Is the GOP becoming unhinged?
Former National Review editor David Klinghoffer says the conservative movement is being hijacked by demagogues and hucksters. Is he being unfair?
An internal squabble has broken out over the state of the conservative movement, after former National Review editor David Klinghoffer said in the Los Angeles Times that the Right is losing its way. Conservatives were once led by "urbane visionaries," such as the late William F. Buckley, who wanted to "save civilization," Klinghoffer said. But now, under the influence of the "potty-mouthed Internet entrepreneur Andrew Breitbart," the Right is more concerned with trashing the left than in defending the best values of civilization. "Now we observe the rule of the crazy-cons," he said. Is the Right really drifting toward "demagoguery and hucksterism"? (Watch an MSNBC report about the changing conservatives)
Maybe there's hope for the Right: It's encouraging to see that at least some conservatives are disgusted by "the radicalism, the lack of intellectual seriousness, the immaturity" that have polluted the Right, says Steve Benen in Washington Monthly. I'm no fan of "conservatism's forebears — Buckley, for example, was an ardent opponent of Martin Luther King and the civil-rights movement" — but at least those guys "used to care about ideas." Let's hope that each time another conservative speaks out in protest, the "crazy-cons" will lose a little of their influence.
'Making the transition to 'crazy-cons'"
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Klinghoffer's hurting conservatism, not helping it: All David Klinghoffer's doing by attacking his fellow conservatives, says Donald Douglas at American Power, is "enabling the very anti-conservative forces Andrew Breitbart is finally beginning to take down." Of course, now that the Right's out of power its "most strident voices" are being heard the loudest — but Democrats are just as likely as Republicans to take partisanship to new extremes.
Conservatism can't return to the past: The Right is "no longer in exile" the way it was when William F. Buckley started talking about saving civilization more than half a century ago, says Doug Mataconis at Outside the Beltway. It simply can't afford to return to being "the philosophical, spiritual movement" it was back then. These days conservatives need "propagandists" like Breitbart as surely as they need thinkers like Buckley. After all, you can't change the world if you don't get the voters on your side.
"Is the right losing its mind?"
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Four key tax changes to prepare for in April
The Explainer With time running out, a last-minute checklist could help you make the most of your allowances
By Marc Shoffman, The Week UK Published
-
Covid four years on: have we got over the pandemic?
Today's Big Question Brits suffering from both lockdown nostalgia and collective trauma that refuses to go away
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published
-
Katespiracy: is the media to blame?
Talking Point Public statement about cancer diagnosis followed weeks of wild speculation and conspiracy theories
By Julia O'Driscoll, The Week UK Published
-
The debate about Biden's age and mental fitness
In Depth Some critics argue Biden is too old to run again. Does the argument have merit?
By Grayson Quay Published
-
How would a second Trump presidency affect Britain?
Today's Big Question Re-election of Republican frontrunner could threaten UK security, warns former head of secret service
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
'Rwanda plan is less a deterrent and more a bluff'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By The Week UK Published
-
Henry Kissinger dies aged 100: a complicated legacy?
Talking Point Top US diplomat and Nobel Peace Prize winner remembered as both foreign policy genius and war criminal
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Last updated
-
Trump’s rhetoric: a shift to 'straight-up Nazi talk'
Why everyone's talking about Would-be president's sinister language is backed by an incendiary policy agenda, say commentators
By The Week UK Published
-
More covfefe: is the world ready for a second Donald Trump presidency?
Today's Big Question Republican's re-election would be a 'nightmare' scenario for Europe, Ukraine and the West
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
Xi-Biden meeting: what's in it for both leaders?
Today's Big Question Two superpowers seek to stabilise relations amid global turmoil but core issues of security, trade and Taiwan remain
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Will North Korea take advantage of Israel-Hamas conflict?
Today's Big Question Pyongyang's ties with Russia are 'growing and dangerous' amid reports it sent weapons to Gaza
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published