Archive for April, 2008

Against the West

April 28, 2008

Daniel Larison notes that “the West” is a poor substitute for “Christendom.” In the context of post-World War II conservatism, it’s also a substitute for “America.” When the Right stopped talking about America first and started talking about defending the West — from the heathen East, of course, be it Communist or Islamic — you [...]

Now On-Line: The Ron Paul Evolution

April 28, 2008

My article on the Ron Paul campaign and the independent organizations and efforts springing up in its wake — including Young Americans for Liberty, Jonathan Bydlak’s Discover Scholars project, and a cadre of Ron Paul Republican candidates — is now on-line here.
I’m happy to report that one development since I wrote the piece is that [...]

Two Reviews for You

April 27, 2008

The May June issue of Reason includes my review of Pure Goldwater, the John Dean and Barry Goldwater Jr.-edited collection of the late senator’s journals. The May 5 issue of The American Conservative, meanwhile, features my piece on Bill Kauffman’s Ain’t My America. Both books, coincidentally enough, are published by Palgrave-Macmillan, which is also home [...]

A Choice in November

April 26, 2008

Clueless GOP consultants Tony Fabrizio and Dave Carney tell Politico (referring to Ron Paul’s 16 percent showing in Pennsylvania’s Republican primary):
“A large portion of those Ron Paul supporters are anti-Bush, anti-war Republicans,” he said. “They’ll wind up back with McCain because, while they may disagree on the war or be mad at Bush, the prospect [...]

Peter Hitchens Rethinks the Good War

April 24, 2008

Peter Hitchens has recently read Nicholson Baker’s Human Smoke and Patrick Buchanan’s forthcoming Churchill, Hitler, and the Unnecessary War. The two books, particularly Buchanan’s, have compelled him to reconsider some of his assumptions about the Good War. Be sure to read the whole thing, but here’s a sample:
On a recent visit to the USA I [...]

Ron Paul vs. the Kochtopus

April 23, 2008

In a friendly game of softball, that is: the Ron Paul campaign team is facing off against the Koch team in the D.C. Think Tank Softball League. Both teams are in the “Free Soil” division.
What’s a Kochtopus, you ask? David Gordon answers.

Advantage: Ron Paul

April 22, 2008

Patrick Ruffini is alarmed to see that Ron Paul Republicans are the only conservatives dedicated enough to turn out at state county conventions – and as a result, Paul is picking up state-level and national delegates. It’s going to be a very interesting Republican Convention in (appropriately enough) St. Paul this year. Read Ruffini’s article [...]

Antiwar Conservatism vs. Beltway Libertarianism

April 21, 2008

Mark your calendars: on May 8, Bill Kauffman will be debating Michael Tomasky (editor of the U.S. edition of the lefty Brit newspaper The Guardian) at the Cato Institute. Tomasky reviewed Kauffman’s book here. Orange Line liberventionist Tyler Cowen discusses the book here.
There actually are a number of anti-interventionist libertarians in the D.C. area, and [...]

In Print: Ron Paul, Bill Kauffman, and Ralph Adams Cram

April 20, 2008

The 4/21 issue of The American Conservative, which should be showing up in bookstores and subscribers’ mailboxes right about now, contains my article “The Ron Paul Evolution,” on the future of the Ron Paul movement — already there are candidates, a youth organization, and nonprofit ventures rising out of the Paul phenomenon, and there’s much [...]

Another Post Paleo Post

April 16, 2008

Paul Gottfried extends and revises his remarks on the “post paleo” generation of the Right here. Helen Rittelmeyer of the Cigarette Smoking Blog comments on Paul’s original thread and some of the reactions it elicited.
Both Gottfried and Rittelmeyer note the Nietzschean interests of the postpaleos. Paul suggests that these, along with fewer inhibitions about “discussing [...]