The Insaneosphere's Pledge To Make Themselves Irrelevant

Hugh Hewitt has a brilliantly self-destructive idea.

If the United States Senate passes a resolution, non-binding or otherwise, that criticizes the commitment of additional troops to Iraq that General Petraeus has asked for and that the president has pledged, and if the Senate does so after the testimony of General Petraeus on January 23 that such a resolution will be an encouragement to the enemy, I will not contribute to any Republican senator who voted for the resolution. Further, if any Republican senator who votes for such a resolution is a candidate for re-election in 2008, I will not contribute to the National Republican Senatorial Committee unless the Chairman of that Committee, Senator Ensign, commits in writing that none of the funds of the NRSC will go to support the re-election of any senator supporting the non-binding resolution.

He even set up a website for it. And since conservative bloggers are like fireflies to a porchlight (in more ways than one), there are now 4,000 signatories to it.

I'd think this was a bigger deal, but in truth, this will cost the NRSC approximately 50 dollars. These bastards don't contribute time or money. They leave that to the Scaifes and the fundies who get the cash from the jelly jar.

But it's hilarious in terms of the worldview of these clowns. The progressive blogosphere has grown up around rewarding good behavior, by running our own candidates against those who the Beltway denotes the presumed victor. The conservative blogosphere can only think in terms of punishing bad behavior. They're not going to find their own "rightroots" candidates (that concept failed so miserably because they simply found a bunch of people the NRCC and the NRSC picked for them anyway). They're going to hurt the party and try to make it bleed (though, as I said, it'll probably be a pinprick).

This is the conservative worldview. They believe that people only respond to punishment and intimidation. The fact that they have absolutely no leverage? Who cares? Works for the Bush Administration, works for the Bush defenders.