Charles Pierce puts Jim DeMint's exit from the Senate in perspective
Nobody better personifies the casual cruelty, the reckless disregard for the general welfare, the heedless contempt for the idea of a general political commonwealth, and the deep fealty to the rising power of oligarchy in this country than does DeMint, who first rode into the Senate by arguing, among other things, that gay people should not teach in the public schools. And no institution embodies those same qualities, which fairly define modern movement conservatism, than does The Heritage Foundation, which is little more than a talking-points mill at which the primary intellectual debates seem to center on who will write this week's crapola of the op-ed page of The Washington Post, and who will be appearing with Piers Morgan that night. Heritage's claim that it is a font of serious policy ideas dies with the fact that it is now going to be run by the biggest loon in the pond. This is a match made on a plane somewhat lower than heaven.
And DeMint will practice this "casual cruelty" and "reckless disregard for the general welfare" while earning far more money than he did as a Senator from South Carolina.
The outgoing president of the Heritage Foundation enjoyed a salary of over $1 million while Jim DeMint will likely fetch a higher price. But as far as he's concerned, this is all for the cause, not for the money.
Sen. Jim DeMint, who has announced he will leave the Senate to lead the Heritage Foundation, told Rush Limbaugh on Thursday he feels he can do "more good for the conservative movement outside the Senate" than in it.
The conservative movement can do more good for Jim DeMint if he's outside the Senate, that's for sure.