I understood Hart to be talking about some of the cookie-cutter
Republican cheerleaders who are like Ann Coulter without the sense
of humor, though I don't think that description really applies to
Rush. I agreed with some things in the article, disagreed with
others, and mostly found it an engaging remembrance of Buckley
written by a man disenchanted about having ended up on the minority
side of some intra-conservative debates. It's a position with which
I have some familiarity.
As much as I love Reagan, I tend toward the gloomy side of
conservatism myself rather than the sunny, optimistic side. So yes,
as I see leftward trends in American politics, an
overidentification of conservatism with the electoral interests of
the Republican Party, and so many conservatives seemingly resigned
to government growth, it's hard not to feel a little gloomy. I take
a certain amount of comfort in the fact that when Whittaker
Chambers became a man of the right, he was convinced he was
converting from the winning to the losing side. Where is the Soviet
Union now?
I took no offense at Hart's article. The jury is still out on us
youngsters. As for Buckley's sense of what the conservative
movement is, I think
this bit by Michael Brendan Dougherty puts it well.
topics:
Conservatism
