Goldberg: ‘Conservative Groups’ Don’t Try To Dictate What Sexual ‘Positions You Can Be In’
Goldberg: ‘Conservative Groups’ Don’t Try To Dictate What Sexual ‘Positions You Can Be In’
In an interview today with Salon about his new book, Liberal Fascism, National Review’s Jonah Goldberg is asked if his claim “that liberalism today sees no realm of human life that is beyond political significance,” could “just as easily be said of the American right.”
Goldberg concedes that “there are lots of places on the right where this is so,” but then argues that “the equation between liberalism and conservatism” doesn’t go so far because “you don’t have conservative groups” dictating people’s personal sex lives:
That said, I don’t think that the equation between liberalism and conservatism goes as far as you would like to take it. You know, you have environmental groups giving out kits and instructions about how to have environmentally conscious sex. You don’t have conservative groups talking about what kind of condoms you should use or what positions you can be in. That kind of thing doesn’t really go on.
Goldberg’s argument is “head-spinningly absurd.” He claims that “you don’t have conservative groups” prescribing “what positions you can be in.” But this assertion ignores the fact that it was conservatives who sought to continue criminalizing sodomy, which is certainly considered a sexual position.
To be fair to Goldberg, he has written in the past that he is personally “against sodomy laws.” But the same can’t be said for the many “conservative groups” who supported the state of Texas in the landmark Supreme Court case, Lawrence v. Texas, which struck down anti-sodomy laws:
The American Center for Law and Justice, American Family Association, the attorneys general of the states of Alabama, South Carolina and Utah, Center for Arizona Policy, Center for Law and Justice International, Center for the Original Intent of the Constitution, Concerned Women for America, Family Research Council, Focus on the Family, Texas legislators, Liberty Counsel, Pro Family Law Center, Texas Eagle Forum; Daughters of Liberty Republican Women of Houston, Texas; Spirit of Freedom Republican Women’s Club, Texas Physicians Resource Council, Christian Medical and Dental Association, Catholic Medical Association, and United Families International.
In Goldberg’s mind, criminalizing a consensual sexual act apparently isn’t the same as dictating “what positions you can be in.”
Topic Cloud
ArchivesBlog Roll
It wasn’t so long ago they prevented condom sales in some states, I believe Connecticut was one of the last (in my youth)
January 11th, 2008 at 7:38 pmi shudder to think of goldberg in ANY sexual position, with or without a partner… the mind reels…
And, yes, I DO take it personally
January 11th, 2008 at 7:56 pmConvoluted ‘logic’. Apparently research isn’t part of writing a book? (take that how you will – the research, that is!).
January 11th, 2008 at 7:59 pmThis book will be in the ‘remand bin’ at your local bookstore. Oh the inanity of it all.
I object to your false portrayal of Jonah Goldberg.
He now has a mustache and beard!
January 11th, 2008 at 8:01 pmIt seems that the Clintons are dis’n blacks and courting hispanic votes.
January 11th, 2008 at 8:13 pmJonah Goldberg was born from the loins of his masculine, loud-mouthed, blow-hard, mother during the Impeach Clinton sh|t storm brought to us by the RePugniScum, reich-wing, Facist, phu(kwad, mouth breathers.
You CANNOT find a bigger MOMMY’S BOY MORON!!
January 11th, 2008 at 8:13 pmhave you ever met a conservative having fun?
January 11th, 2008 at 8:14 pmWhat the F_CK!?
Who agreed to publish such shit? Liberal Fascism?
I won’t go into the sex thing. It boggles the mind…
January 11th, 2008 at 8:20 pmThe Doughy Pantload speaketh — nobody listeneth.
January 11th, 2008 at 8:21 pmGuess who’s Mommy is going to be buying a garage full of books…?
January 11th, 2008 at 8:22 pmWe are at war..and the economy is in bad shape..and Goldberg is interested in who dictates more sexual positions,the left or the right……Wow
January 11th, 2008 at 8:23 pmMan OH Man…..I hope that twit doesn’t breed………….yeah Zooey…it does boggle the mind.
