I just don’t understand why David Frum defends one enemy of conservatism after another, while attacking every single influential conservative / libertarian pundit or politician who dares speak his (or her) mind. If Frum considers himself a conservative, wouldn’t it make more sense for him to save his ire for the radical progressives who wish to “radically transform” society?

He’s now defending Dave Weigel, who covered the conservative movement for the Washington Post until earlier this week when he was let go. The reason: it became clear that he only felt contempt for the movement and people he was supposed to cover (objectively).

Weigel – who’s a friend of leftist columnist / blogger and founder of the now infamous Journolist Ezra Klein (who also writes for the WaPo) – habitually referred to conservatives as “ratfuckers” and had not only no good things, but even no neutral things to say about them in the emails he sent to members of Klein’s email list. He constantly insulted them and treated them with the utmost contempt. For such a ‘journalist’ to pretend to offer a glance “inside the conservative movement” is absolutely insane. Yet, he and his progressive media friends did their best to continue the myth that Weigel treated conservatives fairly and depicted their views correctly.

Please excuse the language but: are you fucking insane? There’s no way this arrogant bullshitter (just adopting Weigel’s vocabulary for a moment here) was even remotely doing what he was supposed to do. Of course the Washington Post let him go after said emails leaked out. Damn, they shouldn’t merely have accepted his resignation, they should’ve fired him en plain public.

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t hate Weigel. I actually believe he’s a good writer and blogger. He adds something (a lot) to the wider debate. But he wasn’t hired to write about the conservative movement from a progressive’s perspective. No, he was supposed to be an insider. That, not insulting conservatives at every possible occasion, was what he was meant to do. If you look at his emails, it’s clear that he wasn’t the right man for the job. End of debate.

Even if you’re a leftist or centrist it doesn’t make sense to defend him and to blast the WaPo for letting him go. This is especially the case, however, if you’re a conservative. Like, oh, say, Frum. Not only was Weigel objectively simply the wrong man in the wrong position, but his emails prove beyond any shadow of a doubt that he’s a downright enemy of conservatism. Why would a conservative defend such a man? Do you think he would’ve defended a conservative if the roles were reversed? Of course not!

Frum understands the above as well of course. That’s why I believe that this isn’t about Weigel, or about his treatment, but about his own ambitions. He has discovered that it pays to be the mainstream media’s favorite conservative. And the way to be that is by going after his ideological brethren at every possible occasion, while at the same time supporting (the most ruthless) progressives out there.

How deep the mighty have fallen.