Rich Lowry

Richard "Starbursts" Lowry is the editor of National Review and a noted aficionado of Alaskan beauty queens. Among his specialties are masculinity, culture and egregiously bad predictions.

History
Lowry is a perfect example of cradle-to-grave wingnut welfare. He attended the University of Virginia where he got his first real taste of conservatism at the right-wing cage liner Virginia Advocate. After college, he found a job as research assistant for Charles Krauthammer. From there, he headed to the National Review and started working his way up the ranks. He even found the time to write a traditional anti-Clinton book - Legacy: Paying the Price for the Clinton Years - which was published by traditional anti-Clinton book publisher Regnery Press.

In spite of this history, Lowry contributed to a book on conservative conversion stories. His "conversion" involved going from a nominally pro-gun conservative to a more pro-gun conservative.

Lowry, the culture warrior
One of Lowry's favorite hobby horses is the rotten American culture. Per Lowry, the permissive, socialist liberal culture was to blame for everything from the abuses at Abu Ghraib to the shooting at Virginia Tech to the devastation of New Orleans by Hurricane Katrina. (the argument here is that the enervating effects of welfare made New Orleans less able to recover from Katrina than from previous hurricanes).

Civil liberties are for suckers
Like many conservatives, Lowry lost all respect for the Constitution and basic human rights after 9/11. While he was not as vociferous as some, he still offered at least tacit support for expanded domestic surveillance, torture, and even collective punishment.

The Lowry Test
Like Bill Kristol and David Brooks, Lowry has a knack for making erroneous predictions. Among the more unfortunate ones:


 * George Allen is really going places
 * John Bolton will be nominated U.N. ambassador
 * Obama can't possibly win the primary
 * And, of course, the infamous "We're Winning" cover and everything that followed

Al Franken and Lowry
One of Lowry's obsessions is masculinity and the supposed lack thereof among liberals. In 2000, he appeared on CNN and alleged that Democrats had "feminized" and "sissified" politics. In response, Al Franken called Lowry and challenged him to a fistfight. Franken recounted the incident in Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them. As expected, Lowry backed out, then followed up with a column in which he likened Franken to Richard Simmons.

Sarah Palin
This one speaks for itself: A very wise TV executive once told me that the key to TV is projecting through the screen. It's one of the keys to the success of, say, a Bill O'Reilly, who comes through the screen and grabs you by the throat. Palin too projects through the screen like crazy. I'm sure I'm not the only male in America who, when Palin dropped her first wink, sat up a little straighter on the couch and said, "Hey, I think she just winked at me." And her smile. By the end, when she clearly knew she was doing well, it was so sparkling it was almost mesmerizing. It sent little starbursts through the screen and ricocheting around the living rooms of America. This is a quality that can't be learned; it's either something you have or you don't, and man, she's got it.