January 11th, 2008 at 8:24 pmDoughy Pantload is absolutely correct; conservatives do not talk about what sexual positions you can be in because there is only one that they’re willing to acknowledge at all. Even mentioning any other positions or possibilities will immediately cause teenage girls to become pregnant, homosexuals to fornicate in the street and all heterosexual marriages (the only marriages) to shatter into little bits.
Goldberg has written a supremely stupid book based on an extremely stupid “theory” and now absolutely must continue to produce these extremely stupid statements in order to prop it all up. When you happen to be working out of the shallow end of the gene pool, this kind of desperate scrabbling is all you can produce. What is the most astonishing is that anyone in the world would publish a word this twit wrote and I still find it implausible that anyone is paying for the privilege.
January 11th, 2008 at 8:26 pmLet’s face it; the conservative brand is running on fumes. They’re waking up to the realization that every one of their ideas has either been rejected by the American people or has been a failure in practice.
This tome by the Doughy Pantload is just one more turn on the mason jar lid, sealing in the stench for generations to come.
January 11th, 2008 at 8:29 pmnever heard of him.
January 11th, 2008 at 8:35 pmdare i say it……………doggie style…………OHHHHHHHHHHhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh….there I go…on my way to hell…AGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh….see ya……………………send cold beer.
January 11th, 2008 at 8:38 pmGod, give me a break. Telling people about environmentally conscious condoms has nothing to do with telling people what positions they can be in or anything about the sex act other than what condom to use.
These people make absolutely no sense. I can’t believe that anyone would give them the time of day. They make patently absurd arguments all in the pursuit of demonizing the Democrats. It makes me so mad I find myself wanting to play dirty the way they do just to give them a dose of their own medicine.
January 11th, 2008 at 8:41 pmGoldberg’s screed is a badly-constructed mud hut, that he must continually slather with fresh layers of muck lest it fail from it’s internal inconsistency.
January 11th, 2008 at 8:42 pmi guess noah’s never met joe jackson:
“If you want to know about the gay politician
January 11th, 2008 at 8:56 pmIf you want to know how to drive your car
If you want to know about the new sex position
You can read it in the sunday papers, read it in the sunday papers”
It is quite simple, Goldberg is either a liar or an idiot, maybe both at the same time.
January 11th, 2008 at 8:56 pm‘Conservative Groups’ Don’t Try To Dictate What Sexual ‘Positions You Can Be In’
That’s because they only have two choices: left or right hand.
January 11th, 2008 at 9:05 pm,
Let’s not forget how Goldberg attempts to JUSTIFY the rise of the KKK.
.
January 11th, 2008 at 9:07 pmWhy are the liberal bloggers giving any attention to this fool? If I had a college student espousing such stupidity, I would flunk them. This kind of willful ignorance should prohibit anyone from entering an institution of higher learning, much less writing for the general public.
Then again, he is a Republican pundit. Enough said.
January 11th, 2008 at 9:10 pmhe’s just tired of being called “the doughy pantload” and is aiming for “the doughy condom load.” I can’t believe how dumb he is. I might add that the less horrible anti sodomy laws also applied to heterosexual couples. Less evil than homophobia, but even closer than dictation positions. In contrast, liberals don’t do talk about what positions you can be in.
Goldberg demonstrates that he is not just dishonest but stupid by chosing the issue in which conservatives are most eager to dictate behavior compared to liberals.
Good catch.
January 11th, 2008 at 9:11 pmhey…it’s not so hot down here……but I’m gettin thirsty…….send more cold beer.
January 11th, 2008 at 9:21 pmhey…it’s not so hot down here……but I’m gettin thirsty…….send more cold beer.
Comment by mudsharks buddy — January 11, 2008 @ 9:21 pm
Keystone ok? I’m kinda strapped for cash.
January 11th, 2008 at 9:22 pmThis post just Screams for a Larry Craig joke, but I’m too tired to think of one, it’s been a long week.
January 11th, 2008 at 9:23 pm#25……please…….I’d like to see some kind of proof of that…..that’s horrible….that link you provided ….was useless…sorry.
January 11th, 2008 at 9:24 pmhey…it’s not so hot down here……but I’m gettin thirsty…….send more cold beer.
