Waukesha, Wis. — I’ve just been dismissed from the offices of the Waukesha GOP. It appears that I’m “just like all the other reporters” and “National Review hasn’t been conservative for at least 25 years.”
The volunteer at the front desk was a peach. After I entered and explained that I was dropping in to say hello and to see how things were going after a morning in Milwaukee, the nice lady called upstairs. Down came the office manager, who at first thought I had declared the “Nashville Review” as my publication. When I corrected the record, I was told that there would be no comment from their office. Trying to wheedle, I noted that — now enunciated correctly — National Review is a conservative publication, thinking this may break the ice that talk of Tennessee might have created. The woman scoffed and informed me that our magazine hasn’t been conservative for decades now. “I don’t know what schools you all are going to,” she lamented. Then she motioned for me to take my leave, so away I went. I’ve heard of the “No true Scotsman” fallacy, but I didn’t know we had a local variant.
The greatest challenge for an NR reporter on the road? Not deer or highwaymen, but office managers with garish eye shadow and purity standards.