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Learning lessons

So, here’s an article at Truthout titled Conservatives Learn the Wrong Lesson From GOP Defeat in Virginia. First conservative mentioned is Ann Coulter:

If the reaction from prominent right-wing media figures is any indication, conservatives are having a very hard time coping with the resounding loss of Republican candidate Ed Gillespie in the Virginia gubernatorial election on Tuesday.

We can start with Ann Coulter.

Hey @EdWGillespie! If your pals, George Bush & Haley Barbour, had been a little less enthusiastic about open borders, you would have won tonight.

— Ann Coulter (@AnnCoulter) November 8, 2017
If @realDonaldTrump doesn’t keep his campaign promise to build a wall & deport illegals, what happened to VA will happen to the entire country.

— Ann Coulter (@AnnCoulter) November 8, 2017

It is quite possibly the case that some conservatives have learned the wrong lesson from Virginia. The lesson Democrats learn from defeats it that they were too liberal, while many Republicans truly do draw the conclusion that they were not conservative enough.

But Ann Coulter and her ilk are poor examples. I very much doubt that Ann Coulter believes a word of her tweets. The fact of the matter is that people like her thrive when their side is losing, and it is in her interests to advocate positions that will cause Republicans to lose. She can make more money that way, and let’s face it, she’s only in it for the money. Limbaugh too, is far happier playing defense than offense, and I’m sure he’s nostalgic for the good times with Obama in office.

In fact, the Republicans as a whole do far better when they are out of power, or at least out of effective power. Ryan would be happy as a pig in shit right now if Hillary Clinton was president, because he could be advocating for tax cuts without having to do things like actually identifying those “loopholes” he intends to close to pay for tax cuts for the rich. Back in his halcyon days under Obama he could propose magic tax cuts secure in the knowledge that the press wouldn’t even bother to point out that his numbers didn’t add up. Now he’s facing a rebellion in his own ranks, not to mention a good likelihood that he’ll lose his seat in 2018 (not that he minds that so much; the Koch Brothers will reward him with a sinecure).

So, the Republicans aren’t necessarily learning the wrong lesson. They are merely spouting lines that serve their own interests, which in the case of the Coulters and Limbaughs, is all about money.

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