Conservatism
February 10, 2023 — John Hinderaker
As states increasingly segregate into red and blue, California, New York, Texas and Florida are the heavyweight contenders. (Although, don’t forget poor Illinois.) A year ago I had the good fortune to hear Governor Ron DeSantis give a speech to a Minnesota group in Naples, Florida. DeSantis said something that I thought couldn’t possibly be correct: that Florida has more people than New York, with a state budget only half
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December 30, 2022 — Steven Hayward
The end of the year is often time for “best of the year” and “worst of the year” lists, but most “best of” lists are merely catalogues of one’s preferences and favorite moments, which is fine. But it’s another case with “worst of the year” lists, and by far the worst article of the year appearing in a supposedly conservative media outlet is Jonathan Last’s October article in The Bulwark,
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November 23, 2022 — Steven Hayward
One of my favorite journals these days is The European Conservative, edited by the intrepid Alvino-Mario Fantini out of Vienna. Printed on heavy stock paper, its articles are adorned with fabulous reproductions of classic art, making it the kind of journal you’d happily put out on your coffee table alongside your gallery books from the Met or wherever. Back in September I wrote here about how the magazine was dropped
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November 22, 2022 — Steven Hayward
For all of my life it seems there has always been a “new right” in view. “New right” has been used since the 1950s at least, and the “new right” of the 1970s looks distinctly old today. The new “new right” today is, as frequently mentioned here, “national conservatism.” Hence worth taking in the summary overview of my old boss Christopher DeMuth, writing in the Wall Street Journal over the
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November 13, 2022 — John Hinderaker
Obviously, the midterms were bitterly disappointing. I moderated a panel on the election yesterday at David Horowitz’s Restoration Weekend. I began by saying that in view of the midterm results, we had changed the title of the panel from “What Happened?” as shown in the agenda, to “What the Hell Happened?” Nevertheless, the Sun continues to rise and conservatives will continue to fight, so we may as well look for
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October 19, 2022 — John Hinderaker
Kari Lake is a former television newswoman, and former Democrat, who is running for Governor of Arizona. Starting out as an underdog, she has taken the lead in the polls. I am pretty confident that she will be elected. Why is that? Lake is a good candidate in several ways, but one of her key skills is pushing back against the press of which she used to be a member.
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October 16, 2022 — John Hinderaker
Here in the U.S., it is often said that the Democrats are the Evil Party, and the Republicans are the Stupid Party. That goes in spades in Britain, where the Conservative Party is in the midst of a historic self-immolation. It started when they ousted Boris Johnson as party leader and thus as Prime Minister. Boris has his faults, most notably an unaccountable fondness for “green” energy. Which of course
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October 15, 2022 — John Hinderaker
Tonight was American Experiment’s Fall Briefing, and, as Scott previewed, Tulsi Gabbard was our keynote speaker. I looked forward both to meeting and to hearing her, as she is one of the most interesting figures on our political scene. And, of course, the timing was fortuitous with Gabbard having just departed the Democratic Party. So, what did I think of her? I was blown away. Our audience was, too. Some
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September 30, 2022 — John Hinderaker
France’s Emmanuel Macron, like a number of other world leaders, has denounced Italy and its incoming Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni. I will chalk that up as a mistake. I don’t think a lot of people have seen this amateurishly-filmed response by Meloni, but it is scorching. It is not hard to understand why colorless leftist leaders fear Meloni and denounce her as a “fascist.” I think that means she gives
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September 25, 2022 — Scott Johnson
The Center of the American Experiment hosted Wilfred McClay this past Friday over lunch in Bloomington to speak on the abomination of Minnesota’s social studies standards in process. It was not only a great event, thanks to John Hinderaker letting me join him at the head table, the lunch gave me a chance to catch up briefly with Professor McClay. Professor McClay holds the Victor Davis Hanson Chair in Classical
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September 24, 2022 — John Hinderaker
We wrote here about today’s election in Italy, and the likelihood that it will be won by a conservative coalition led by Giorgia Meloni and the Brothers of Italy party. Meloni is “far right,” which means she is skeptical of the benefits of endless illegal immigration, and a “firebrand,” which means she gives speeches that voters like. The election is going on right now, and Meloni is favored to emerge
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September 5, 2022 — Scott Johnson
In his In Depth interview on C-SPAN yesterday, Steve cited Leo Strauss’s Natural Right and History as one of the books he most wanted to recommend to viewers. Watch the interview here to pick up the rest of his recommendations. Seeing the image of Strauss’s book on the screen reminded me of my own list. I thought it might make sense to reiterate it today at the beginning of another
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September 5, 2022 — Scott Johnson
Steve Hayward had his mojo working for his appearance on C-SPAN 2’s In Depth series yesterday. C-SPAN’s John McArdle interviewed Steve in a well-produced two-hour show reviewing Steve’s career and the books he has written including, most recently, M. Stanton Evans: Conservative Wit, Apostle of Freedom and Patriotism Is Not Enough: Harry Jaffa, Walter Berns, and the Arguments That Redefined American Conservatism. McArdle was well prepared with good questions. The
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August 28, 2022 — John Hinderaker
Davy Crockett was one of the great crazes of the 1950s, driven by a Disney movie and, as I recall, television show. My older brother and I owned, and frequently wore, coonskin caps, as did many of the boys in our neighborhood. Crockett was, of course, a real person who among other things represented a Tennessee district in Congress before being killed at the Alamo. This is straight from InstaPundit.
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August 27, 2022 — John Hinderaker
Scott has been writing about the race for Governor of Minnesota that is now in progress. Incumbent left-wing Governor Tim Walz is running scared, for obvious reasons. Challenger Scott Jensen, a doctor rather than a professional politician, is working hard and resonating with voters. The latest polling has the race tied. We spent the day today at the Minnesota State Fair, one of the world’s extraordinary events. The two candidates’
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August 25, 2022 — John Hinderaker
I think it was John Edwards who popularized the “two Americas” theme. But Edwards had the categories wrong. There really are two Americas, and we can divide them in a number of ways. For example: one America consists of those who can cope, while the other America consists of wine moms, 25-year-olds who can’t tell what sex they are, and people who can’t manage personal finances. This reflection is prompted
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July 31, 2022 — Steven Hayward
Whenever I want to get “Lucretia” spun up, I say something like, “Pssst. . . I’ll need to check with Bill Kristol on that!” And then I sit back and open up a new bottle of peaty single-malt. But I did relent when she pointed out that Bill had lately embraced the idea that Democrats are best-suited to fix the country’s problems. Maybe he was just trolling again? Lucretia won’t
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