AN EVEN BLURRIER LINE…. For a long while, it was pretty easy to see the differences among conservatives. There were hysterical extremists like those found at the American Family Association, and there were more influential and cerebral conservatives like those found at the editorial board of National Review.
But the lines have obviously been blurred.
The American Family Association is generally the kind of outfit the left mocks, not fears. The group is best known for launching odd boycotts and claiming to fight the “War on Christmas.” A few months ago, the AFA said a trainer at Sea World wouldn’t have died if only the theme park had followed Biblical mandates.
With this background in mind, the American Family Association argued yesterday that it’s so incensed by the proposed Muslim community center in Manhattan that it’s calling on Americans to boycott companies — architectural, electrical, plumbing, and construction — that “do even a lick of work to build this hall of horrors.” Companies that don’t comply, the AFA said, should be blacklisted and deemed “un-American.”
This is obviously pretty insane. But note that on the very same day, the editorial board of National Review came to the very same conclusion. The conservative magazine said:
…Americans should make their displeasure with this project felt economically and socially: No contractor, construction company, or building-trades union that accepts a dime of the Cordoba Initiative’s money should be given a free pass — nobody who sells them so much as a nail, or a hammer to drive it in with. This is an occasion for boycotts and vigorous protests — and, above all, for bringing down a well-deserved shower of shame upon those involved with this project, and on those politicians who have meekly gone along with it. It is an indecent proposal and an intentional provocation.
Congratulations, National Review. You’re now every bit as nutty as a ridiculous fringe group that went after Wal-Mart for selling “Brokeback Mountain” DVDs.
The editorial board should be very proud.
