The New York Times has
an article about “new-generation conservative” intellectuals,
apparently anointing David Frum an elder statesman of the new
wave:
Mr. Frum’s transformation has caused him to rethink the
role of government. Not only does he now promote an idea that has
long been conservative heresy — that tax rates have gone as low as
they can — he also calls for new taxes on consumption and energy.
…
Mr. Frum also departs from the
smaller-government-is-always-better-government dogma and concedes
that there are some areas where government has to step in - for
instance, prison reform. . .
Many of Mr. Frum’s allies in this debate come from a group of
younger conservatives who were born more than 15 years after he was
and came of age after Reagan… .
Another new-generation conservative, Ross Douthat, argues that
“Reagan was right for his time, but now it’s a different time.” Mr.
Douthat, 28, and Reihan Salam are the authors of a new book, “The
Grand New Party: How Republicans Can Win the Working Class and Save
the American Dream.” Mr. Douthat says that social conservatives
have gotten stuck and need to move beyond their focus on gay
marriage and abortion — a focus, he said, that does nothing to
help a single African-American mother trying to raise a
family.
Uh, wait a minute:
Prison reform? David Frum’s big
departure from rigid right-wing dogma is
prison reform?
Excuse my scoffing, but this all strikes me as National Greatness
II, a second dose of the same medicine that’s already put the
patient into intensive care.