Comment by mudsharks buddy — January 11, 2008 @ 9:21 pm
Keystone ok? I’m kinda strapped for cash.
Comment by Zooey — January 11, 2008 @ 9:22 pm
Or Pearl? Maybe I have a Foster’s… let me check.
January 11th, 2008 at 9:24 pmAnd just who is this A$$hat anyway? Another Closeted Gay Repuke? I have a sexual position for him, it envolves his head and his a$$.
Buck Fush
January 11th, 2008 at 9:24 pmas long as it’s cold…it’s ok with me…..but send a lot…….the repugs down here are gettin kinda antsy……..me thinks their Coors folks…..F em…..I’ll just drink in front of em…maybe give em the swill.
January 11th, 2008 at 9:26 pmThis post just Screams for a Larry Craig joke, but I’m too tired to think of one, it’s been a long week.
Comment by LibertyLover — January 11, 2008 @ 9:23 pm
This Idaho resident thanks you…
January 11th, 2008 at 9:26 pmREVERSE COWGIRL, ALL THE WAY!!!
January 11th, 2008 at 9:27 pmas long as it’s cold…it’s ok with me…..but send a lot…….the repugs down here are gettin kinda antsy……..me thinks their Coors folks…..F em…..I’ll just drink in front of em…maybe give em the swill.
Comment by mudsharks buddy — January 11, 2008 @ 9:26 pm
Frankly I’m surprised that there is room for you… perhaps someone could give you special dispensation… isn’t there a pedophile priest down there somewhere? You know up here in the real world they let the lesser offenders out and just keep the really bad guys.
January 11th, 2008 at 9:29 pmYou know up here in the real world they let the lesser offenders out and just keep the really bad guys.
Comment by LibertyLover — January 11, 2008 @ 9:29 pm
I’m pretty sure that in order to bet out of hell, mudshark has to take the Doughy Pantload’s virginity.
January 11th, 2008 at 9:32 pmMe thinks Busch would be proper maker…you guys oughta see all the repugs down here…whew………..Theres Tricky Dicky…and over theres Ronnie…..wait………what’s that……….OHHHH hehehehe….two big thrones……one with DC on it………and the other …..DumbF**k on it..hmmmmm…I wonder who those could be for?
January 11th, 2008 at 9:34 pm#36.NOOOOOOOOOOOO!
January 11th, 2008 at 9:35 pmnope…ain’t goin there…….not a chance in …….hmmmmm………nope ain’t goin there….I’ll wait.
January 11th, 2008 at 9:36 pmNOOOOOOOOOOOO!
Comment by mudsharks buddy — January 11, 2008 @ 9:35 pm
I’ll order more beer…
January 11th, 2008 at 9:37 pmHey STROM……..Watch that pitchfork………….
January 11th, 2008 at 9:39 pmHeh. Mudshark, you’d be fun at one of TheZoo’s “cesspool” parties. :D
January 11th, 2008 at 9:40 pmIn his defense, he’s right that conservatives don’t go around telling people what kind of condoms to use.
They go around telling people not to use condoms at all.
January 11th, 2008 at 9:42 pmI am shit full of this position the GOP has put us in, talk about being screwed!
Hold on buddy’s buddy, I will be there real soon! 3 Coronas and a Bud Light. I had to bribe the Head Incubus, Cheney with the last San Miguel.
January 11th, 2008 at 9:45 pmthanks….wait a minute……theres a big bright light……and a hand coming at me……WHOAAAAA……..Hey wasup….havent seen you in a long while…what’s that?…..yeah sure no problem….will do……thanks….ok ..and hey…when ya get back up there…tell my peeps I’ll see them someday…thanks Martin.
January 11th, 2008 at 9:49 pmWhew……..that was somethin else………….you wouldn’t believe it if I told ya……let’s just say this……….their making arraignments for the next GOP convention….
January 11th, 2008 at 9:52 pm#42 thanks…………but in a seriousness…..with this asshats assertation that Liberals actually are going around telling people how to have sex…coupled with rudy’s campaign,McCain,Thompson….and ALL THE REST of it……….sometimes you have to laugh at it…because it’s so f*****g absurd……..it does truly boggle the mind.
