Category Archives: Neoconservatism

National Review Stands Athwart Historic Conservatism Of Burke, Kirk

Classical Liberalism, Conservatism, Donald Trump, History, Neoconservatism

Most of the National Review recruits who’ve enlisted Against Trump are conservatives in name only, as Jack Kerwick’s learned allusion to conservatism’s founding philosophers concludes. NRO’s promotion of “‘American Exceptionalism,’ the radically ahistorical doctrine that America is not a historically and culturally-specific country but an ‘idea,’ an abstract ‘proposition,'” makes this lot unconservative.

One might say National Review stands athwart historic conservatism (to borrow from founder William F. Buckley’s famous mission statement to stand athwart history).

“National Review vs. Trump?” by Jack Kerwick (published, surprisingly, by TownHall.com):

… NR’s contributors are indeed correct that Trump is not any sort of conservative in the classical or traditional sense of the word. But neither are Trump’s “conservative” critics conservative in the classical or traditional sense of the word.

Undoubtedly, Trump has never read, if he’s even heard of, Edmund Burke, “the patron saint” of conservatism. I would be surprised if he’s even heard of, let alone read, the work of the 20th century’s American reincarnation of Burke, Russell Kirk. Chances are even slimmer yet that he’s familiar with Michael Oakeshott’s classic essay, “On Being Conservative,” or George Nash’s and Paul Gottfried’s seminal studies of the conservative movement in America.

The one contemporary nationally-renown figure who is more philosophically approximate to Burke and Kirk than anyone else—Pat Buchanan—Trump at one time ridiculed. Nor has Trump been any more generous to either Ron or Rand Paul, both of whom, though widely regarded as “libertarian,” are nevertheless conservative just insofar as they are (or at least seem to be) committed to federalism, our Constitution.

Yet here’s the rub: What’s true of Trump in all of these respects is at least as true of many of his critics in the NR symposium.

Granted, I’m sure that there are many among the latter who have heard of Burke. Since Kirk’s name was at one time on NR’s masthead, some of them have probably heard of him as well. However, Kirk’s name is scarcely ever, if at all, mentioned by any contemporary “conservatives.” And on those rare occasions when Burke’s name is dropped, it is almost always in connection with a single line of his: “The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.”

For Buchanan and the Pauls (especially the Elder), many of the Trump critics at NR have reserved nothing but contempt. …

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UPDATE II: NRO Writer’s ‘UnFollow’ Leads To Musing About The Manners-Morals Connection

Conservatism, Donald Trump, Etiquette, Ilana Mercer, Intellectualism, libertarianism, Morality, Neoconservatism

National Review’s Kevin Williamson, aforementioned, once told me he was a libertarian anarchist. Although I never saw evidence for the claim, I took him at his word that he was a friend behind enemy lines. (It’s also true that I don’t study NRO’s output.) In the couple of exchanges we had, Williamson seemed far less uptight about intellectual differences than most Americans. Myself, so long as ad hominem is avoided and respect is shown—I can easily befriend ideological adversaries. And I do. One of the nicest gentlemen, for example, is Benn Steil, director of International Economics Council on Foreign Relations. I can’t imagine Dr. Steil churlishly unFollowing me. We differ. So what? I enjoyed his book, “The Battle of Bretton Woods,” immensely.

The UnFollow/UnFriend churlishness is not the province of neoconservatives and Republicans alone.

From experience, libertarians can be as uncivilized in their interactions. The column “Schooling Beck On Trump’s Nullification Promise” mentions “Ivan Eland’s learned rundown of U.S. presidents,” Recarving Rushmore: Ranking the Presidents on Peace, Prosperity, and Liberty. I contacted Eland as a courtesy. As did I ask him if he would kindly reciprocate with a Follow on Twitter. Unlike the polite Lawrence W. Reed of the Foundation for Economic Freedom, Eland has simply ignored me. Perhaps he’s on vacation.

Manners are a species of morals. Other than to hate mail or rude mail, I respond to all letters I receive—to each and every one. Many thousands since 1998, which is when I got my first newspaper column, in Canada. Due to time constraints, my replies are laconic. But if a reader has bothered to read my work and comment on what I have to say—then it’s only decent and proper to reciprocate.

I haven’t always been firm in this resolve, but I try my very best. If a colleague writes, I reply, whether I like them and their stuff or not. Ignoring a correspondent demonstrates contempt for that individual—a contempt that reflects on the rude “interlocutor.”

UPDATE (1/24): Facebook readers dispute the characterization of Williamson as remotely intellectual.

Christoph Dollis: Well, I’ve always known Kevin Williamson as a moron. Sorry that it hurts, and I get that (I’ve had similar experiences), but in my long-held opinion about Mr. Williamson, you haven’t lost much. I’m pretty sure Williamson is a staunch friend of arch cuckservative Ed Morrissey of Hot Air. ‘Nuff said.”

UPDATE II (3/5):

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Did The Tripoli Pirates Pirate The Authentic Islam, Mr. Kilmeade?

History, Islam, Neoconservatism, Political Correctness, Terrorism

Brian Kilmeade, a Fox News Channel personality—with all the non-cerebral baggage that phrase carries—has written a book, Thomas Jefferson and the Tripoli Pirates: The Forgotten War That Changed American History. In it, to judge by a recent Factor interview he gave this last week, Kilmeade pretty much co-opts Jefferson as a neocon fighting 21st century America’s War On Terror.

Yes, Kilmeade gave an in-house interview recently to a Bill O’Reilly replacement. (Good luck finding transcripts or even a video clip in the age of the no-information, no-organization, big-picture, icon-oriented website.)

Kilmeade’s silliest utterance during that Factor interview was to say that the Muslim Tripoli Pirates had been practicing Islam in the way IT WAS NOT MEANT TO BE PRACTICED.

My question is this: Did the Tripoli Pirates pirate The Authentic Islam, Mr. Kilmeade? If so, when in the course of its bloody history and borders does The Authentic Islam kick in?

Lindsey Graham: Liar & Dissembler About Islam And Foreign Policy

Foreign Policy, Islam, John McCain, Left-Liberalism And Progressivisim, Middle East, Neoconservatism, Republicans

Three minutes and fifteen seconds into Chuck Todd’s unedifying exchange of niceties with the left’s favorite Republican, Sen. Lindsey Graham, Imam Graham imparts that Islam isn’t the problem; he’s not afraid of The Faith, as most Muslims practice it as it ought to be practiced. (Doesn’t he enjoy a security detail, too?) If indeed, as this liar asserts, “there is a war [of reformation] going on within Islam,” it is the most silent, uncontested intellectual war ever. The truth is that no Muslim jurist of note—and no, Pakistani cleric Muhammad Tahir ul-Qadri’s fatwa is deceptive, too —to date, in any recognized center of Islamic learning, has canceled out the authentic Islam outlined in the Quran, supplemented by The Hadith and practiced by ISIS.

As to Graham’s foreign policy promises if elected by MSNBC: ISIS did not exist in the region during the Golden Age of Saddam Hussein. ISIS is a creation of American foreign policy. Yet the stuff that gave rise to ISIS—the American military’s overthrowing of secular leaders in the middle East—Graham wants revisited and intensified, not to mention more foreign aid to spread “our values” and build schools. Obama and Bush before him have done plenty of that stuff; billions worth of it, but I guess the American public has forgotten how well that went.

I wonder how the poor of South Carolina and America feel about Graham’s expansive mandate?

Recommended reading (for kids, too): “The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam (and the Crusades),” by Robert Spencer.