by Art Smith
Conservatives have lost our political credibility. We have totally squandered opportunity after opportunity over the years because self-interest and ambition have eroded the integrity of Conservative politicians along with Liberal ones. And blind political stupidity in the Republican Party created a mess of alienated constituencies, including African Americans. P.J. O'Rourke wrote in The Weekly Standard (aptly titled "We Blew It"):
An entire generation has been born, grown up, and had families of its own since Ronald Reagan was elected. And where is the world we promised these children of the Conservative Age? Where is this land of freedom and responsibility, knowledge, opportunity, accomplishment, honor, truth, trust, and one boring hour each week spent in itchy clothes at church, synagogue, or mosque? It lies in ruins at our feet, as well it might, since we ourselves kicked the shining city upon a hill into dust and rubble.
O'Rourke goes on to[...]
by Art Smith
From the Washington Post:
Transition advisers to President-elect Barack Obama have compiled a list of about 200 Bush administration actions and executive orders that could be swiftly undone to reverse White House policies on climate change, stem cell research, reproductive rights and other issues, according to congressional Democrats, campaign aides and experts working with the transition team.
All of you that were taken completely off-guard by this news, please raise your right hands. Now smack yourself on the back of the head.
Any turmoil and angst over this should[...]
by Art Smith
I don't want to be morbid, but I'm starting to lose confidence that we can find a balanced exchange of ideas any longer. That the patently unproven and risky hypothesis that humans, are creating environmental change on a global scale, is now becoming a point of agreement by some of those arguing on the left and right about how to deal with "global warming", is alarming.
In a pair of pieces presented in the Wall Street Journal today, Ian McEwan and Bjørn Lomborg present differing perspectives on how to deal with global warming. But they are not the typical side of the discussion we've had in the past. The perspectives shown here are answers to the question "What should Obama do about Global Warming?".
McEwan, well known for his works of fiction, extends those skills to the front of the Weekend Journal section. He expresses[...]
by Linda Morgan
I’m struck by a column by Tim Ellsworth:
JACKSON, Tenn. (BP)–An unusual obituary ran in a California newspaper in August.
It was an obit for 79-year-old Delores Aguilar in the Times-Herald of Vallejo, Calif. Her daughter Virginia Brown was the writer.
“Delores had no hobbies, made no contribution to society and rarely shared a kind word or deed in her life,†Brown wrote about her mother. “I speak for the majority of her family when I say her presence will not be missed by many, very few tears will be shed and there will be no lamenting over her passing.â€
…
John Bogert of[...]
by Linda Morgan
You’re going to hear quite a bit from the left over ‘the death of conservatism’ over the next few weeks. But they’ve got it wrong. I say, what we’ve got is the death of compromised conservatism as espoused by George W Bush, his father, GHW Bush, and by more recently, John McCain.
This morning, we see a post from Helen Valois at Renew America, who calls this ‘conservative conservatism’. I can quibble with the name she chooses, but not her meaning…
What is conservative conservatism? It is a commitment to playing a good defense (or rather — except for the one, brief, shining moment of Governor Palin’s acceptance speech — a pretty flawed defense) when your opponents have gone decisively on the offensive. It is that which John McCain quintessentially represents — the recalcitrant[...]
by Art Smith
Not that it's that big of a deal, but we hit 10,000 visitors sometime in early October... it took 11 months to hit that milestone. Today, we hit 15,000 visitors. 5,000 in the past month. I can't imagine what would cause so much interest in our site this past month.
We also in the latter part of October posted our 500th article. We think that's just the tip of the iceberg, and hope to see significant growth as we develop The Conservative Reader over the next year.
In noting these milestones, I just want to thank the writing team for TCR: Thomas Laryea, DJ Durant, Dr. Bob Stouffer, Renea Smith, and BitHead. You have[...]
