Natives agree: Emperor Dreher wearing no conservative pants
Our anonymous commenter Anonymous and I aren't the only ones who see that Rod Dreher's dramatic, pearl-clutching resignation to SSM is nothing more than a phony, cynical pose to drive hits to his blog. Several of his most loyal commenters see right through his pose, too.
Read through the comments on this post and you will see jaws drop, stutterings of incredulity, direct challenges like "Let’s be clear here Rod – would you or would you not have supported the passage of the Arizona bill?", smirking recognition of Dreher's overly flamboyant vogueing - "The blogger doth protest too much, methinks.", and this devastaing exposition from one of Dreher's most loyal followers:
Rod’s been saying for years that socons need to fight for carve-outs for religious freedom. Then when the Arizona bill comes out, he not only refuses to discuss its actual contents, but says he hasn’t even read it because it would just get vetoed, anyway. That’s a staggering cop-out which sounds more than a bit petulant. I mean, he’s been constantly pushing for carve-outs, but keeps it kind of vague what exactly that means, and then when something specific comes down the pike, he refuses to discuss it. Even if it were un-passable (as it was), it would be interesting to discuss its merits and demerits. Right?
I’ve said this before: Rod seems extremely conflicted and I think he knows that he wants to have his cake and eat it, too.
I think "conflicted" probably expresses Dreher's whole problem in this area in the most face-saving way possible.
But the jig is up.
Dreher's no conservative, clearly no anti-SSM conservative, and despite all the loud chatter and the self-medicating, therapeutic performance art he devotes to his impressive collection of religions to date, he really doesn't seem at heart a very religious persom either.
What he is publicly, though, unequivocally, is an enthusiastic food hedonist, ferociously interested in odd sex wherever he can dig it up to blog about it, who opportunistically writes in whatever niche won't actually drive him out - hence his current home in the dog's breakfast that The American Conservative has become.
Let's wrap this up with a final commenter quote that expresses this whole sorry exposure best:
Again? Seriously? Isn’t it time for an installment of “View From Your Table” about now?
Just give up the pretenses to social conservatism, Dreher. Just quit. Leave the space for real social conservatives flying true colors.
Instead, put your energies into getting yourself a cooking show snuggled between gay designers on Bravo or somewhere, somewhere you can finally be true to yourself.
Somewhere you can finally be happy, kick your drug addiction, and get an honest night's sleep for once in your life.
[NFR: Turmarion, I think that the time for carve-outs has passed. It is pointless to think about them now. The overclass is going to have what it wants. It's now just a matter of time. -- RD]
ReplyDeleteThe inner five-year old comes forth, once again. Some things never change.
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ReplyDeleteI've supported Rod for years because he was the only Catholic in the public square (when he was a Catholic) to confront the consequences of the clerical sex-abuse scandal forthrightly. If, however, he is becoming what people on this blog say he's becoming, then he's starting to sound like Mark Shea without the acidic vitriol.
ReplyDeletePredators like Dreher, who live only to narcissistically molest ideas themselves while opportunistically converting the lives of others (eg Ruthie & Erin) to that service, can thrive only by preying on those who for whatever reason want or need to believe in them. As soon as that need or desire finds more enduring means to its satisfaction the veil tends to fall away, and one can see Dreher for what he's always been, just another low-self esteem hustler on the make in any venue that will accommodate him.
DeleteKeith
Joe, I have no problem with confronting the sex abuse in the Catholic church. But Dreher's habit can best be described as tacitly reducing the Catholic church to a collection of child molesters by means of an incessant drumbeat.
DeleteI've known around a dozen or so priests in my life and none of them were child molesters. Most Catholics will not experience this evil first hand. Sure, we need to be aware that they exist and do something about it, but we've done that and by all but a few accounts, we've done a pretty good job of stopping it.
Re: Mark Shea, the bile and vitriol was mainly my problem with him. I haven't look at his stuff much lately. He could barely voice an opinion on certain topics without using imprecise superlatives. An odd quality for a Catholic writer--unless he is only set on advancing his own agenda. Add this tendency to his moral equivalences under the guise of "balance" and you have a much smellier mess than Dreher without the packaging.
Deletecuz there aren’t too many blogs with this mix of Catholic theology and daffy pop culture cogitations. Tomorrow, who knows? I might find just about anything, or blather about anything else,
DeleteHey, I don't know about you guys, but I'm gittin' on down to the little ole lot at the corner of Grunt and Main before Magic Mark goes TOTALLY BONKERS and just GIVES every 2014 on the lot away to make room for the 2015's.
Keith
Better late than never Joseph!
ReplyDeleteJonathan Carpenter
Pauli, Shea's problem goes way beyond bile and vitriol. The man not only cannot think. He cannot understand the consequences of his ideas or behavior. Moreover, he doesn't care! Just look at his understanding of the Catholic Church's teaching on capital punishment, or just re-read the two pieces I wrote about his "opinions" on geopolitics two years ago (which you graciously posted and supported).
ReplyDeleteJoe, you see, this is where I think you go to far. Saying someone "cannot think" is completely over-the-top. The man has published books. So when you say something like that you lose credibility and authority that you would otherwise have.
DeleteHe is wrong on the topics which you wrote your articles on, so I posted them. When you write these pieces, Joe, you do so with a measured and controlled tone which, along with your more knowledgeable understanding of the topic, gives you authority and helps you easily crush the untruths and half-truths that Shea buys into with regard to the middle-east, Israel, etc. My suggestion is that you just take that approach to your blog commenting.
Pauli, I know I'm too emotional about Shea and I need to move past him. But just because somebody published a book doesn't mean he can think. Rod Dreher is the prime example.
DeleteBesides, Shea's books have editors. It's an open question how much they had to clean up. If Shea's books were like his blog, he'd never get published.
As far as the clerical sex-abuse crisis goes, Pauli, I suggest you read the following:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.podles.org/dialogue/francis-the-fixer-665.htm
As April 27 approaches, I'm sure we will be treated to many of these posts.
Delete