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James Oliphant’s piece in the LA Times today tells you everything you need to know about what’s wrong with movement conservatism in America today:

Former First Ladies Barbara and Laura Bush worked to end illiteracy. Nancy Reagan famously took on teenage drug use. Lady Bird Johnson planted flowers. But none of them have been seared for something as seemingly benign as calling for kids to eat more vegetables, as Michelle Obama has.

Radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh….remarked on her waistline….Critics have carped about Obama’s spread at her Super Bowl party….the end of school bake sales….government takeover of business….increase in pedestrian deaths….Mitt Romney….”Let them eat cake”….”I’m sorry,” he crowed. “Organic cake.”….encouraging mothers to breast-feed their newborn babies….”very consistent with where the hard left is coming from,” [Rep. Michele] Bachmann said….Conservative blogger Jenny Erikson….Obama’s efforts were “incredibly insulting to parents.”

So that’s where we are. A first lady campaigning against obesity and in favor of breast feeding is now the target of all-out war from the right. I imagine that if she were taking on illiteracy, teenage drug use, or planting flowers, the Republican Party would suddenly find itself opposed to reading, defending Mexican drug cartels, and in favor of vacant lots. And yet we’re supposed to take these people seriously.

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DONALD TRUMP & DEMOCRACY

Mother Jones was founded to do journalism differently. We stand for justice and democracy. We reject false equivalence. We go after stories others don’t. We’re a nonprofit newsroom, because the kind of truth-telling investigations we do doesn’t happen under corporate ownership.

And we need your support like never before, to fight back against the existential threats American democracy faces. Fundraising for nonprofit media is always a challenge, and we need all hands on deck right now. We have no cushion; we leave it all on the field.

It’s reader support that enables Mother Jones to report the facts that are too difficult, expensive, or inconvenient for other news outlets to uncover. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

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