Trouble in Principled Conservative™ paradise? The Bulwark is coming after Jonah Goldberg and his 'narcissism of small differences'

Jonah Goldberg has really done it now. That’s right, he’s pissed off The Bulwark.

Despite being vocally anti-Trump and extremely critical of Trumpist elements in the modern conservative moment — and even rather generous sometimes with liberals — Goldberg nonetheless thinks that The Bulwark is really overdoing it.

And The Bulwark doesn’t appreciate it, thank you very much.

They're going after Jonah Goldberg now. https://t.co/1UvdnOJHra

— Noam "MF Blum" (@neontaster) October 13, 2021

And how!

In a world of trouble, why snipe at allies? https://t.co/JUYElTLdtV

— The Bulwark (@BulwarkOnline) October 13, 2021

"Back in 2016, Jonah Goldberg wrote a brilliant column comparing the [capitulation of Republicans and conservatives to Trump] to Invasion of the Body Snatchers…I will always cherish him for his indomitability when others, with less to lose, crumpled." https://t.co/D47NrIDdKS

— Bill Kristol (@BillKristol) October 13, 2021

Why snipe at allies? Jonah Goldberg’s Narcissism of Small Differences https://t.co/48hNZloDSt via @BulwarkOnline

— Mona Charen (@monacharen) October 13, 2021

Mona Charen is feeling betrayed:

Goldberg isn’t conveying that spirit. Regarding The Bulwark, he said, “If you wake up every morning trying to argue about why Trump is bad and the people who like Trump are evil, you’re just as obsessed with him as the people who wake up every morning wanting to prove that Trump is a glorious statesman and everything he does is great.” Never Trump and pro-Trump publications, he continued, are “two sides of the same Trump-obsessed coin.”

Well. That’s awfully close to accusing The Bulwark of Trump Derangement Syndrome—an accusation that has often been lobbed at Goldberg by people who regard any criticism of El Jefe as treason. And completely untrue to boot: The same week Goldberg accused The Bulwark of Trump obsession, the website published pieces about Chris Christie, long-term trends in the American military, Ron DeSantis, vaccine objectors, Gavin Newsom, Vladimir Putin, Norm Macdonald, the Taliban, Biden, gender balances in education, and election reform, just to offer a small sample.

Here we have descended several fathoms deep into the narcissism of small differences. It’s hard to see what Goldberg is talking about. Throughout the past several months, The Bulwark has published dozens of pieces arguing that Biden should move to the center. Far from being a Biden cheering section, The Bulwark has published pieces urging that the Democrats thank Senators Manchin and Sinema for saving them from themselves; that Democrats take the more modest infrastructure bill as a win; and that they make efforts to broaden their appeal to estranged Republicans. Charlie Sykes has pleaded almost daily on The Bulwark Podcast for the Democrats to reject the maximalist demands of the progressive wing of the party, comparing it with the Republican Freedom Caucus.

Perhaps it comes down to a matter of emphasis. Kristol has said that in light of the Republican party’s lunatic spiral he’s hoping for Biden’s success (while also advising that Biden, you guessed it, tack to the center). I have written that in the Virginia governor’s race, I’m voting Democratic because the Republican is signaling his endorsement of the fiction that our elections are not legitimate. Sometimes you must lean toward one over another, even when it makes you uncomfortable. To attempt to move Democrats toward policies that are centrist and popular and will result in success for the only sane party left at this moment is not to endorse the agenda of Bernie Sanders. Quite the opposite. And it is not a surrender to partisanship.

Bless her heart. She really thinks that The Bulwark is “far from being a Biden cheering section.”

I think Mona may be understating the size and scope of these differences. I don’t think she realizes just how far left she’s drifted. https://t.co/pEAC98WVJw

— Isaac Schorr (@isaac_schorr) October 13, 2021

Pretty damn far.

The Bulwark: “@JonahDispatch has no right to compare us to a trump obsessed popular front! We’re principled Republicans.”

Also the Bulwark: “Glenn Youngkin is too radical for me.” https://t.co/NsW5tYAMJJ pic.twitter.com/QFZOfMqcMC

— HobbyLobbyist (@HobbyLobbyist) October 13, 2021

Principled Conservative voting Democrat for Virginia Gov because she abhors election fraud conspiracy theorists. Principles. And norms. Lotsa norms. A friggin avalanche of principles and norms being upheld and restored here. https://t.co/ZvDOnPhZiz pic.twitter.com/Yl9rqXcFPu

— Louis “it’s fine” Dunn (@LouADunn) October 13, 2021

lol what. mona charen is not okay. https://t.co/GFABK3cmEJ pic.twitter.com/AMdQqdJVl0

— kaitlin, rino attention seeking whore (@thefactualprep) October 13, 2021

Clearly not.

I just keep going around in circles at that amazing header pic.twitter.com/h2fEEdH6tl

— Reluctant Exister (@IriathZhul) October 13, 2021

For an article entitled "Jonah Goldberg’s Narcissism of Small Differences," I feel like there's some irony at play here with "In a world of trouble, why snipe at allies?" https://t.co/njeP3IekuD

— Jeryl Bier (@JerylBier) October 13, 2021

Seems like The Bulwark has some narcissism problems of their own that are preventing them from genuine self-awareness.

A helpful reminder that the Bulwark is staffed by preening, spiteful has-beens convinced of their moral superiority while taking money from the man who funds The Intercept. https://t.co/jt2zI0LbfH

— Luke Thompson (@ltthompso) October 13, 2021