Dartmouth freshman Tatiana Cooke reports on the reaction to the video by her classmates Josh Riddle and David Rufful that we posted here and wrote about again over the weekend. In “‘Young Con Anthem’ causes buzz,” Tatiana quotes the head of the College Democrats asserting that the video “tragically exposes the completely irreconcilable views of modern day neoconservatism.” Tatiana also quotes my somewhat more transparent comments on the video to her yesterday afternoon.
PAUL adds: “tragically exposes the completely irreconcilable views of modern day neoconservatism”?! Have ten words ever been so poorly used together?
SPECIFICALLY: The use of the word “tragically” here is ridiculous and the video doesn’t show these students to be neoconservatives (as opposed to regular, mainstream conservatives), much less emblematic of “modern day neoconservatism.”
The “completely irreconcilable views” in question are, I take it, the students’ Christianity and the inspiration they draw from the work of Ayn Rand, an atheist. But one can believe in God and still agree with important aspects of Rand’s thinking. In any event, whatever tension may exist here has nothing much to do with neoconservatism, a belief system that is consistent with belief in God, agnosticism, and atheism
Notice: All comments are subject to moderation. Our comments are intended to be a forum for civil discourse bearing on the subject under discussion. Commenters who stray beyond the bounds of civility or employ what we deem gratuitous vulgarity in a comment — including, but not limited to, “s***,” “f***,” “a*******,” or one of their many variants — will be banned without further notice in the sole discretion of the site moderator.