Jonah Goldberg Meets Group Think and Escapes

Jonah Goldberg writes to explain last week's strange column urging conservatives to get behind Governor Mitt Romney.

"Okay, I give up.

"About a week ago, I wrote a column making a case for Mitt Romney as the GOP nominee. My argument was aimed at fellow conservatives who just can’t get their minds — or at least their hearts — around a Romney candidacy."
. . .
"The reason I wrote the column in the first place was that I felt the cold steel barrel of reality’s revolver pressing up against the back of my head, saying 'write it.'

"Romney’s going to be the nominee. He’s vastly preferable to Obama. If he’s the inevitable nominee, then better for conservatives to make peace with the idea.

"And then, lo and behold, Rick Santorum bursts into the motel room, knocks the gun from reality’s hands and puts reality in a chokehold. 'Not so fast.'"

Welcome back, Jonah, from your strange trip to Reality's abduction room! Actually, it wasn't "Reality" but group think aliens disguised as "Reality".

The beta unit they left as your replacement wasn't working out well. He was speaking conservative as a second language--a dead giveaway for beta units.

Not only did the Jonah beta unit write crazy things about politicians having to honor their vows (obviously not conversant with Earth politics) but even said strange stuff in an interview with Peter Robinson about Goldwater accepting Nixon as the nominee but nothing about Reagan not accepting the 1968 Nixon nomination until the convention. (Peter took it all in stride. Didn't give even a flicker of acknowledgement that he knew it was a beta unit. But, Peter knows these things having worked for Reagan and seen what aliens dressed as reality leave behind.)

Anyway, no more opening the door to strangers. Okay? And when "Reality" seems to be telling you to write something the next time, just close your eyes and say three times "the constitution and conservatism". If it still doesn't go away, call Dr. Thomas Sowell.

All kidding aside, this is what group think is like. What the group thinks to be true seems so real and incontrovertible. Until facts get the upper hand.

Fortunately, Jonah Goldberg's escape from group think came quickly and left few bruises. Many of his pundit colleagues have not been so fortunate. Indeed, welcome back, Jonah!