"The Right in this country -- meaning the faction that followed George Bush for the last eight years -- long ago ceased being a movement of political ideas and is driven by two, and only two, extreme emotions: (1) intense, aggressive rage towards their revolving door of enemies, and (2) bottomless self-pity over how unfairly they're being treated. As their imminent defeat looks increasingly likely (potentially on a humiliating scale), these two impulses are in maximum overdrive, feeding off one another in endless self-perpetuation (the more they lose, the more victimized they feel, the more they rage against their enemies who oppress them, etc.)."
To be clear, I don't think conservatism is always wrong, and conservatism in itself can be a force for good. In fact it is often an important counterweight to the utopianism of the left. But under Bush the right has morphed into something truly disgusting and dangerous.
And they are currently leaderless. This is an odd predicament for a movement so dependent on hierarchy and authority. The direction of the conservative movement will depend on who emerges as a leader. Will it be a decent and civil Mike Huckabee type? Or will it be a raving fascist Michael Savage type? (If you have ever listened to Michael Savage, it is genuinely frightening.)
1 comment:
I think it is important to distinguish between 'the Right' and Conservatism in some of the following ways.
The followers of Bush have been a coalition from the beginning that is now falling apart. Some of them are true Burkean/Kirkian conservatives (George Will), some of them are Evangelical and Catholic pro-lifers who are single issue votere (Ben Stein), some of hawkish neo-cons who mostly care about Israel and being the world's top dog (Charles Krauthammer), some are populist nationalists who mainly like the American Flag and the military (American Legion guys), some are pro-business country club types who just want the tax break for the wealthy to remain (Mitt Romney), some (a greatly shrinking number) are libertarians who have just about abandoned Bush but don't quite know where to go now, since Ron Paul hasn't gone anywhere.
The 'Right', which is about 50% of the country, is in free-fall disintegration. Some of the Burkean cons, the neo-cons, and of course the Libertarians find the McCain/Palin ticket more than they can take. Some are hanging in there, but others are moving to the cool, smart guy on the other side.
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