Goldberg and Guthrie

...I have always been an Andrew Sullivan supporter; I've always thought he was a good man and a true, principled conservative. This is one of the better things I've read about this election:

I CANNOT SUPPORT HIM IN NOVEMBER: I will add one thing more. And that is the personal sadness I feel that this president who praises freedom wishes to take it away from a whole group of Americans who might otherwise support many parts of his agenda. To see the second family tableau with one family member missing because of her sexual orientation pains me to the core. And the president made it clear that discriminating against gay people, keeping them from full civic dignity and equality, is now a core value for him and his party. The opposite is a core value for me. Some things you can trade away. Some things you can compromise on. Some things you can give any politician a pass on. But there are other values - of basic human dignity and equality - that cannot be sacrificed without losing your integrity itself. That's why, despite my deep admiration for some of what this president has done to defeat terror, and my affection for him as a human being, I cannot support his candidacy. Not only would I be abandoning the small government conservatism I hold dear, and the hope of freedom at home as well as abroad, I would be betraying the people I love. And that I won't do.

Of course, this was obvious to some people in 2000; but where are the good men and women who are conservatives supposed to go? They are not Democrats. The Republicans - epitomized by their embrace of the hate and lie-filled speech of traitor Zell Miller - are fast becoming an unacceptable option to many good people. (Including, it seems, the Vice President's own family.)

However, this is a bed conservatives made for themselves. They surveyed the political landscape - and they sold their soul by allowing the religious right to become such an important part of the Republican base. This why Sullivan is such a fascinating person - and someone I very much enjoy reading. On one hand, he can write something as powerful and important as the above. On the other hand, he can somehow act surprised by this development. What Republican party has he been following the last 30 years?