Going Against The Way Things Go Down

By Kleinheider Posted on May 16, 2008 at 9:25 am

Katie Allison Granju wonders whether Bill Hobbs is making a mess of things by mixing his roles as insurgent neoconservative blogger with that of of his day job — Communications Director of the Tennessee Republican Party:

My guess is that state GOP insiders are getting increasingly uncomfortable with this stuff. After all, everyone knows there’s a role inside political parties and campaigns for the Karl Rove guy - that guy who quietly and stealthily drops the bombs on behalf of the party or campaign, without getting party leaders’ hands too dirty by tying their names directly to the attacks. But that guy generally keeps a very low profile. You probably don’t know his name, or even where his office is located. He’s the party hitman, and like all good hitmen, he keeps his head down and moves through crowds unnoticed.

Bill Hobbs certainly breaks the mold of the traditional party spokesman and there is no doubt that he has his detractors who hold true to the old ways but there is one thing you must admire about Hobbs: his stubborn resistance to conformity.

Let’s face it, most of us, in the face of criticism, when confronted by the disdain of the “powers that be”, will back down. We will relent. We will conform. We will adapt to the wishes of those more powerful than us.

Even if we believe we are doing right, even if we are confident that the path we have chosen is the one of ultimate success, that twinge of doubt along with the cacophony of criticism will cause our confidence to wilt. We will go with the flow, we will not buck. We will convince ourselves that the reward is simply not worth the risk.

There is a well-worn, traditional way to be a party spokesman. We all know what it is. Bill Hobbs knows what it is. But Hobbs, he has a different way. And when people tell him he is doing it wrong and that he cannot go against the “way things work” he says, “Screw that mess” and follows his own path.

Say what you want about the man’s ideology, say what you want about the man’s tactics, both of which may be abhorrent to you but what you cannot say is that the man lacks courage. Bill Hobbs has looked into the face of adversity and power and risked annihilation because he believes he has a job to do and he’s gonna do it, no matter what anyone says.

How many amongst us have done that? Not many, I imagine.

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Tags: Barack Hussein Obama, Belmont, Bill Hobbs, Bob Corker, cartoons, Jason Mumpower, Katie Allison Granju, Lamar Alexander, Michelle Obama, neoconservatism, RNC, subversive