January 11th, 2008 at 9:58 pmWhew……..that was somethin else………….you wouldn’t believe it if I told ya……let’s just say this……….their making arraignments for the next GOP convention….
Comment by mudsharks buddy — January 11, 2008 @ 9:52 pm
Did you let Falwell touch you? How did you get out of there?
January 11th, 2008 at 9:58 pmNO…Falwell was over in the corner doin it doggie style…with Hitler.I dunno… a big hand reached down and grabbed me……..Martin says to keep on keepin on…and not to give up…
January 11th, 2008 at 10:03 pmZooey……you’re killin me….LOL
January 11th, 2008 at 10:08 pmmudshark,
I’m stone sober, and I need to do something about that…
Good old Martin, always there for a hand up. ;)
January 11th, 2008 at 10:17 pmNo need for conservatives to dictate what position to enjoy sex because they only know one position, the missionary position unless they are paying to have sex.
January 11th, 2008 at 10:18 pmit’s one thing for environmental groups to make recommendations as to how to limit your carbon footprint vis a vis sexual production, and yet quite another for social conservative groups to seek to prohibit sodomy outright.
January 11th, 2008 at 10:20 pm#51…yeah he was always there trying to help people…..until they killed him in 68
January 11th, 2008 at 10:23 pmZooey – are you soliciting mudshark?
January 11th, 2008 at 10:24 pm#51…yeah he was always there trying to help people…..until they killed him in 68
Comment by mudsharks buddy — January 11, 2008 @ 10:23 pm
I remember that day. F_ckers.
January 11th, 2008 at 10:27 pmZooey – are you soliciting mudshark?
Comment by Cats r Flyfishn — January 11, 2008 @ 10:24 pm
To TheZoo, yes. Otherwise, I’d be too shy. ;)
January 11th, 2008 at 10:28 pmAmerica’s children are falling behind 3rd world nations again:
http://www.theonion.com/content/video/report_american_schools_trail
January 11th, 2008 at 10:29 pmsorry for the downer…but we must never forget.What these people are capable of….JFK,MLK and RFK…………….I am concerned for the well being of Obama AND H Clinton……………………..I hope my concern is not well founded.
January 11th, 2008 at 10:29 pmeither way…I’m flattered……
January 11th, 2008 at 10:32 pmI am concerned for the well being of Obama AND H Clinton……………………..I hope my concern is not well founded.
Comment by mudsharks buddy — January 11, 2008 @ 10:29 pm
I’m concerned as well, especially for Obama. I can just imagine some redneck getting agitated…
January 11th, 2008 at 10:32 pmmudsharks buddy – here’s a hint: click on either Zooey’s or Cats r Flyfishin name in their posts
January 11th, 2008 at 10:40 pmHow about idiot conservative groups that even have to wear special fscking underwear while they have sex in the one allowed position for the one allowed reason?
January 11th, 2008 at 10:46 pmhttp://youtube.com/watch?v=qnuhF5Dq5Yo&feature=related …The Repug mantra.
January 11th, 2008 at 10:47 pmlike this.
January 11th, 2008 at 10:48 pmooppsss…..hmmmmmm? well that didn’t work….oh well….I’m not to cumpooter savy
January 11th, 2008 at 10:49 pmOHHHHHHHHH…..ok…….i think.
January 11th, 2008 at 10:50 pmok thanks ebb………gotcha…….
January 11th, 2008 at 10:52 pmWhat Goldberg is doing here is splitting hairs. He is building a strawman argument and using it to make up excuses for the conservative groups that do want to control everyone’s sex life.
It really doesn’t matter if he was literally correct when he said conservatives don’t try to dictate what sexual positions “you can be in” -which he tries to spin it as meaning conservatives are not interested in controlling anyone’s sex life.
Fact remains that it is conservatives who have tried to define what is acceptable (in terms of sex) to a monogamous, man-woman, sort of deal, and exclusively for reproduction purposes.
Goldberg is an example of what passes for a “pundit” in conservative circles (the others being Coulter, Malkin, D’Souza, and many other vacuous prevaricators).
January 11th, 2008 at 11:29 pmAnd someone at Alternet further takes Goldberg to task for his idiocy.
