She voted for Bush because Kerry’s foreign policy was FUBAR. Alot of Dems did.

Dalton: Anybody who actually believes Ann Althouse is even the least bit liberal is out of their mind.

But you’re one of those who thinks CCN is middle road and doesn’t “know anyone who voted for Nixon”. So you’re analysis means sqaut.

You’re also forgetting that she was one of the “constitutional scholars” who signed the letter insisting Clinton’s perjury and obstruction of justice in a sexual discrimination investigation was not an impeachable offense.

This conservative disagrees with her quite often, but I appreciate the opportunity to hold a civil discussion with someone who thinks differently than me. Its hard to find a Lefty like that these days.

BTW, nice work GP. Based from my experience watching lefty bloggers blast her over the last 3 years, you pretty much nailed it.

The woman has a blog on blogspot. You people make it sound like you are required to listen to her. Clearly, you are sad that no one listens to you instead.

You’re right about the dogs, too. The Dachshund with the ball-throwing machine … good stuff!

“Anyone who endorses Bush for a second term and then endorses Obama (without admitting a considerable intervening epiphany, which is plausible — please alert me if you find it) is enough to inform me that I don’t need to pay much attention to them. I have far more respect for an honest liberal, if one can be found.”

And I think Althouse is exactly this:

“Is she blogging for attention, employing the “negative publicity is better than no publicity” angle?”

There are lots of people and websites available to folks who want to honestly, really stay in touch with the political culture and who tolerate a diversity of opinion. It ain’t the Althouse Outhouse.

I put Althouse in the same category and caliber as a feminine AndieRooney –not the curmudgeon angle so much as the quirky, not relevant, free spirit, “I’ll-say-anything-to-fill-this-segment” angle Rooney has come to represent so well.

And there’s an easy answer to why some “soc con” folks adore Althouse: she’s got more cynic in her little pinky than the Greek achetype Hipparchia. Although she does have great taste in dogs –and that may be her largest redeeming feature.

She posts anything (especially headlines bashing Obama) she thinks will get the wingnuts who are her every day visitors to run with.

Anybody who posts anything that even hints at liberalism is immediately attacked from all sides.

How convenient that you bring up atheism in such context at the very moment I’m typing a comparison of liberalism to a religion. Well done. Thank you.

Asked and answered, ehh?

I can never figure out why I read Althouse. I find very little enlightening about her posts and thought her support of Obama frivolous. Yet she has a very intelligent stable of commenters. I sometimes tire of the cheap-shot “pile on the dissenters” attitude that reigns in certain subject areas, but generally she runs one of the most interesting comment sections in the blogosphere. How, I don’t know, but she does.

As for the liberals and why they hate her. Pfft! As with the adherents of any medieval religion, liberals are first and foremost concerned with rooting out heresy.

I’d call Althouse a true free spirit, one who lives by society’s laws, yet is willing to go with what life throws her way.

Do I wish she hadn’t voted for Obama? All I can say is she was very reasonable in her choices even if many of them wouldn’t be mine.
She is the rare person who actually listens to differing opinions and makes up her own mind.

“Some damn with faint praise. Others pay compliments with their criticism because they expect and demand more.”

Alrighty.

“Does Althouse praise conservatives because she thinks her liberalism has nothing to lose, thus freeing her to burnish her objectivity by throwing conservatives a bone? The opposite?”

Umm… isn’t it possible that she praises conservatives (and liberals) when she thinks they did something praiseworthy and criticizes them when she thinks they did something bad? … Just maybe?

No no you’re right it has to be a double vulcan mind trick to position herself better because its not possible to ever praise Republicans because we’re all evil demon fascist nazi monkeys. I forget.

“Is she blogging for attention, employing the “negative publicity is better than no publicity” angle?”

Well Ms. Althouse is clearly a master of reeling people into her vortex, but I really think her blogging has more to do with her own sick amusement at watch her pawns dance than getting attention. Attention seeking is beneath the Althouse.

“What are her politics?”

A lot of times you have to read between the lines on this one. She seems to be a fairly moderate Democrat in the old skool sense, which means she disagrees with the new socialist lite “progressives” about as much as she does us evil demon nazi rethuglikkans. You might want to take a moment to wrap your brain around that one.

“If she can’t or won’t say, I wouldn’t think she’s much of a read.”

So you are calling her a political whore and you don’t even read her blog? That’s some chutzpah there friend.

“Frankly, someone who endorses a second Bush term who then endorses an Obama first term is someone who either isn’t paying attention or is blogging/voting for other reasons. Who knows.”

This all revolves around the classic liberal position that only the liberal idea exists.

Option one, you are stupid (not paying attention) and you don’t realize that only the liberal idea exists.

Option two, you are evil (blogging/voting for other reasons) and realize that only the liberal idea exists, but are just so gosh darn evil that you will vote against it anyway.

Never does the liberal consider that a thinking person could actually… GASP! … disagree with them! Like for reals. Like after thinking on it and stuff.