Jonah Goldberg gets the last word in the latest print edition of National Review, devoting the “Happy Warrior” column on the magazine’s closing page to a meditation on those who claim to rebel against the establishment.
In America, mainstream journalists move seamlessly from the media to the government. They date and marry each other. They rely on activist groups as impartial sources (see: Southern Poverty Law Center, Women’s Sports Foundation, NAACP, ACLU, and roughly 10,000 others) and extol experts with skin in the game (Jonathan Gruber).
Sure, there’s a vaguely similar ecosystem on the right, but conservatives are identified as conservatives working at conservative institutions. The community of storytellers I’m talking about runs pretty much everything, from the mainstream media to academia, while denying their own ideological commitments and punishing conservatives for being honest about theirs.
And what is the story they’re telling? Well, the plot points vary, but what endures is the motivation of the actors. “We” (liberals) are the good guys, “they” (conservatives) are the bad guys, and Americans who disagree are in need of moral rehabilitation (i.e., pry their bitter, clinging fingers from their guns and Bibles). Also, “we” are somehow rebellious, fighting against forces more powerful than us.
This last motivation doesn’t get the attention it deserves. I’m always astounded by the conceit that liberalism is somehow rebellious. As I’ve written before, college students seem to honestly believe that agreeing with their own professors, never mind agreeing with the media, Hollywood, and the music, fashion, and publishing industries, is an act of great defiance. This mindset more than anything explains the Left’s obsession with the Koch brothers: We cannot be knights without worthy dragons to slay.
Former New York Timesman Frank Rich recently interviewed comedian Chris Rock for New York magazine. Trying to figure out why Dennis Miller is (allegedly) less funny than Jon Stewart or Bill Maher, he asked Rock, “Do you think that identifying with those in power is an impediment to laughter?”
Cue record scratch. Stewart, Maher, and Rock are standing up to “those in power”? Really? Who knew?
Like a Geraldo Rivera selfie, this level of self-deluded narcissism is both fascinating and frightening.
