"There are real debates about subjects like masculinity and media bias, and conservatism may have something to say about them, but it will need more worthy messengers." - RNS
"Edmund Burke was someone who believed that 'he had a duty to the present and a duty to the future . . . a duty to liberty in policy and a duty to stability in polity.' A modern American conservative movement that embodied these axioms would surely be one less wracked by the internecine conflicts that bedevil it today." - Acton
"...instead of concentrating its fire solely on left-wing elites, as Reaganite, conservative populism had done, the Trumpist brand of populism did something more: It simultaneously assailed right-wing elites, including the Buckley-Reagan, fusionist conservative movement described earlier." - Acton
In-depth look at the recent National Conservatives conference: "In considering National Conservatism as brand, coalition, or invitation to stop being polite and start being real, my judgments are varied." - Acton
"Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan tweeted, 'The Republican Party is no longer the ‘wine and cheese’ party. It’s the beer and blue jeans party.' .... As it stands right now, however, the party is much more about grievance politics and retribution" - Dispatch
"Eric Voegelin’s warnings about the dangers of gnostic politics apply to the right as well as the left. Christians must make a clear and unequivocal distinction between the historic Christian faith and the misleading political religion that is more pervasive on the right than anyone seemed to realize." - Public Discourse
"With a Biden administration and a Democrat–controlled Congress, conservatives will need to do plenty of yelling 'stop!' in the coming months....However, economic support for families is one area where social conservatives can and should find common ground with Democrats." - Public Discourse
Even at our best, we humans often botch the job of identifying what’s true and right. The important thing is to recognize what went wrong, learn the lessons, and aim to do better.
If I could gather every American who self-identifies as conservative and deliver one message to them right now, that would probably be the bottom line: Face the facts of January 6 and start identifying how to do better and be better.
There’s much we still don’t know about what went wrong leading up to, and on, January 6, 2021. But many points are already known. Here’s a baker’s dozen.
