Tagged: Conservatism

Escaping From the Conservative Media Fraud

“And yes, I’m doing this for profit!” With those smug, pseudo-principled words, every popular “conservative media icon” and “conservative intellectual” tells us, point blank, that we have every reason not to take him seriously, and no reason whatsoever for trusting one word that comes out of his mouth. The modern world of liberty and self-governance is crumbling at speeds that even the bleakest...

Threats to Democracy, Threats to Freedom

There is much talk these days of “threats to democracy.” But the greatest threat to democracy today may be the incessant talk of threats to democracy. For a threat is something to fear, and when men are driven by fear, they will sacrifice nobler aspirations in a heartbeat in the name of removing the source of their fear. Beware those who beat the...

Nothing Left to Lose: A Plea to Trump Followers

Early in the 2016 Republican primaries, when it became obvious that the GOP establishment was lining up behind Mitch McConnell’s anti-Tea-Party megadonor Donald Trump, I began shouting from the rooftops that Trump was the Republican establishment’s secret weapon to demolish the pesky but electorally-needed constitutional conservative faction of the party forever. (For my troubles, I lost my highest rooftop.) Mission accomplished. Not a...

Weekend Reflections: Comic Book Culture; Modern Conservatives; “True” Conservatism

Marvel Comics superhero Stan Lee died recently. In response to this news, Bill Maher, an iconoclastic moron comedian who pretends to be a social commentator, took his usual contrarian stance: In a blog post to his website Saturday, the late night host wrote, “America is in mourning. Deep, deep mourning for a man who inspired millions to, I don’t know, watch a movie,...

Modern Conservatism: Defining One’s Terms

A dear friend sent me an e-mail the other day in which he lamented the incoherence of “modern conservatives” (his well-chosen term), with their endless compromises on fundamental principles, their willingness to support politicians who contradict everything these people claim to believe in, and their unwillingness to defend free markets and property rights with consistency and clarity. His thoughts, perfectly in line with...

Tax Cuts and Progressive Conservatism

Here’s the narrative: Cutting business taxes allows for higher profits, which fosters new investment and hiring. New hiring means more high-paying jobs. More high-paying jobs mean that even with reduced personal income tax rates, gross federal tax revenue will not be affected. Everybody wins: individuals are wealthier, and the government can still afford to pay for the entitlement behemoth. That narrative, which has...

Pederasty and the “Conservative Media” Illusion

Milo Yiannopoulos, who last week was a scheduled speaker at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), an editor at the ultimate GOP-insiders’-club-cum-faux-rebel news outlet, Breitbart (home of Donald Trump’s alt-righthand man, Steve Bannon), and an oft-cited celebrity muckraker of the GOP establishment’s — er, I mean the “alt-right’s” — youth wing, is now, suddenly, out. Out of CPAC, out at Breitbart, out of a book deal, just plain out. Why...