Conservatives Are Victims in Their Own Minds

GOP rages against elite while holding the reins of power

By Kevin Spak, Newser Staff

Posted Sep 15, 2008 2:50 PM CDT

(Newser) – Rush Limbaugh & Co. like to deride liberal America’s “culture of victimhood,” but these days, it’s conservatives who are acting like victims. The GOP is encouraging its supporters to feel aggrieved and besieged by snooty “elites,” writes Gregory Rodriguez in the Los Angeles Times. This despite the fact that conservatives have been in power for 8 years—surely “one way to define ‘elite,’” he notes.

Historically, American campaigns against elites have involved economic inequality and a push to redistribute wealth, Rodriguez writes. This time "the enemies list is made up of professors, public intellectuals and entertainers, not captains of industry. And without any real redress in mind, conservative populism is all about emotion, not righting any particular social or economic wrong." Look who's acting like a "whiny grievance-monger" now, he adds.

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Sarah Palin, pumps her fist during her speech at the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minn. (AP Photo/Ron Edmonds, file)

Former New York City Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani speaks at the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minn., Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2008. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

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If you can't inspire your base with a coherent vision of the future, then you might as well unify it with the promise to stand up against the boogeyman. - Gregory Rodriguez

Conservatives are right, we have become a nation of victims, but surely it's getting more difficult for them to blame it all on the liberals. - Gregory Rodriguez

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Conservatives Are Victims in Their Own Minds