When Winning Doesn't Win ...

Over at the National Review Online, Jim Geraghty has an observation: Conservatives feel that even though they are expected to take the Senate, gain in the House, and maintain their governors, they are "disgruntled, disappointed, bored, or frustrated with politics." He writes:

Republicans look around, see a country and world in chaos, and don’t understand why they’re not seeing a broad, angry reaction to President Obama and his allies in Congress. As far as we’re concerned, we’ve been vindicated by events. Leaving no troops in Iraq — “combat forces” or not — left a vacuum for ISIS. The prospects for Afghanistan aren’t much more promising. Far from being “on the run,” the Islamist threat is spreading and intensifying.

Indeed,  he lists the litany of issues including the IRS scandal, Benghazi, Ebola, and so on--and so on. Where's the outrage?

No one can blame conservatives for being frustrated to the point of fury. But if American rank-and-file conservatives and Republicans conclude that the game is rigged, that it’s not worth playing, and withdraw from political life . . . then that will be the ultimate triumph of this president.

Well, Where IS The Outrage?
Jim doesn't really ascribe a culprit in this case (usually? It's the media)--but it's fair to say that he probably blames a broad swath of brought off minorities, biased news agencies, and an imperial president who will use his phone and pen to do whatever he wants regardless of the facts or the will of the populace (unless it's attacking Syria, anyway).

But in case he's willing to look beyond the obvious*, The Omnivore has got something to show him. It's a picture ... of his own article.

Let's pretend Jim is reading this--and looks at the page and goes ... "Huh?? Why's he showing me a pop-up ad?"

The Omnivore turns to Jim and says: "Are you going to tell me you haven't seen this before, Jim?"

Jim (suddenly guardedly): "Can't say as I have--I block pop-ups ... and anyway, they're just ads--they're everywhere."

The Omnivore clicks over to Brietbart.com.

Jim eyes the page: "Well, that's Brietbart. Look they have an ad--so what?"

The Omnivore hits TheWeeklyStandard.

Jim is thrilled: "Look, no FEMA pop-up. See?"

The Omnivore: "Yeah--but look!"

Jim: "I don't see anything."

The Omnivore draws an arrow.

Jim: "So, it's another ad? So what? You hate capitalism or something?"

The Omnivore clicks the ad. "Let's see what it says?"

It says it's going to blow the lid on a scandal that will destroy 251 million lives in Obama's next Benghazi (in six months!) (read the whole freakin' spiel here--seriously). Here's a picture:

You'll Die Unless You Pay Them!

Jim is now, maybe a little cranky?

Jim: "I'm sure this is going somewhere?"

The Omnivore: "Uh, no--it's not going somewhere. It already left."

What's The Omnivore Talking About?
Jim is a smart guy--and The Omnivore's point here is brutally obvious: Conservative news sites--save for the one that explicitly doesn't run ads--are full of this apocalyptic buy-gold/buy-food rip-off crap. These are the big-bucks ads, too: these giant pop-ups are premium advertising. Let's also note that while Brietbart might be a little more populist, the NRO and Weekly Standard are top-tier conservative sites. They're smartly written and educated. Intellectual--and their readers are going to be in the smarter, more literate demographics.

So why are they being targeted by these The-World-Is-Going-To-End ads?

Well, Jim, because they sell--even to top-end educated conservatives.

Now, maybe the world is about to end. Maybe the guys with over-priced Food4Patriots stock-piles are going to be laughing at us in the next six months when the dollar collapses and WWIII breaks out. But I'm betting Jim doesn't believe that.

The Omnivore bets Jim thinks that the Islamic threat is growing--that porous borders are a bad idea, hurting the economy, and certainly a huge potential security threat. The Omnivore wagers that Jim knows he doesn't have Ebola--but thinks that Obama is arrogantly and ignorantly playing with fire because he's politically correct (or, you know, maybe hates America--not sure here).

But the point is, The Omnivore doubts Jim's a prepper.

But his advertisers sure thinks he and the rest of the NRO readership is--they don't put those ads on The Daily Kos (its pop-up is for volunteers).

So maaaaaaaaaaaaaybe--Just maaaaaaaaaaaaaybe, the reason that conservatives see the world so differently than "the rest of America" is because they are either more susceptible to apocalyptic conspiracy theory (FEMA!) or, maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaybe because they have been sold the fuck out by their thought-leaders**.

The Omnivore knows Jim didn't sell the ad--but when asking why the world looks so different? Why Obama can have low popularity scores--but have people not decide he's a Sekret Amerika-Hating Muslim? Maybe it's because most of the country isn't consuming the apocalyptic media-message that is being thrown at them as though the NRO readers were ducks on a shooting-gallery track?

And ... Aaaaaaand if that were the case?

Then what Jim? If that were the case, what if the next Benghazi panel doesn't find anything new?

If the next bombshell in the long history of bombshell's also a dud?

What then?

Ehh ... The Omnivore knows the answer: The Truth Is Out There--We'll Get 'Em Next Time***.

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* "obvious"

** Sorry--not meaning to call you Pajama-boy, Jim. Seriously.

*** Unless 'FEMA'