Conservative Bloggers: Obama Way Worse Than McVeigh, Better Than Jimmy Carter

If you needed further evidence that the American right has gone off the rails, Right Wing News (last seen publishing their Conservative New Media Spank Bank) has just put out their list of the 25 Worst Figures in American History (as selected by 43 conservative blogs). Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh could only make it to #9 on the list, while Jimmy Carter and Barack Obama earned the top two spots, respectively. Worst of all, though, is that Snooki doesn’t seem to have gotten a single vote. (h/t Doug Mataconis)

The bloggers were allowed to list up to 20 “Worst Americans,” with rank “determined simply by the number of votes received.” Since the list contains no commentary, we’re not going to reproduce it here, which would deny RWN the clicks they deserve.

This list speaks volumes about those who selected it, displaying a lack of perspective worthy of Mr. Magoo and Don Quixote‘s love child. 18 of the top 25 are liberal figures, 11 of whom are still alive. In all of American history, 11 of the worst 25 villains are still alive?

It is in the few spots reserved for non-liberals, though,that the list fails on its own terms. Placing Timothy McVeigh at #9 is bad enough, but if you’re going to include traitors like Benedict Arnold, while concentrating mostly on 21st century red meat, how do you leave off John Walker Lindh? How about Anwar al-Awlaki? Perhaps they’re awaiting the outcome of Major Nidal Malik Hasan‘s trial for the Fort Hood shootings before they put him on the list. Presumption of innocence, and all that.

You could go on for days with the glaring omissions. There are no organized crime figures on the list (perhaps a nod to their spirit of entrepreneurship?), nor several high-profile assassins (like Lee Harvey Oswald and James Earl Ray), not a single Confederate figure, not even contemporary über-villain Bernie Madoff.

While not all serial killers fit this list’s premise, there are some who certainly do. Charles Starkweather and Charles Manson each broke new ground in producing terror among Americans that far exceeded the actual reach of their crimes, and more recently, the DC snipers pierced whatever thin bubble of safety we all still felt.

Compounding the makeup of this list is the fact that, like their previous effort, it contains exactly zero analysis or commentary. Why is Hillary Clinton worse than Al Capone, or John Wayne Gacy? While the answer might be absurd, it would be a lot more fun to read.

Of course, not all conservatives are myopic hyper-partisans. A few years back, my friend Ed Morrissey made such a list, and while he still included Jimmy Carter (at #10), the balance of it was well thought out, and supported with fairly detailed commentary. Additionally, conservative libertarian Doug Mataconis has spent the better part of this morning picking apart RWN’s list.

Having said all of that, I am curious to see what the results of such a list would look like from the left. If last year’s list is any indication, though, they see to have a much broader historical memory, and a stronger case to make. Their list contained only one living politician, George W. Bush.

This is an opinion piece. The views expressed in this article are those of just the author.