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For the last several years, conservatives have relentlessly mocked Washington Post columnist Jennifer Rubin for keeping the word “conservative” in her Twitter bio in spite of the fact that there’s been nothing remotely conservative about her political positions on the issues since Donald Trump became the Republican presidential nominee in 2016 (and perhaps even further back than that).
Since that time, Rubin has routinely portrayed herself and her Never Trumper allies as the Truuuue Conservatives™, the moral arbiters of what should and not be considered the authentically conservative position on issues ranging from healthcare to abortion to immigration and so on.
While a healthy debate amongst conservatives about what is and isn’t a conservative position is not necessarily a bad thing, Rubin’s bizarre way of going about it in the era of Trump is to amplify and support Democrats and their policies, no matter how far left.
Anything to own the Orange Man.
That is not “conserving conservatism”, no matter how you go about slicing it.
In any event, fast forward from when Trump became the GOP nominee to now, and Rubin has finally done what she should have a very long time ago: she dropped the word “conservative” for her bio. And she was so proud of herself for doing it that she wrote a full-length column in the Washington Post detailing why. Here’s how she started off:
My Twitter blurb used to describe me as a “conservative opinion writer.” Now it reads: “NeverTrump, pro-democracy opinion writer.” Why the change?
Now because the WaPo limits the number of articles non-subscribers can read on their website, Rubin posted several tweets promoting her column with different excerpts from it. They were wildly self-serving, and as per the norm with Rubin, completely lacking in any self-awareness whatsoever. You’ll see what I mean when you read them:
Let’s be honest: There is no conservative movement or party today. There is a Republican Party thoroughly infused with racism and intellectually corrupted by right-wing nationalism. https://t.co/ybbRs0mqeA
— Jennifer 'Vote Early' Rubin (@JRubinBlogger) September 17, 2020
If you defend rule of law, fight systematic racism, advocate legal immig, believe in objective reality and that you think illiberal regimes like Russia are our greatest foreign threat, GOP will lash out at you, call you fake conserv. OK- I'm out!https://t.co/ybbRs0mqeA
— Jennifer 'Vote Early' Rubin (@JRubinBlogger) September 17, 2020
I found this one especially amusing, considering all the conspiracy theories Never Trumpers have helped promote about Trump since he was elected. Her saying this is the very definition of the pot calling the kettle black:
If adherents cannot defend their position without resorting to conspiracy theories, factual misrepresentation and racism, perhaps what they are adhering to is fundamentally flawed.https://t.co/ybbRs0mqeA
— Jennifer 'Vote Early' Rubin (@JRubinBlogger) September 17, 2020
The need to invent a scary, socialist-possessed Biden to justify reelecting Trump (as my colleagues delightfully parody) suggests no defensible reason for reelecting a man who thinks our covid-19 deaths wouldn’t look so bad if we ignore blue stateshttps://t.co/ybbRs0mqeA
— Jennifer 'Vote Early' Rubin (@JRubinBlogger) September 17, 2020
So if “conservative” has no meaning and if many of the 1980 positions are entirely unsuited to our current challenges, what ideology properly fits ex-Rs unwilling to swallow the lies?https://t.co/ybbRs0mqeA
— Jennifer 'Vote Early' Rubin (@JRubinBlogger) September 17, 2020
Obliterate GOP that betrayed democ and abandoned simple decency. Whatever altern to that toxic waste dump arises to replace it may be worth considering — but only if it embodies our most basic (“We the people. . .”) and stops venerating authoritarianism.https://t.co/ybbRs0mqeA
— Jennifer 'Vote Early' Rubin (@JRubinBlogger) September 17, 2020
I realize I’m preaching to the choir here, but Ms. Rubin’s way of “conserving conservatism” does not conserve it at all. It destroys it. In the excerpt from her column, she says conservatism has “died.” But has it? No. Thankfully it’s still alive and well, but not thanks to pseudo-conservatives like Rubin, George Conway, and Rick Wilson:
Excerpt from Jen Rubin's piece on why she finally dropped "conservative" from her bio tells her tale: "Conservatism died. So let's move on." Except if there's any "death" to conservativism it's thx to grifters like Jen who pretend to want a rebirth of it by championing Democrats. pic.twitter.com/287Yu2Dnoj
— Sister Toldjah 😁 (@sistertoldjah) September 18, 2020
As I’ve noted before about diehard prominent Never Trumpers like Rubin, nothing they do is about “principles.” It has everything to do with where the next paycheck comes from.
It’s just straight-up virtue-signaling and gaslighting over and over again from people who have accidentally revealed how they have few real core beliefs beyond whatever can get them their next paycheck and party invite.
But they keep on keeping on because that’s what politically homeless frauds hungry for acceptance and desperate to be taken seriously by the NYC/DC cocktail circuit do. It’s sad, really, but it’s just who (and what) they are.
It’s great that Rubin has “unchained” herself from the conservative label, but she’ll never be able to run away from the “grifter” label, and no matter how hard she tries, that’s something she can’t blame on Trump. Only herself.
Related/Flashback –>> Howls of Laughter Erupt After Paul Krugman Points to Jen Rubin as an Authoritative Source on Republicans
(Hat tip: Twitchy)
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