y2jTqJu
— Dan Murphy (@bungdan) March 4, 2019
Oh nice, the screenshot tactic.
Clever.
The sooner that a lot of young people on both the right and the left realize that they are not going to have careers as writers, the better the public square is going to be. But there is something flattering about it, I can’t deny that.
— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) March 4, 2019
Young people.
Dude.
Hey Tom you’re agreeing with a guy who said I’m under the influence of a demon, made fun of my appearance, & called me a hypocrite.
I know you feel thoroughly corncobbed b/c I pointed out all the ways you’re a hack, but please name one way I’m a hypocrite like you. I’ll wait. https://t.co/J3DSaMILjB
— Jerry Dunleavy (@JerryDunleavy) March 4, 2019
Under the influence of a demon? K.
Jerry, I think you should read The Screwtape Letters. You're sort of blundering around in the dark here. That's really the only advice I have for you. I think you'd enjoy it. (Really.)
— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) March 4, 2019
Yes, Tom, HE’S the one blundering around the dark.
Wow.
I’ve read the Screwtape Letters many times. If written today, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Uncle Screwtape telling nephew Wormwood to convince his patient he was an Expert & that ackshually defending abortion & attacking pro-lifers is what Conserving Conservatism is all about. https://t.co/u1f3y6Wejl
— Jerry Dunleavy (@JerryDunleavy) March 4, 2019
Well, hmm. I guess you might read it again. (I read it about once a year.) Also, "The Great Divorce." It's short. You might like that one too.
— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) March 4, 2019
“Real worldliness is a work of time —assisted, of course, by pride, for we teach them to describe the creeping death as good sense or Maturity or Experience.”
— The Screwtape LettersImpressive how you read that passage once a year & never took its message to heart, Mr. Expert! https://t.co/XjrT6LyYT4
— Jerry Dunleavy (@JerryDunleavy) March 4, 2019
"I was wrong, but I'm still better than you"
— CPAC, wouldn't wanna BPAC (@jtLOL) March 4, 2019
Nothing makes people want to read your work like crapping all over them so you can pretend to be the smartest guy in the room, right?
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