On Conservative Rationalization

6.12.22

Ross Douthat argues that an 'everybody's implicated sensibility' makes unlikely that the House January 6 Committee will succeed in convincing the public of Donald Trump's unique danger to our democracy (6.12.22, He's not going away). He speaks of the inadequate coverage of the arrest of a man who intended to kill Justice Kavanaugh before changing his mind and turning himself in to authorities.

I am uncertain what adequate coverage would look like in Ross Douthat's eyes. Perhaps it might include his incorporating into his piece how 'liberals' in California have put Democrats on notice that gun violence needs to be addressed. Perhaps it might include a rebuke of Fox News for abdicating its responsibility to its viewers to show the hearings to a skeptical public.

More than anything, it might mean criticizing the very attitude - 'everybody's implicated' - he seems to adopt in his piece by acknowledging that accepting a complex reality does not justify eradicating difference. Valuing the truth is a non-partisan value. Lying in an effort to steal an election is wrong.

Respectfully submitted

Larry S Sandberg