Spinning the "Macaca" Mess

I skimmed over Jonathan Last's column in the Inquirer today; if I can, I'll try to read the whole thing and dissect it later, but I'll make sure I take an antacid first.

Of course, far be it for the paper to publish Chris Satullo or Trudy Rubin to counterbalance the freeper nonsense (including David Brooks...life is short, you know?), but instead, devote practically an entire page to John Mark Karr along with the biggest graphic I ever saw of this guy's face (I've attacked Glenn McCoy from pillar to post for his disgusting cartoons, the volume of which is practically infinite, but I have to give him credit for once - he's absolutely dead-on with this one).

Here is an excerpt from what Last wrote about the George Felix Allen nonsense that caught my eye:

...this could actually be good news for Republicans. All presidential prospects get vetted eventually, and the sooner the better. And since Macaca, few, if any, conservatives have stepped forward to defend Allen. That's a healthy and productive impulse.

It would be more of "a healthy and productive impulse" if they repudiated Allen and his disgusting remarks, but I suppose it's too much to ask of a freeper to show an ounce of integrity, isn't it?

Every movement has problems; Allen's behavior no more "represents" conservatism than Moran's does liberalism. What matters is how a movement handles these problems. Democrats and liberals have, in recent years, shown a tendency to defend their own (Dick Durbin, anyone?) regardless of the transgression. Republicans and conservatives, on the other hand, have taken a more Darwinian approach toward figures such as Pat Buchanan and Trent Lott.

I don't know what Last is talking about by "a more Darwinian approach." But as far as Dick Durbin is concerned, all he asked for in his statement was for Bush to apply the Geneva Conventions to detainees at Guantanamo. The only thing Durbin did wrong was apologize, because he was correct (but of course, Last and his brethren don't want us to remember any of that).