The American Spectator

The Daily Caller has published an interview with Spectator senior editor Angelo Codevilla, focused on his essay on the Ruling Class. 

In the interview, Codevilla gives a succinct definition of what he considers the Ruling Class: 

People define themselves as “the ruling class” by tying their livelihoods and hopes to government, and above all by a certain attitude toward the rest of the country. Neither money nor even professional position defines a person as part of the ruing class or not. Rather, membership is all about drawing one’s livelihood from one’s connection with government power, from believing that this is proper, and above all from sensing that sharing a certain set of attitudes and tastes makes one superior to ordinary Americans.

And later, he divulges his ideal 2012 presidential candidate: a “hybrid of a Newt Gingrich who had learned the proper lessons from the 1990s, and of a Sarah Palin who had matured.” 

Codevilla’s essay, which ran in the July/August issue of the Spectator, was one of our most popular articles in a long time. In the September 2009 issue, he had a piece that explored many of the same topics. For some reason it did not achieve anywhere near the popularity of the later piece, but it’s well worth reading (and, at 6,000 words, only half as long). 

UDPATE: And the powers that be remind me: the “Ruling Class” essay has been expanded to book length, and you can order the book here.