Alex Shephard of The New Republic writes: “He once craved responsibility and tried to give a right-wing audience real news. They didn’t want it. And he adjusted with a vengeance.” Here is a taste of his piece, “How Tucker Carlson […]
conservatism
George Will: “There are a lot of people on campus nowadays who just don’t belong there — they shouldn’t be teachers; they should be political activists”
Over at Politico, Zack Stanton asks George Will if “conservatism” means anything anymore. Here is a taste of his interview with the conservative columnist: In your book, you write that “America’s most dispiriting intellectual phenomenon is the degradation of higher […]
Why do conservatives love Hungary so much?
I’ve been reading-up on this lately and hope to write something intelligent soon. In the meantime, I found Damon Linker’s piece at The Week helpful. Here is a taste: Trump’s big win was thrilling for many on the American right, […]
Why are some conservatives going to Hungary?
Tucker Carlson is broadcasting this week from Budapest. Why? Damon Linker explains at The Week. Here is a taste: Fans of Carlson’s top-rated prime time show on Fox News learned Monday that he would be broadcasting all week from Budapest, where he would […]
Who is J.D. Vance? Apparently a lot of Ohio GOP voters haven’t read Hillbilly Elegy
In his book Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis, J.D. Vance interpreted Appalachia for a largely educated, non-populist reading public. He was able to do this because he left Appalachia for Yale Law School. He […]
Conservative evangelical radio host Phil Valentine changes his tune on COVID-19 vaccination
We wrote about Valentine last week in a post on Eric Metaxas’s claim that “he can spread false information [about the COVID-19 vaccine] all day long.” The New York Times is now covering the story. Here is Hamilton Matthew Masters […]
What is going on at The Claremont Institute?
The conservative website The Bulwark takes a shot at the pro-Trump think tank. The subtitle of Laura Fields’s piece says it all: “How the once-distinguished conservative think tank plunged into Trumpism, illiberalism, and lying about the election.” They have even […]
Should the first 50 pissed-off people to get to the microphone at a school-board meeting be running our schools?
Rich Lowry of The National Review writes: To paraphrase Bill Buckley, it’d be better if the schools were run by the first 50 pissed-off people standing in line to get to the microphone at a contentious school-board meeting than by the […]
The Trump intellectuals who despise their fellow citizens, but love America
Historian Joshua Tait calls-out the so-called “Trump intellectuals”–many of them connected to Hillsdale College and the Claremont Institute–who claim to be “ardent patriots” who are “at odds with real America, but remain committed to the rhetoric of patriotism.” These Trumpers […]
Conservative columnist on systemic racism: “I didn’t create these systems. But I wish I had realized earlier that these systems had created me”
Here is Wheaton College graduate and former George W. Bush speechwriter Michael Gerson: Systems had been carefully created to ensure I went to an all-White church, in an all-White neighborhood, while attending an all-White Christian school and shopping in all-White […]
What is happening in the red states?
The Atlantic is running another fascinating piece of political journalism from Ron Brownstein. Conservatives know they have no chance of shaping national policy, so they are appealing to localism. While I am certainly supportive of cultivating local culture, as an […]
Conservative publishing is having a hard time turning Joe Biden into a “compelling villain”
Here is McKay Coppins at The Atlantic: In the conservative book world, nothing is supposed to set off a gold rush like a new Democratic president. Ever since Bill Clinton inspired a wave of right-wing best sellers in the ’90s, […]
William F. Buckley: “…I, for one, would not willingly die for ‘democracy'”
Historian Joshua Tait writes, “…the democracy-denying beliefs and actions of today’s conservative Republican party–rejecting the results of the 2020 presidential election and seeking to manipulate voting laws nationwide in a cynical assault on the democratic process–have plentiful precedent in conservative […]
Paul Ryan: “If the conservative cause depends on the populist appeal of one personality…then we’re not going anywhere.”
Tonight the former Speaker of the House will give a speech at the Reagan Library in California. John McCormick of The Wall Street Journal reports: “Once again, we conservatives find ourselves at a crossroads,” Mr. Ryan will say, according to […]
Are American conservatives advancing a new “Lost Cause?”
Paul Waldman writes: “Everywhere conservatives look, their view of America’s racial story is being challenged.” Most of our culture war debate right now seem to focus on school curriculum and race. Here is Waldman at The Washington Post: As conservatives […]
Chait: “The next insurrection will be a Brooks Brothers riot”
Over at New York Magazine, Jonathan Chait responds to this piece by Dan McLaughlin at The National Review. Chait does not see much difference between the Liz Cheney wing of the GOP and the Donald Trump wing of the GOP. […]
On fighting “a guerilla battle at the grassroots of a generation of lower-middle-class people who feel betrayed and exploited”
Here is Rick Perlstein in Reaganland on the rise of the New Right in the 1970s: That notion–conservatism as an ideology for working people–was another New Right theme. [Richard] Viguerie’s father had been a construction worker; his mother toiled in […]
Mike Pence also has a policy organization
Yesterday we called your attention to Donald Trump’s America First Policy Institute. Former court evangelical Paula White will head the “Center for American Values” wing of his new institute. Today I learned about Mike Pence’s “Advancing American Freedom.” Pence’s advisory […]
What is conservatism?
As historian Joshua Tait reminds us, the meaning of the term “conservatism” has been a contested one in the United States. In his recent piece at The Bulwark he compares a circle of writers in the 1940s and early 1950s […]
Steve Bannon will need to find another location for his “Catholic political academy.” Italy says no.
I had no idea Bannon was trying to establish what Reuters calls a “right-wing Catholic political academy” in Italy. Here is Philip Puella’s piece: Steve Bannon, the former adviser to ex-U.S. President Donald Trump, has lost a legal battle to […]