It may be time to stick together

Matt Walsh – one of my favorite conservative commentators – recently wrote:

“Imagine how much more effective conservatives would be if we had even the slightest sense of camaraderie or just a little bit of loyalty to each other as compatriots in the culture war.”

In response to an objection, he then wrote:

No I don’t want conservatives to blindly follow. I want them to think strategically for once in their damned lives. You can’t win a war when you’re busy shooting at your own side. https://t.co/5wbzEUgyMU

— Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) March 3, 2023

Meanwhile, after Nikki Haley recently spoke at CPAC, MAGA War Room observed that the speaker’s hall was very empty for Nikki Haley’s speech – implying that no one wanted to hear her.

I responded by pointing out it was empty for everyone…

I've been there for two days. That's what the room looks like for every speaker.

It's a very empty room. Period. https://t.co/EygoeAcCzN

— Ruben@thebubbler.co (@thebubblerdotco) March 3, 2023

Doesn’t seem very controversial to me. Certainly not even implying that I’m some Nikki Haley plant there to defend her or attack others.

However, the well-followed “Bad Kitty Unleashed” took issue and accused me of lying. Of course, I was there, and she was not, but that didn’t matter. A few dozen people then liked her tweet.

She then blocked me – the first time I’m aware of ever being blocked – even though I’ve followed her for a few years. I guess she showed me?

The point is not to argue with Bad Kitty. The points are:

• Why would I lie?
• Who cares if there were more or less people than I said?
• How did I become evil or the enemy by pointing out something that every attendee, observer, and news outlet pointed out – attendance was low?
• Are we losing sight of who we should be unified against?

Which brings us back to Matt Walsh. He’s entirely correct that conservatives routinely fail to unite against the left but are very comfortable eating our own. As he was writing this, it was happening to me – the guy with nearly 900 thoughtful posts about conservatism – some supporting Trump, some supporting DeSantis, all supporting whomever advances the movement.

As an epilogue, news outlets from all over pointed out that even Trump couldn’t fill the room – despite many of Bad Kitty’s fans responding to me that it will be standing room only for Trump:

• The New York Post wrote “seats were mostly filled by 5 p.m. – half an hour before Trump took the stage.”
• The Guardian wrote “But a glance at the convention centre ballroom revealed row upon row of empty seats.”
• Politico opened a paragraph with “Speaking to a not-quite-full convention hall…”
• Trump’s attendance even left the door open for some guy named Chris Christie to make fun of the less-than-full room (again, making Walsh’s point)

I’m unaware of Bad Kitty acknowledging this in her feed. But I do know that she was able to leave her own small mark on the endless list of small divisions blocking the effort to unite against socialism in our country.