January 11th, 2008 at 11:30 pmI see Goldberg is grasping at non-existent straws.
January 11th, 2008 at 11:30 pmIm not concerned about Goldbergs sex life, but could someone get this man a bra?
January 11th, 2008 at 11:31 pmIm not concerned about Goldbergs sex life, but could someone get this man a bra?
Comment by Xisithrus — January 11, 2008 @ 11:31 pm
Ouch! :D
January 11th, 2008 at 11:34 pmFriday is music night on TheZoo. Requests are being taken!
January 11th, 2008 at 11:40 pmI object to your false portrayal of Jonah Goldberg.
He now has a [...] beard!
Really? What’s her name?
January 11th, 2008 at 11:42 pmWhy does anyone care what he thinks?
January 11th, 2008 at 11:42 pmThis post just Screams for a Larry Craig joke, but I’m too tired to think of one, it’s been a long week.
Comment by LibertyLover — January 11, 2008 @ 9:23 pm
When ever I hear Larry Craig I can’t help but think of “Santorum.” I’m sure he’s be bathed in his fair share of the frothy brew.
January 11th, 2008 at 11:49 pmApparently in his book Goldberg states:
… as a reason why liberals are fascists. A party who hates homosexuals and yet is filled to the brim with them… ? Sounds an awful lot like the Republican Party if you ask me.
January 11th, 2008 at 11:59 pmWhy does anyone care what he thinks?
Comment by Cal Malenky — January 11, 2008 @ 11:42 pm
We still have no evidence that the Doughy Pantload actually thinks.
January 12th, 2008 at 12:00 amIm not concerned about Goldbergs sex life, but could someone get this man a bra?
Comment by Xisithrus — January 11, 2008 @ 11:31 pm
I think that would be a “Bro”.
Or a “Manziere”.
January 12th, 2008 at 12:01 am#77 – Good point, Git. The pull-quotes I’ve seen from this book are just embarrassing in their lack of intellectual rigor. Even the tighty-righties have to have a hard time taking the Doughy Pantload seriously.
January 12th, 2008 at 12:07 amThis retard being published by the LAT caused me to cancel my subscription. Why he gets press I will never understand. He is a lard assed, warmongering, coward who is too chickenshit to ever serve in the wars he loves so much…like most of the neo-con chickenhawk, chickenshit cowards.
January 12th, 2008 at 12:12 amComment by kasinca — January 12, 2008 @ 12:12 am
Oh for heaven’s sake, don’t hold back. Tell us how you really feel! :-D
January 12th, 2008 at 12:14 amJonah’s drunk. All the time.
It’s the only explanation left.
January 12th, 2008 at 12:33 amThe liberals want people to know stuff about sex; including how to use condoms. Conservatives want you to be forbidden innoculations against cancer-causing STDs, and want to tell women what we can do with our bodies – But LIBERALS are the Fascists???? How does one get from there to there?
Why do idiots like him get ANY attention?
January 12th, 2008 at 12:52 amConservative Larry Craig advocated a wide stance.
-GSD
January 12th, 2008 at 1:47 amJonah reminds me of this kid from my high school. He fancied himself some sort of intellectual. Mostly a stereotype, he was the editor of the school paper which like most sucked. Anyway we did not beat him up everyday becuase that wasn’t our thing. Still he was super in need of ridicule.
January 12th, 2008 at 2:34 amI can’t speak to Obama, but don’t worry about Hillary. If there is a power elite, she’s part of it.
Comment by O. Bigfoot
You can’t speak to or for anyone including yourself lying troll
January 12th, 2008 at 8:36 am“…kits and instructions about how to have environmentally conscious sex.”
Anyone know how to get one of these?
January 12th, 2008 at 9:44 am;)
This guy is such an idiot. No, it goes beyond that. He’s a willful bigot.
The Republicans would have the government intervene in every major life decision. Who to marry. Whether to have a child or not. Whether to keep a child or give it up for adoption. Whether you can even use birth control. Whether you can stick tab A only into slot A or if you can also stick it into Slot B every once in a while, or heaven forbid, slot C.
