Delayed realization

Watched "Real Time with Bill Maher" last night, thanks to a free HBO weekend. The recorder cut off the end of the show, so we missed the end of Bill Maher's rant as well as Andrew Sullivan's auto-erotic moment.

Anyway, what struck me as weird throughout the show was how upset the conservative/right-wing guests on the show seemed to get anytime they perceived that they were being made fun of. They acted almost as if they were the little guy being unfairly picked on by the big liberal bullies (which here could refer to either Bill or "the left" in general). Alan Simpson in particular seemed to get unreasonably bent out of shape at some asides Bill made about the small number of gay people in Wyoming, etc.

Now, on one hand I can see why some might go into a show like Bill Maher's with their backs up a little. Part of the point of that program is to engage in a little confrontation. However, I keep thinking that there must be a reason for the lack of grace that Simpson showed. This is something that I am seeing repeated in other forums, so I don't think it's unique to him. I can think of a couple different reasons for this hyper-sensitivity:

• There are conservatives (such as Simpson and Sullivan) out there who don't identify with the Christian Right, gay-hating, pro-life crowd currently dominating the Republican party, and are uncomfortable at the thought of being lumped in with them. At the same time, they can't repudiate that wing of the party without serious repercussions, so are stuck wailing at mean liberals who make fun of them.
• I suspect that many conservatives are still stuck in a mindset where they're the opposition, and haven't quite come to grips with the fact that they are now firmly in control of the levers of power. They're the big dogs, but they still see themselves as the beleaguered little guy. Merely the fact that they're in charge would lead to more daggers pointed their way, and some apparently find that uncomfortable.

Posted by Jason at November 10, 2004 02:18 PM