[early 21st century American protologism, 'numbskull', dimwit; dolt + 'skulduggery', mean dishonesty or trickery]
n.
A strategy, action, or conspiracy marked by outright stupidity and undertaken with malign intent.
August 5, 2008
QOTD:
“ But the broader point is that Douthat (and David Brooks, and other ‘nice’ conservatives) are in denial. They’ve tied their fortunes to a party whose electoral success partly depends on getting the xenophobic, racist, homophobe and religious fanatic vote out. The McCain campaign needs to get these people to the polling booths, while simultaneously not alienating moderates too much, if it is to have any chance at all of winning the election. And I don’t think it’s news to anyone that the McCain people want to win the election. Hence, the optimal strategy is dogwhistle messaging of exactly the kind we’ve been seeing. I’m pretty sure that Douthat himself isn’t xenophobic, racist, homophobic or religiously fanatical. But he, and others like him, either need to make their peace with the fact that they are in bed with the crazies (and that this is likely to be the case for the forseeable future), or get out. There isn’t any middle ground, and the denialism is wearing very, very thin.