January 12th, 2008 at 10:03 amBut most importantly, they want pictures, so that they can sit around in darkened cubicles and watch.
January 12th, 2008 at 10:06 amRemember, she got some counseling on being prez from Dubya a few months ago.
Comment by O. Bigfoot — January 12, 2008 @ 3:55 am
Which, fortunately for the USA, she ignored and laughed at. Couseling on being president from W is like counseling on being a patriot from you. Useless and counterproductive.
January 12th, 2008 at 10:07 amYou can’t speak to or for anyone including yourself lying troll
Comment by Fred — January 12, 2008 @ 8:36 am
biggie doesn’t lie. he just gets confused.
throwing “bones” and such.
January 12th, 2008 at 11:47 amJonah Goldberg is a total idiot. That this guy replaced the astute Robert Scheer at the LAT boggles the mind.
January 12th, 2008 at 12:05 pm“Liberal Facism”?
Hee hee hee hee hee hee hee hee hee
“Conservative Eden” then should be his next book :)
January 12th, 2008 at 12:33 pm#87…bigfoot…………I can’t believe you actually tried to pull that one.LOL.
January 12th, 2008 at 1:13 pmRemember, she got some counseling on being prez from Dubya a few months ago. Comment by O. Bigfoot — January 12, 2008 @ 3:55 am
Just for grins; what do you think he told her?
January 12th, 2008 at 1:48 pmRemember, she got some counseling on being prez from Dubya a few months ago. Comment by O. Bigfoot — January 12, 2008 @ 3:55 am
Just for grins; what do you think he told her?
Comment by Xisithrus — January 12, 2008 @ 1:48 pm
I’m bettin’ he told her “Presidentin’ is hard work.”
January 12th, 2008 at 1:59 pm“Conservatives” are bankrupt in every way, and are left popping off gibberish like neglected children.
January 12th, 2008 at 2:00 pmI believe it is still a crime in Georgia and some other conservative states for a man and wife to engage in oral sex in their own bedroom.
Thirty-eight years ago, Wayne LaPierre (yes, that one) and I were told by a Daytona Beach motel manager that we could be arrested just for being in the same room overnight with women we were not married to.
January 12th, 2008 at 4:48 pmThat said, I don’t think that the equation between liberalism and conservatism goes as far as you would like to take it. You know, you have environmental groups giving out kits and instructions about how to have environmentally conscious sex. You don’t have conservative groups talking about what kind of condoms you should use or what positions you can be in. That kind of thing doesn’t really go on.
***************************************
No, of course not…because if their words and actions are anything to go on, most conservatives are so sexually repressed that sometimes one is inclined to wonder how they even manage to reproduce.
They don’t believe in educating teenagers about sex because they believe (mistakenly, according to recent statistics) that this will only encourage teenagers to have sex, become pregnant, and have an abortion. They believe (again, mistakenly) that homosexuality is contrary to the laws of nature despite the fact that many zoologists have reported homosexual behavior within a variety of higher-order species. Many of them believe that consensual sex even between two (or more) single adults of the opposite sex is immoral, and some believe that certain sexual practices are immoral even between a husband and his wife. A certain number go so far as to believe that sexual contact exists solely for the purpose of procreation and that any form of contraception is therefore also immoral. So, no…conservatives generally don’t tell people what positions they can be in because they seem to be very uncomfortable with the whole idea of sexuality to begin with and apparently think that sex is only acceptable when the two people (and only two!) involved are of the opposite sex and married to one another.
And while we’re on the subject…I’d be curious to know whom Goldberg is talking about! I haven’t heard about these “environmental groups” to which he refers which are supposedly telling people how to have environmentally-conscious sex. How could the position in which one has sex possibly have any kind of environmental impact?!? That is, unless you’re encouraging people to do it in a brightly-lit room (overuse of electricity) or to do it without using birth control (overpopulation)?
January 12th, 2008 at 5:21 pmJonah Goldberg should be studiously ignored at all times by all people in all forums and in all media.
January 12th, 2008 at 10:50 pmJonah Goldberg is a pant load that stinks to high heaven. Why does he get any space anywhere. What an empty head.
January 14th, 2008 at 8:44 pm