Are there right-wing pundits so repugnant that you absolutely refuse to read them?
I’m at a point now where the only right-wing commentators I can bear to read are Daniel Larison of The American Conservative and, occasionally, Doug Mataconis of Outside the Beltway. Larison and Mataconis still have some degree of intellectual integrity, in the sense that they can rise above the pro-GOP cheerleading, relentless trolling of progressives, and “Obama sucks!” invective that defines almost all right-wing commentary these days. Larison and Mataconis should never travel in the same car or plane, because if something bad happens, then progressives will lose two solid intellectual sparring partners.
As for the rest of the right-wing pundit world, you can flush it all down the toilet. The right-wing media landscape is full of folks who are either crackpots or cowards. We all know who the crackpots are, but from a certain perspective, the cowards are even worse, because they actually know better.
I’ve previously argued that Charles Krauthammer is one of the cowards, in the sense that the man obviously knows damn well that human-caused climate change is real and a pressing problem, but he’s so scared of being purged from the conservative movement that he laces his climate columns with nonsensical attacks on environmental activists. You can probably throw David Brooks into the coward category as well; remember his ridiculous 2012 column in which he tried to blame Al Gore for the partisan divide on climate, as opposed to the rapacious fossil fuel industry and its minions in the right-wing press?
The right-wing pundit world is chockablock with folks who either a) stopped taking their medication or b) cower in fear of being branded a “RINO.” Yes, members of the former group (such as that Koch-roach George Will and the deeply dishonest Dinesh D’Souza) are truly sleazy, but members of the latter group arguably deserve even more scorn, because they don’t have the courage to confront the cranks.
I can’t say I’m a fan of the Washington Post’s Kathleen Parker, but I’ll always give her some credit for being one of the first voices on the right to say that Sarah Palin had zero credibility as a Vice Presidential candidate in 2008. (The same goes for the Wall Street Journal’s Peggy Noonan.) However, those moments of integrity in the right-wing pundit world are few and far between.
Consider this an open thread. Who are the right-wingers that you absolutely refuse to read under any circumstances, and why? Who do you consider the crazies, and who do you consider the cowards? Who do you consider the worst right-wing pundit of all-time? (A good case could be made for William Kristol; nearly seven years later, I’m still stunned that he actually suggested a John McCain-Clarence Thomas ticket. And let’s not forget that little war he helped to start…)
As they say, the scum always rises to the top. So who tops your list of the scummiest right-wing pundits?
