Freedom Line Blog

At The American Spectator, where the Cain debate is being waged with great ferocity, I posted this long blog entry about the latest controversies surrounding our favorite pizza man. Upshot: Cain needs to get his act together and start handling his public appearances better, start doing some serious homework on issues, and drastically improve his campaign operation — regardless of whether there is any truth at all to the sexual harassment allegations.

But as one of the first people to really delve into the details of his 9-9-9 plan (largely because in theory I REALLY liked the plan), I want to say a little more about this latest controversy. Here’s the deal: Sober reflection and analysis, and sober questions and answers, are called for. It remains a horribly disturbing thing to see so many conservatives rush to judgment on both sides (but mostly circling the wagons in defense of Cain), and to do it so emotionally, in a time when over-emotionalism can play right into the hands of the Left and get us stuck with issues, candidates, positions, or images that can do great damage to conservative prospects in 2012 (and beyond). Conservatives need to train ourselves to react more dispassionately, or at least to channel our normal emotional reactions into constructive actions.  Pickett’s Charge was a horrendous failure. ‘Twould be best for conservatives not to see every controversy as a reason to charge, quite vulnerably, across a mile of open ground.