Derivatives and the Conservative Mind

Lately, I have been amusing myself with browsing The Corner at NRO. They're just all up in arms that McCain didn't go hyper-negative on Obama, specifically attacking him for ever sitting in the same room as Ayers. They're jumping up and down, screaming in their pathetic little voices that we should all PAY ATTENTION TO THEM because they have SOMETHING VERY SERIOUS TO SAY!!!!1!1!!, even though the rest of the country has decided that they don't really give a crap. And then they advocate wisdom like this: "Don't you think the real worry about the Ayers thing is the projects they worked on together at Annenberg? I sounds like they provided funding for political indoctrination under cover of "educational reform", which to me sheds light on how Obama might treat education through his appointees."

It's all quite amusing. You see that attitude reflected in McCain's ads, which always seem to include some sideswipe at Obama's "liberal allies," as if the word liberal still carries the connotation "unAmerican baby-killer". They're even upset that McCain didn't concede Congress to the Dems and make the case that the president and Congress should be of different parties (and you know they said the same thing in 2004) and that people should just ignore how fucked up the economy is and keep a Republican in as president.

Most telling, however, was this quote: "As always, it is the job of a conservative to expect the worst and hope to be wrong." They just live in fear, don't they? It all sucks and it will always suck unless we can protect ourselves from The Others, who contribute nothing and take everything. That's why Obama's message of hope confuses the crap out of them - they don't think the word means the same thing he does. To Obama, it's the idea that the world can be a better place, but to the conservatives, it can't. It can only get worse, so we have to protect the status quo at all costs. They live life at a local maximum, and all around them is void.