Jonah Goldberg has a must-read column on the vulgarity that now permeates too much of the conservative movement. The headline is "Vulgarity is the Starter Pistol in the Race to the Bottom."
Yes, we see incredible vulgarity on both sides of the aisle now–when before in American history did millions of women all over the country, including many of the best-educated and most professionally prominent, don hats referencing a particular part of the female anatomy and march in the streets?
But Jonah focuses on vulgarity (make that extreme obscenity in the case of eleven day wonder Anthony Scaramucci) on the conservative side. Jonah writes:
So about those barnyard epithets. It's hard to miss how so many rank-and-file Republicans relish the president's crude taunts and insults. Nor is it easy to overlook the fact that the president seemed perfectly comfortable with Scaramucci speaking like a "Sopranos" character (claims by the White House press secretary in the wake of Scaramucci's firing notwithstanding).
Not long ago, it fell to conservatives such as Bill Bennett, Ralph Reed, Tony Perkins and Mike Huckabee to denounce vulgarity wherever they saw it. And while these men don't publicly condone Trump's language, they essentially roll their eyes at anyone who makes much of a fuss. And among the rank and file on Twitter, Facebook, etc., there's fierce competition to be as vulgar as possible, or to be as vigorous as possible in defending presidential vulgarity.
The economy is picking up after eight years of stagnation, we're seeing an uptick in employment, and there are so many positive things going on. But these economic improvements will matter less if we destroy our culture.